FUROSHIKI DIY

I have never been good at gift giving.  This stems mostly from the fact that I am constantly forgetting people’s birthdays!  I also REALLY dislike shopping.  With Mother’s Day around the corner, I am happy to say that even though I do not have a gift for my mother-in-law yet (sorry Cynthia!), I have made some furoshiki: Japanese gift-wrapping cloth.  These can be reused--to wrap future gifts--or as pretty picnic napkins after gifting.

Materials:

18” x 18” bleached muslin/cotton fabric (use a larger piece of fabric if you prefer a larger furoshiki)

black fabric pen

red fabric paint

paint brush/sponge brush

ruler

pencil

painter’s tape

scrap paper

white thread

sewing machine/needle

Step 1:

Make sure the fabric is a perfect square.  Cut any excess.

Step 2:

Use a ruler and pencil to draw your design.  Geometric patterns work well for me as I’m not much of an artist, and I do like bold graphic patterns.  For my furoshiki, I drew horizontal black lines and red diagonal stripes.

Step 3:

To prevent staining your work surface, place scrap paper between your tabletop and fabric.  I used some tape to hold everything in place while painting.

Step 4:

With the fabric pen and ruler, draw the solid lines.

Step 5:

Tape off the areas that you don’t want to paint.  Firmly press the tape to the fabric as you are taping.

Step 6:

Using the red fabric paint and the sponge brush, paint the diagonal stripes. Recoat if necessary.

Step 7:

Once paint is dry, peel back the tape.

Step 8:

Iron and sew the fabric edges.

The DIY for the copper vases can be found here.

 To all the mothers, may you have a wonderful Mother’s Day!