A furoshiki is a square cloth – often made of cotton – that is commonly used in Japan to wrap presents. It is a way to wrap gifts without the waste of one-time-use wrapping paper. There are many ways to fold a furoshiki and some people even fold them into small carry bags.
The YW Furoshiki Fabric Gift Wrap – Pine & Coral is 70 cm x 70 cm large (27.6 in x 27.6 in). This size is big enough to nicely wrap small or medium-size boxes, average-sized books and other small objects. You will find two different methods of folding a furoshiki below. Wrapping presents and making them look stunning with a furoshiki takes only a few easy steps, but if you are doing it for the first time, it can take a bit of getting used to until you have found and perfected your preferred method.
Method 1 – wrapping a box
The box we wrapped in these pictures has the dimensions 24 cm x 17.5 cm x 4.1 cm (9.5 in x 6.9 in x 1.6 in).
Step 1:
Lay the furoshiki on a flat surface and place the gift box in the centre.
Step 2:
Take two opposite ends of the fabric into your hands…
Step 3:
… and start making a knot with them. The following pictures illustrate the knot being tied.
If your furoshiki now looks like this, the knot is not yet finished. Tie a firm knot to secure the first two ends of the furoshiki.
Once the knot is fully tied, it should look like this:
Step 4:
Grab the remaining loose ends of the furoshiki…
… and tie a knot with those ones too. This will tighten up the fabric around the box.
Step 5:
And you’re all done! Here’s the final result: a beautifully wrapped present for someone special.
Step 6:
Your present is ready for gift-giving. You can also include the historical gift register card with your gift. It lists the fabric care instructions and is a way to keep track of all the places the furoshiki travels to. Who knows – maybe it will one day return to you?
Method 2 – wrapping two books
The two books we wrapped in these pictures together had the combined dimensions of 21 cm x 12 cm x 6.4 cm (8.3 in x 4.7 in x 2.5 in).
Step 1:
Lay the furoshiki on a flat surface and place the books into one of the four corners. There should be enough fabric left over to fold that corner over the books and to tuck a bit of fabric under the books to hold the fabric in place.
Step 2:
Grab one of the edges on the same side as the books.
Step 3:
Fold the fabric over the books in more or less a straight line, letting the fabric rest just shy of the edge of the furoshiki.
Your furoshiki should now look like this:
Step 4
Fold over once or twice the fabric on the opposite side of the books. This will shorten the furoshiki by about 10 to 15 cm (about 4 to 6 in).
Step 5:
Grab the two ends of that folded section…
Step 6:
… and use them to tie a knot on top of the books. The position of the knot will not be in the middle of the item you are wrapping (as in method 1), rather it will be on top of the books at the edge, in one corner.
Step 7:
You’re all done! Your present is ready for gift-giving. You can also include the historical gift register card with your gift, which lists the fabric care instructions for the furoshiki. Fill in who you are giving the gift to and the city or country. It will be neat to see how far the furoshiki has travelled over time.
Fabric care instructions
The YW Furoshiki Fabric Gift Wrap – Pine & Coral is made in Japan from 100% woven cotton. Wash it separately for the first 4 washes to avoid colour transfer to other items. After that, it can be washed with like colours. It is machine-washable in cold water not exceeding 30°C, at delicate/gentle setting, with mild detergent. Do not bleach. Do not tumble dry. Iron at medium or high temperature. Avoid wrapping boxes with very sharp edges, as this may tear the fabric.
More folding instructions
If you want even more folding instructions, take a look at this furoshiki folding instructions diagram from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.
(Photo credits: photos number 17 to 33 by Madeleine Dalkie.)