How to Wrap Gifts with Fabric Using the Art of Furoshiki

The sound of wrapping paper being torn is one of the joys of Christmas morning but sadly it comes with quite a bit of waste, as all those pieces of gift wrap end up tossed into a plastic waste bag.

Thankfully there is another way! Wrapping gifts with fabric is one of the most beautiful ways to do presents without the waste, and has been a part of Japanese culture for thousands of years. Furoshiki is the traditional Japanese wrapping cloth method where a piece of fabric is used as wrapping. Traditionally, this was done with a Furoshiki cloth, but just about any square piece of cloth will work.

In this blog post I'm sharing a few tips for trying this traditional Japanese wrapping technique, along with a Furoshiki tutorial so you can give it a try for yourself.

Table of Contents

What can I Use for Furoshiki Gift Wrapping?

There are so many different ways to do Furoshiki wrapping. Whatever you choose to use, it's worth looking for fabric which isn't too thick - light- to medium-weight fabrics like cotton poplin, silk, linen (but not upholstery linen) will work well. Furoshiki works best with square fabric but it can work fine with rectangular fabric too.

1. Furoshiki cloths

The traditional Japanese cloths used for Furoshiki are still made by many different companies, like these by the Furoshiki Wrap Company. These can be expensive so you might want to make your own. You can follow my handkerchief tutorial but make the dimensions of the fabric as large as you'd like.

2. Reusable fabric gift wrap

There are several brands making reusable gift wrap now. Some brands have special features like a crinkly inner to recreate the paper gift wrap experience, reusable gift tag or buttons to close the gift. Personally I haven't ever found fabric wraps that I like enough to spend money on! Especially when there are so many other cheaper things that you could use.

3. Make it part of the gift

A great way to wrap any gift is to use part of your gift as the wrapping. You could try giving jewellry wrapped in a square scarf, a bundle of baby clothes wrapped in a muslin swaddle, or mugs wrapped in a homemade tea towel! This works particularly well because people will usually assume that the wrapping is part of the gift - don't expect to get your fabric back once the gift is opened!

4. Reusable bags

While you won't need to use Furoshiki to tie a bag, these make great wrapping and, as I mentioned above, can form part of the gift. Think a fresh loaf of sourdough wrapped in a homemade bread bag - in my opinion, reusable bags trump single-use gift bags every time!

How to Do Furoshiki Gift Wrapping

Here's a step-by-step guide to wrapping your gift in fabric using one of the most famous Furoshiki techniques - otsukai-tsutsumi. If you'd prefer the instructions in video form, you can find a video here on my Instagram page, or there are plenty of instructional videos on YouTube.

1. Lay out your fabric and place your gift diagonally in the middle of it.

2. Take one corner of the fabric, bring it over the top of the gift and tuck it under the opposite side.

3. Take the opposite corner of the fabric and fold the corner back under so that the edge aligns with the edge of the gift. 

4. Holding the middle of the wrapping, pinch the sides of the remaining corners and bring that corner across into the middle of the gift.

5. Repeat for the other side, and tie the two ends together.

6. Open out the corners of the knot to make it look extra lovely!

7. Try tucking some decorative greenery under the knot to spruce up your gift! You can also tuck a small note or gift tag under the knot so that the gift can be identified. 

Other Furoshiki Techniques

While I have been using Furoshiki for several years, I am no expert on this traditional Japanese art. The method I have shown is just one of many different styles of Furoshiki, and there are many more to discover. Furoshiki even works great for cylindrical gifts like wine bottles - look up 'entou tsutsumi' for more information!

Will you be trying your own Furoshiki wrapping this holiday season?

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