i once saw a young man outside the state library carrying his books in an old fashioned book strap. i thought - brilliant. so simple and practical. furoshiki do the same thing for me. printed fabric that can be folded to carry any sized package and many a bento. and tenugui are similar. a piece of printed cotton cloth used to dry, wipe, wear, fold as napkins, one japanese magazine even has patterns on how to make children's clothes from tenugui. (by the way, beams japan is also all over the book strap).
furoshiki and tenugui have been woven, printed, designed, used daily, cared for and admired in japan forever - something so traditional that is the ultimate in modern エコ (eco) design.
some good looking sites:
cibi sells the most beautiful furoshiki and tenugui in melbourne
sousou has wonderful modern printed tenugui
etsy maker mairuru (whose blog is crafty loveliness and whose paper bags and envelopes made from recycled japanese craft magazines are great)
rakuten bento furoshiki for traditional styles
'it's one of the symbols of traditional japanese culture, and puts an accent on taking care of things and avoiding waste.' Environment Minister Koike
arne is on my list of wish subscriptions. a great japanese life magazine.
making things from tenugui
all 4 tenugui and furoshiki books above via amazon japan
mairuru quilted furoshiki
the above four are sousou tenugui designs
making childrens' dresses from tenugui
ink and spindle fabric
I'm a total furoshiki nerd. I wrap my lunch box for work in one every day. My colleagues think it's cute but they also think that I'm a bit obsessed with pretty things. Which I am, of course. Who wants to see ugly plastic lunch boxes lying around?
ReplyDeleteHi - great to find some other furoshiki fans! My sister and I have set up a blog just for furoshiki and different ways of using them (and we've started making some of our own :). Please have a look at myfuroshiki.blogspot.com and let us know what you think.
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