Looking for a unique and eco-friendly way to wrap presents?
Furoshiki wrapping—the traditional Japanese fabric-wrapping technique—is a beautiful, sustainable alternative to paper gift wrap. It adds a thoughtful, creative touch to your gifting, and the best part is that the wrapping cloth becomes a useful bonus gift for the recipient.
I’ve been using our flour sack cotton tea towels for these Furoshiki wraps, and they’re ideal: soft, durable, and the perfect thickness for folding and tying. Below, you’ll find a few simple Furoshiki techniques to suit different gift sizes and shapes. You can also watch the video tutorial at the bottom of this post for a step-by-step demonstration.
Envelope Wrap
Perfect for a book, a box of chocolates, or any flat rectangular gift.
Place the item along one of the short edges of the tea towel, then fold the long sides in neatly.
Fold the bottom edge up and secure it with a ribbon or twine to create an envelope-style wrap.
Finish with a little decoration—dried flowers, greenery, or a bauble—for an extra festive touch.
Tea towel used: Hydrangea Tea Towel
Flower Wrap
Also perfect for a book, box or rectangular object. Place the gift in the middle of the tea towel. Fold the two long sides of the tea towel into the middle then cinch in flaps of the tea towel that are left on either end of the object. Fold the flaps into the middle to bring the two ends together and secure with a rubber band. Once secured the edges of the tea towel will form a flower shape. To get a more voluminous look gently fold back the edges of the fabric backward, away from the center.
Tea towel used: Geranium Tea Towel
Bon Bon Wrap
Ideal for cylindrical gifts (or for wrapping our Magnetic Print Hangers!).
Place the object along one long edge of your tea towel, roll it up snugly, and tie off each end with ribbon or twine for a bon-bon style finish.
Tea towel used: Orange Tea Towel
Knot Wrap
Perfect for small boxes or tins.
Place the box in the centre of your tea towel, with the straight edges aligned to the fabric’s corners.
Lift the fabric from two opposite corners and fold them neatly over the box.
Then, take the remaining two corners and tie them together in a simple knot.
For larger boxes where the fabric doesn’t reach, secure the corners with a ribbon, rubber band, or string instead.
Finish with a floral sprig or pom pom for an extra flourish.
Tea towel used: Berries Tea Towel
Bottle Wrap
A beautiful way to gift a bottle of wine, spirits, or any foodie favourite like olive oil.
Lay your bottle near the top edge of your tea towel, then fold the bottom edge up to cover it.
Tuck the two bottom corners in neatly at right angles to the bottle.
Fold one side of the towel over the bottle, then roll it all the way until it’s fully wrapped.
Gather the excess fabric at the top and secure it around the bottle neck with an elastic band, ribbon, or twine.
Tea towel used: Olive Tea Towel
Click the video below to watch our Furoshiki demo.
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Traditional Furoshiki wrapping cloths are large pieces of fairly thin fabric which allows you to wrap almost anything, however, using tea towels you are limited to more smaller sized gifts. But with some ribbon or any accessories you like you can come up with lots of unique and interesting combinations. I hope this inspires you to give it a go yourself!
Happy wrapping!
To recreate this look you can shop our full Tea Towel Collection here.