Ep 23 I make a Japanese Rice Bag | Komebukuro | Sewing Vlog

Hello!

Welcome to The Treadle Diaries - thank you so much for joining me!

This week I've been making a Japanese rice bag, or Komebukuro, as a gift bag for a special birthday. It's the first time I've sewn one so I thought I'd share the experience with you. It wasn't as simple as it looks on Pinterest!

I decided to hand quilt my bag to give it more structure, and after some very fiddly sewing and quite a bit of patience, I got there. I'm pretty pleased with the end result! It's the perfect project for using up left over fat quarters and scrap wadding (batting) too - a great stashbuster!

If you've made one of these do let me know how you got on in the comments - I'd love to hear.

The history and tradition of the komebukuro is fascinating - these little drawstring bags were hand sewn, and were traditionally used to carry rice or beans to temples or shrines during festivals and ceremonies. They make the perfect gift bag, especially for a special occasion, and I love the fact that they are reusable - I'm always happy to find a way to avoid single use items!

I mentioned my vintage Singer Treadle sewing machine in the video - it has been in my family since it was made in 1917 and if you're interested in hearing the whole story, I made a video all about it - you can find it here:    • Ep 18 The story of my antique Singer Tread...  

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Have a great week,

Toni
xx

Music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds subscription:
But You Said No Anyway - Ruiqi Zhao
Life As One - Yonder Dale
Tall Tale - Trevor Kowalski
In All the Good Places - Headlund
Earthbound - Victor Lundberg