My first Komebukuro, a "Birdie" Japanese rice bag

Komebukuro: a traditional Japanese cotton drawstring bag. A plethora of examples of this humble yet classic bag dwell on Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy and blogs. Patterns and tutorials can be found all over the web. I like the idea of this traditional, simple, and useful accessory and have wanted to make one for quite a while. This is my first go at it.

Kumebukuro with Birdie fabric by Mia Charro for Blend Fabrics.

The traditional Japanese rice bag—kome (rice) and bukuro (bag)—was used to store and carry rice for offerings at Japanese temples. Since I'm back to working on my Glorious Hexagon EPP [English paper piecing] project, I'll likely use my new Japanese rice bag to hold these supplies and blocks.

Materials
This was the plan:

• I wanted to feature these adorable birds from the Birdie collection by Mia Charro for Blend Fabrics on the bag. (Fabric purchased at Chattanooga Sewing Machines)
• I also uncovered a pile of half-square triangles [HSTs] in my stash. The colors worked and it was a repurposing effort. 

Birdie from Blend Fabrics and miscellaneous HSTs.

• Coordinating fabrics for the outside, lining, and drawstring tabs include two colorways of Forme from Lewis & Irene (fabric purchased at The Quilting Squares of Franklin) and a light blue blender from Basically Hugs by Helen Stubbings for P&B Textiles. (Fabric purchased at Stitchers Garden)
• The drawstring ties were 1" wide lengths of a knit fabric from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Coordinating fabrics: Forme from Lewis and Irene
and Basically Hugs from P&B Textiles.

• To give stability to the bag, I decided to try a new-to-me product, cork fabric. I received some cut-offs from Midwest Textiles to experiment with.

Cork fabric from Midwest Textiles.

Assembly
The komebukuro is basically a cube. The sides and bottom are all squares so with this formula, the bag can be made any size. My square was 11".  The birds and HSTs were framed to build out the square to 11 inches.

Construction of the sides of the bag.

At the base of each side panel was a piece of cork fabric. The bottom of the bag was also cork.

Press the seams of the cork with a seam roller or wooden iron.

Working with Cork fabric
The cork fabric cuts and sews just like fabric, but don't use a hot iron on this fabric or it will buckle. I used a seam roller to "press" any seams. A wooden iron or finger pressing would also work. I used the regular 80/20 sewing machine needle, 50 wt. cotton sewing thread and my quarter-inch presser foot to sew the cork. It was like working with a heavy weight fabric, but with no stretch.

If I had my druthers
Now that my komebukuro is completed, here are my observations and a few things I will consider for next time:

• The bag does not stand up by itself. (It's kinda slouchy.)
• Although the cork fabric provides a flat base and stability at the bag's bottom, the sides need hand stitching, quilting or interfacing for more support for this size bag.

This is a slouchy bag.

• The size and number of tabs for the drawstring allow varying degrees of closure. I would try tabs of a narrower width so the bag closes more.
• Drawstring tabs from cork fabric might be an option. They would be fast and easy—no need to topstitch, no raw edges to fold under, etc.

Completed Birdie komebukuro with a cork fabric bottom.

• The design of these bags is simple and elegant, offering a wonderful canvas for patchwork, hand stitching (kantha, embroidery, sashiko), free-motion and machine quilting. Possibilities for surface design abound.
• Pockets could easily be added to the inside—or outside—of this bag!
• I'd like to try different materials for the drawstring... and include decorative finials.
• It would also be fun to make an accompanying little needle book with a cork fabric cover. (Do I hear you saying, "Good idea for a gift"?)

Close-up of the cardinal Birdie block and HST patchwork.

I love the Birdie squares on my komebukuro! They are cheerful, bright and make me smile. This bag was a good project to experiment and learn about working with cork fabric, and the opportunity to repurpose a batch of leftover HSTs is very satisfying.

Besides... one can't have too many project bags, right?

Fall Quilt Market Recap, part 3: Bags, notions, techniques and new substrates

Large or small, there's a project for everyone! In addition to quilts and garments, bags in all sizes and a slew of creative stitching projects were on display at Fall Quilt Market... in booths, display cases and in Demo Alley.

Fall Quilt Market 2019, Houston, Texas.

Bags, Totes, Pouches and Duffles
At the M&S Textiles Australia booth, several bags and totes from Penny Sturges [Quilts Illustrated] were on display. This Summertime Carryall featured Dreaming in One Flame, one of M&S Textiles Australia's striped aboriginal designs.

Summertime Carryall [Penny Sturges from Quilts Illustrated] with M&S Textiles fabrics.

The Roxy Bag, made with Man & Goanna for the body and strap, was accented with a Four Seasons stripe along the curved top.

Roxy Bag [Quilts Illustrated] with M&S Textiles fabrics.

The Totably was made with a stylized floral—Summertime Rainforest in the black colorway.

Totably bag [Quilts Illustrated] with M&S Textiles fabrics.

A zippered duffle featured Brett Lewis' Stag and Thistle collection from Northcott. 

Stag and Thistle zippered duffle bag.

The FIGO booth showed off its upcoming DIY collection with a cute tote to store crafting supplies—paint brushes, crayons, scissors, washi tapes, etc.—for the active do-it-yourselfer.

Art supply tote and art smock from the DIY collection from FIGO.

A Rainbow of Bag Making Hardware
Need special hardware for bag making? If the standard gold and silver colors won't suffice, several companies have a range of colored zippers, magnetic snaps, bag feet, swivels, clasps and the like. Anything you'll need to provide an expert finish to your next bag project.

Bag making supplies from Sallie Tomato.

Colored magnetic snaps from Sassafras Lane Designs.

The Cork Fabric Craze

Although this product has been out in stores for a few years, it made a resurgence at Market. Cork sews just like fabric—and without any frayed edges to attend to. What's not to like about that? Cork comes in colors and prints and it can be embellished as desired.

Cork bag from Belagio Enterprises Inc.

Although I haven't tried this innovative substrate yet, it appears you can crochet, knit, sew or weave with it or cut and slice it to make a quick fringe or tassel. Cork seems to be "un-stoppable" with what you can make with it!

Projects made with cork fabric [Belagio Enterprises, Inc].

Patterns and Tools 
To assist quilters, sewers and makers with their projects, vendors previewed new tools, notions and patterns to facilitate accuracy, efficiency and creativity. These are just a sampling of what you'll be seeing at YLQS [your local quilt shop] soon.

Fat quarter and pre-cut friendly patterns and the Shortcut Binding tool
from The Franklin Quilt Co.

Pom Pom making tools from Clover Needlecraft.

Studio 180 Designs patterns and rulers.

Hand Stitching and Classy Accoutrements
Hand stitching is still going full force! New patterns, books, threads, needles and other notions are available for every kind of hand stitchery you can imagine.

Books, patterns and kits by super stitcher, Sue Spargo.
Hand and machine threads from WonderFil Specialty Threads.

This display featured Vicki McCarty's [Calico Patch Designs] beautiful wool appliqué, patchwork patterns and kits as well as the Yazzii bags—a classy way to organize, store and carry all your hand stitching and quilting supplies.

Calico Patch Designs products and Yazzii Bags.

The needle arts manufacturers are embracing time honored techniques like sashiko and kantha and combining them with intriguing new pattern designs, notions, and threads in gorgeous color palettes. Hand stitching—for decorative embellishing or for the functional mending processes—is still going strong.

Hand embroidery projects from Bald Guy in a Kilt/Global Artisans.

Sashiko stitching and hand sewing needles from Tulip.

And speaking of hand stitching... still one of my favorite fabrics to use for hand stitching is the yarn-dyed wovens from Diamond Textiles. A range of soft neutrals and textured stitched patterns are coming to the Nikko Geo collection. You'll certainly want to get your needles into these!

New soft neutrals in Nikko Geo [Diamond Textiles].

So, that's a wrap for Fall Quilt Market 2019! Hope you enjoyed a preview of what's coming to your local quilting and sewing shop.

All packed up! A pallet of boxes ready for shipping.