My mother and I received several little purses like this from my aunt in Japan- so of course we had to figure out how it was done. Her's were made from finished table napkins that had embroideries on the corner, she also dogg-earred the lower corners as shown in the final 'variation' pic (I was unable to do that with my example bag because of the bulky pre-patch fabric paired with eyelet).
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Materials:

Finished square of fabric- any size works, the bigger the square the bigger the bag (finished cloth dinner napkins work great, for the example I used 2 14" squares of fabric bound in FOE)

Something to use as drawstring (I used bias trim that I stitched closed, I have also used ribbon/leather strap/jute cord......)

Step1:

Get your fabric square (if it is a finished napkin then nothing is needed to be done, if you need to turn and topstitch/hem edges/bind edges then do that now)

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 001.jpg

Step2:

Fold in half as triagle and mark a line approximately (or a little under) 1/3 of the measurement from the point to the fold line.

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 003.jpg

Stitch on that line, backstitching at beginning and end.

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 005.jpg

Step3:

Flip right sides out (really there is no right and wrong side, just flip opposite of how you had it). *OPTIONAL* Mark center line.

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 007.jpg

*OPTIONAL* Stitch on that line.

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 008.jpg

Step4:

Fold in half

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 010.jpg

Stitch close to fold on each side

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 011.jpg

Step5:

Fold down flaps and stitch a casing wide enough for your drawstring, I chose 1/2" from fold.

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 012.jpg

Steo6:

Cut and thread drawstring.

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 014.jpg



Finished:

http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/sewalong_japaneseorigami_purse 018.jpg

*note the 14" square I used produced a 6"x6.5" bag- a 18-22" dinner napkin produces a nice size bag, also note that there is a front and back outer pocket if you chose to do the stitching in step3*

Variations:

You may choose to dog-earr the lower corners of your bag as shown here
http://www.teamhadjes.com/aw/snugbugFSpost/checkers%20quilt%20gift.jpg

I will add more example pics I as find the pictures or make more.

Thanks for sewing with me!
Sarah

Lovely, thank you! Did you use two layers of fabric wrong sides together on all those bags? If I were to use a single layer, there'd be a little area under the drawstring where the wrong side of the fabric showed, right?

Correct. I've found that batiks work lovely for this bag and all the napkin ones my aunt made had fabric that was more or less reversible.

Sarah

so cute! ;pop:

Those are really cute bags. Thanks for the sew along. :)

I have an aunt who is from Japan too. :) I keep trying to remember to ask her to send me a few things but my memory is shot this past week lol :)

Ok now I expect everyone to go make matching purses, headbands and kleenex pouches- lol!

Sarah

Cute!

I'm looking fwd to more sns's in that style to get a better feel for the look kwim?

Thank you so much for the sew along. I printed it out for future use.

Wendy:)

Cute, cute, cute! I'm gonna bookmark this to try after I get the Easter outfits done!

Wow those are great Sarah! Thanks so much for sharing those with us. Now I'm motivated to finish dd's easter dress so I can do a matching purse. :)

Thanks for sharing, Sarah, that's so neat! I love these sew-a-longs you're doing that have unique but kinda quick projects that would make great gifts. Especially if you pick just the right fabric for the recipient.

Could you explain the dog-eared part more? That's the only part I didn't get...
Thankyou!!

Look at the step in the 'square bottom bag sew along' in which you make the corners http://www.amitymama.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89055&highlight=square+bag

The only difference is that I don't cut out the notches first, I just fold and stitch a straight line (creates a triangle).

Did that help?

Sarah

Oh how awesome!! Chanel and I are going to try the kleenex pouch next week when we do a Japan unit so we'll have to try these too!
Got any info on the history of this and the kleenex pouch? Are they a more modern thing or are they things that have been done for hundreds of years?

Oh how awesome!! Chanel and I are going to try the kleenex pouch next week when we do a Japan unit so we'll have to try these too!
Got any info on the history of this and the kleenex pouch? Are they a more modern thing or are they things that have been done for hundreds of years?

I have no clue. My aunt is in her 50's-60's and she makes them, thats all I know. She lives in Tokyo

Sarah