Miyako Bag

I bought this cool red leather handle from Miyako Design at Golden State Quilting last year and it's been hanging around. I'll admit that I was a little confused by the spare directions that it came with it. I happened to find this more expansive and better illustrated "sewing booklet" at Santa Cruz Vac n' Sew. Hooray for LQS's having interesting products!

Furoshiki handles with a French touch is how they're described. Furoshiki is the traditional Japanese art of folding fabric for gift wrap or transport of goods.

The handle I bought is the 31.5" one, it seems like it would be long enough to go over my shoulder.

I decided to try out a non-lined version first and chose this printed linen/cotton blend that was in my stash. It's Anna Graham for Robert Kaufman, Forage in the color Charcoal.  I folded over the raw edge twice and basted it down, I also folded in the sides and basted them down to make a square instead of a rectangle (instead of cutting it to size).  In theory this is meant to be a no-sew thing, just ironing over the double fold of the raw edge. This is a temporary/transitory sort of purse situation where I'll likely take it apart and use the piece of fabric for something else.

I really really like this fabric design and I think it looks great with the vivid red handle.

I also found the Miyako YouTube explanation which helped when I tied my first two knots.

The hardest part was figuring out how to put the fabric through the slots on the end of the leather strap.

Nope! The knots are going the wrong way. I watched the video one more time.

That's much better!

Using the new light-filtering curtain as a backdrop, here's a picture of the "finished" bag. It's not secure, so it won't work for carrying my wallet, etc. but it will be an easy bag to carry projects or larger things around.