A Repurposed Cotton Drawstring Bag: Tabbed Closure

late nineteenth, early twentieth century
8 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 5 1/2", 21.5 cm x 14 cm x 14 cm

This is a small, drawstring bag that is completely hand stitched from re-purposed cotton cloth of very good age. The cloth shows designs mainly of warp-based stripes, all of them hand woven of seemingly hand spun cotton.

The bag is small and has an interesting finish: the drawstring is drawn through eight, equally-spaced, simply formed tabs which, when the string is drawn shut, the bag is not r tightly closed.

The cotton pieces are all somber in tone and hand stitched together. Clearly they are repurposed from kimono and the simple pieced design is beautiful in its subtlety.

This is a utilitarian bag and one with very good age, clearly more than 100 years.