These bags are the finished product of my moon bag workshops. Each time I teach this workshop, I make a couple of new samples to sharpen my making skills.

Each has an interior pocket. Snap closure is hinged and opens wide. Indigo dyed. Finished size-7” x 9”. There are three versions, each a separate listing linked below.

Two have indigo moons dyed onto the back and all three have moons on the front boro-esque design. Hand stitched with sashiko stitching for a decorative accent.
One has a moon on silk kibiso that I wove myself. Kibiso is a stiff silk fiber that is reeled and lightly spun off the outside of the silk cocoon.

Fabrics are various- silk cotton linen, hemp. Vintage Japanese textiles include kasuri, shibori, katazome and more.
The one bag without a moon on the back is made with a heavy cotton cloth woven by a woman who was designated a National Living Treasure from what I was told. The bolt of fabric was not inexpensive and included some caligraphed documentation. I’ve had it for years not wanting to cut it but I finally decided to start using it! The weaving would be categorized as e-gasuri.

Each has a vintage karuta talisman attached if desired.

Karuta is a Japanese card game and these are from an early version classified as ita-karuta which are made of wood with poetry written on them. In ita-karuta, 100 waka poems are written on two sets of 100 cards: one set is yomifuda ( "reading cards"), which have the complete poem taken from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and the other is torifuda ( "grabbing cards"), which each correspond to a yomifuda and have only the last few lines of the corresponding poem on them. One person is chosen to be the reader. As the reader reads a yomifuda, the players race to find its associated torifuda before anybody else does. This game has traditionally been played on New Year's Day since 1904.

I use my moon bags every day. Cross body strap is navy blue and adjustable, keeping your hands free. The bag can fit the large size iphone and other basic essentials.

bag with kibiso woven moon
bag with woven e-gasuri and strip woven moon
bag with small moon on front and large moon on back