Onigiri Drawstring Pouch Free Knitting Pattern: Make the Cutest Rice Ball Bag You’ve Ever Seen
If you’ve spent any time in the world of food-inspired crafts, you already know that onigiri has become something of a cultural icon far beyond Japan’s convenience stores and bento boxes. The triangular rice ball wrapped in seaweed is beloved not just as a snack but as a symbol of comfort, simplicity, and a certain charming aesthetic that has taken the crafting world by storm. Today, we’re bringing that aesthetic to your knitting needles with a completely free pattern for an onigiri drawstring pouch — a sweet little bag that looks just like your favorite Japanese rice ball and works beautifully as a coin purse, earphone holder, jewelry travel pouch, or just an adorably geeky gift for the food lover in your life.
This pattern is suitable for knitters with some beginner-to-intermediate experience. If you know how to cast on, knit, purl, work basic increases and decreases, and close stitches in the round, you have everything you need to finish this project in an afternoon or a weekend. We’ll walk through every step together, from materials and gauge to construction notes and finishing touches, so even if you’ve never knit a shaped bag before, you’ll feel confident by the end.
Let’s get into it.
Why Knit an Onigiri Pouch?
Before we dive into the pattern itself, let’s take a moment to appreciate why this project is so worth your time.
First, it’s genuinely functional. A small drawstring pouch is one of the most useful things you can knit. It can live in your handbag and hold lip balm and coins. It can protect a pair of delicate earrings when you travel. It can hold a set of stitch markers, a small skein of yarn, or even a phone charging cable. Unlike some novelty knits that end up displayed on a shelf, this pouch gets used.
Second, it’s a wonderful stash buster. The whole project uses very little yarn, so it’s the perfect opportunity to use up odds and ends you’ve been holding onto. A small amount of white or cream yarn forms the body of the rice ball, a strip of black or dark charcoal creates the nori seaweed band, and a tiny bit of red or pink makes the rosy cheek detail that gives the onigiri its kawaii character.
Third, it makes an extraordinary handmade gift. Whether you’re making something for a friend who loves Japanese food, a knitter who appreciates clever novelty items, or a child who adores the kawaii aesthetic, this pouch is memorable in a way that a plain drawstring bag simply isn’t. People receive it, understand it immediately, and absolutely love it.
Materials You’ll Need
You don’t need much for this project, which is part of its appeal.
Yarn: You’ll need a small amount of worsted weight yarn in three colors. The main color (MC) is white or off-white for the rice body of the onigiri. The contrast color one (CC1) is black or very dark charcoal for the nori band. Contrast color two (CC2) is a small amount of blush pink or red for the cheek detail. We’re talking about 40 to 60 yards of MC, around 15 yards of CC1, and just a few yards of CC2. Any brand of worsted weight will work, though a smooth cotton or cotton-blend yarn will give you cleaner stitch definition, which really helps the triangular shaping read clearly.
Needles: You’ll need a set of US size 5 (3.75mm) double-pointed needles, or a short circular needle in the same size if you prefer magic loop. The pattern is worked primarily in the round, so DPNs or magic loop are both perfectly suitable methods.
Other supplies: A yarn needle for weaving in ends, a set of stitch markers (at least three), scissors, and about 18 inches of narrow cord or I-cord in black or white for the drawstring. You can also knit your own I-cord with leftover yarn if you prefer a fully handmade finish.
Optional but lovely: A small piece of felt or embroidery floss in black to add tiny facial features to your onigiri, because a smiling rice ball is simply better than a plain one.
Gauge
Approximately 20 stitches and 28 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch on US size 5 needles.
Gauge matters more for this project than you might expect, because the triangular shape depends on the proportions coming out right. If your gauge is significantly off, the pouch may end up too round or too flat. That said, this is not a garment, so a slight variation won’t ruin anything — it will just affect the finished size. The finished pouch should measure approximately 4.5 inches wide at the base and 5 inches tall, which is a perfectly practical size for a small personal item pouch.
Construction Overview
This onigiri pouch is worked from the bottom up, in the round, with three side seams that create the classic triangular rice ball shape. The nori band is worked separately and either knitted on or seamed into place, depending on your preference. The top of the pouch is finished with a simple eyeleted hem through which the drawstring is threaded.
The key to getting the triangular shape is the placement of the three corner markers and the way increases and decreases work around them at specific points in the pattern. Think of a triangle with three corners. In knitting, we create those corners by working double decreases at three evenly spaced points as we climb toward the opening, which draws the sides inward and creates those characteristic flat faces of the onigiri.
The Pattern
Abbreviations
CO: cast on
K: knit
P: purl
K2tog: knit two together (right-leaning decrease)
SSK: slip, slip, knit (left-leaning decrease)
CDD: central double decrease (slip two together knitwise, knit one, pass slipped stitches over)
PM: place marker
SM: slip marker
M1L: make one left
M1R: make one right
BOR: beginning of round
Rnd: round
St(s): stitch(es)
Part One: The Nori Band (worked first)
Using CC1 (black), CO 60 stitches. Join to work in the round, being careful not to twist. Place BOR marker.
Rounds 1–8: Knit every round (stockinette in the round).
Break yarn and leave stitches live on a spare needle or stitch holder. Set this piece aside.
Part Two: The Rice Body
Using MC (white), CO 6 stitches. Distribute across DPNs as evenly as possible (2 stitches per needle if using three DPNs).
Setting up the base triangle:
Round 1: (K1, M1L, K1) across all three pairs of stitches — 9 sts total.
Round 2: Knit all stitches.
Round 3: (K1, M1L, K1, M1R, K1) in each section — 15 sts total.
Round 4: Knit all stitches.
Round 5: (K1, M1L, K3, M1R, K1) in each section — 21 sts total.
Round 6: Knit all stitches.
Round 7: (K1, M1L, K5, M1R, K1) in each section — 27 sts total.
Round 8: Knit all stitches.
Round 9: (K1, M1L, K7, M1R, K1) in each section — 33 sts total.
Round 10: Knit all stitches.
Round 11: (K1, M1L, K9, M1R, K1) in each section — 39 sts total.
Round 12: Knit all stitches.
Round 13: (K1, M1L, K11, M1R, K1) in each section — 45 sts total.
Round 14: Knit all stitches.
Round 15: (K1, M1L, K13, M1R, K1) in each section — 51 sts total.
Round 16: Knit all stitches.
Round 17: (K1, M1L, K15, M1R, K1) in each section — 57 sts total.
Round 18: Knit all stitches.
Round 19: (K1, M1L, K17, M1R, K1) in each section — 63 sts total (21 sts per section).
Round 20: Knit all stitches.
You should now have 63 stitches with 21 stitches in each of three equal sections, separated by your stitch markers. These markers sit at the corners of your triangle.
Joining the Nori Band
Next round: With right sides facing, hold your live nori band stitches alongside your rice body stitches and join them together by knitting one stitch from the nori band together with one stitch from the rice body all the way around. This joins the two pieces seamlessly and creates the wrapped seaweed effect around the lower half of the pouch.
If you’d prefer not to work a live stitch join, you can simply bind off the nori band, seam it around the lower portion of the rice body after the fact, and continue knitting the body upward in white. Both methods give a clean result; the live join just requires a bit more attention.
Continuing the Body Upward
After the join round, continue in MC only.
Rounds 21–30: Knit all stitches in MC (working over the joined section continues to build the white rice section above the nori band).
At this point your pouch body is established. You have a triangular base with a nori band around the lower half and a growing white section above it.
Shaping the Top (Triangle Decreases)
Now we begin drawing in the three corners to reinforce the triangular shape as we approach the opening.
Round 31: (K1, SSK, K to 3 sts before marker, K2tog, K1, SM) repeat three times — 57 sts.
Round 32: Knit all stitches.
Round 33: (K1, SSK, K to 3 sts before marker, K2tog, K1, SM) repeat three times — 51 sts.
Round 34: Knit all stitches.
Round 35: (K1, SSK, K to 3 sts before marker, K2tog, K1, SM) repeat three times — 45 sts.
Round 36: Knit all stitches.
Hold at 45 stitches. The top of the pouch now curves slightly inward, keeping your items secure without making the opening too narrow to use comfortably.
Eyelet Round for Drawstring
Round 37: (K2tog, YO) repeat around — 45 sts.
Round 38: Knit all stitches.
Round 39: Knit all stitches.
Bind off loosely. The eyelets in round 37 create a row of holes through which your drawstring will be threaded.
Finishing
Weave in all ends on the inside of the pouch using your yarn needle. Pay particular attention to the join between the nori band and the rice body — a few secure weaves here will prevent any unraveling over time.
Thread the drawstring: Using a yarn needle or a small safety pin as a guide, thread your narrow cord or I-cord through every other eyelet all the way around the opening. Both ends of the cord should emerge from the same eyelet so that pulling them cinches the pouch closed. If you’d like an I-cord drawstring, cast on 3 stitches in CC1 or MC and work an I-cord until it measures about 18 inches. Bind off and use that as your drawstring.
Add the cheeks (optional but highly recommended): Using CC2 and either a French knot embroidery stitch or a small duplicate stitch circle, add two small rosy cheeks to one face of the pouch about halfway up the white section. Place them roughly a half inch apart and a quarter inch up from the nori band. If you also want to add eyes, a tiny X or two small dots in black embroidery floss look absolutely charming. A small curved mouth can be made with just a single strand of black thread.
Tips for Getting the Best Results
Working in the round with a small number of stitches can be awkward at the very beginning of the base triangle. If you find it fiddly to distribute 6 stitches across three DPNs, try casting on using the magic loop method instead — it’s often easier to manage very small stitch counts this way.
When working the joining round for the nori band, make sure you hold both pieces with right sides facing outward, not inward. The join should be invisible from the outside and tidy from the inside.
If you want a firmer pouch that holds its shape better, try going down one needle size or adding a small cardboard insert cut to the triangular base shape. You can also wet block the finished pouch by soaking it briefly and then pinning it flat into a triangle shape while it dries. This works especially well with cotton yarns.
For a fully waterproof version — useful if you plan to use this as a coin purse and want extra durability — you can line the inside of the pouch with a small piece of iron-on interfacing or a simple fabric lining hand-stitched around the interior.
Variations to Try
Once you’ve made one of these, it’s very hard to stop. A few variations that work beautifully with this pattern:
If you prefer the salmon onigiri, work the entire body in a pale peachy-pink instead of white, and place a small round of a deeper coral at the very center of one face to suggest the filling peeking through.
For a spicy tuna version, use a creamy off-white with a smear of duplicate stitch in orange-red at the center.
You can also skip the kawaii face entirely and lean into a more minimalist aesthetic by omitting the cheeks and simply letting the clean triangular shape speak for itself. This version looks quite sophisticated in a natural undyed cotton yarn with a black linen nori band.
For a whole set of onigiri friends in different filling colors, make several at once and give them as a group gift. They nestle together adorably and are the kind of handmade present that gets remembered for years.
Sharing Your Makes
If you make this pattern, we would absolutely love to see how yours turns out. Post your finished onigiri pouch on Instagram or Ravelry and tag it so the community can find it. Seeing how different yarn choices, embellishment styles, and personal touches change the character of each pouch is one of the great joys of sharing free patterns like this one.
Because this pattern is free and intended to be shared with love, please feel free to pass it along to friends, link to it, or print it out for a knitting circle. The only thing we ask is that you don’t sell the pattern itself — though finished pouches made from it are absolutely yours to do with as you like.
Happy knitting, and may your onigiri pouch be as satisfying to make as a real onigiri is to eat.
