So after spending the last years building packs with mostly mid to high-end technical fabrics, I figured I should try something else. Plus, I’ve received so many requests for creating and selling less-technical packs – mostly city day packs or business packs – that I figured I should give that a try. If that’s a success, the next step would be finding nice printed cotton fabrics to make more of these. Ethically sourced would be great, but it’s hard to find in such low quantities!
So I settled for some cheap heavy-duty 100% cotton canvas, usually used for outdoor tents (garden variety tents) weighing at 350g/sqm. We’re far from the ultralight category, but that’s the whole point.
Working with this super inexpensive cotton canvas is fantastic for prototyping on the cheap. I really like the feel of the end product, and I haven’t even spent much efforts making it look nice. The third attempt is by far the nicest finish as it is fully lined with the same canvas as the outside, and a dedicate 13″ laptop ‘pocket’.
One of my goals was using the absolute minimum count of raw materials, that is, find as much use for a single material as possible, so that these are easy to source, and cheaper to order because of the ‘higher’ volume. So I use the same canvas for making a bunch of the straps, lining, pockets, loops etc… I did use a nicer 30 mm cotton webbing for the satchels’ straps because I liked it, but I could use the canvas for that as well, like I did for the day pack. Apart from that, some metal D-rings and some fancier aluminum buckles which could be simple D-rings if need be.
One huge take-away from using a woven canvas is how much it frays compared to coated canvas or laminated fabrics. So much so that, so far, there would have been no way not to keep the edges bound without hemming them. I’ve used both folded grosgrain ribbon or a more simple blind hem stitch to that end.
On the plus side, building one of these models is a lot less time-consuming, as the complexity is probably half of what I usually build. Last but not least, I found some funny sew-on patches on aliexpress, and I’ll definitely order some of them again when I run out.
