/design /Singh Bag

02.07.09

In answer to the needs of a good friend I decided to make him a bag. Given that the bag had to be ready prior to his recent out-of-state move, I had to rely on our fabric chest for a suitable material. Fortunately we had just the right fabric in stock. Unfortunately the piece was not very big and a bit odd sized. Not to be defeated by the size of fabric, I moved forward to aid my friend in need and created a bag folded out that one piece of fabric, without cutting the material in separate pieces, as to use every bit of the material and create not just a bag, but a unique piece.

Designing this ‘origami’ bag proved an interesting and challenging task.

The first step was to figure out how to make the cut and fold the piece of fabric. To that extent I cut a piece of paper in the same relative dimensions and starting folding and unfolding till I settled on the above pattern. Unlike paper, however, fabric is more supple. Reproducing the nice sharp folds of the small piece of paper proved an arduous task. The second step, therefore, involved an enormous amount of small and sharp pins. A period during which I would have invented the thimble if it did not exist already. The third step involved the machine not being able to easily reach all small corners that are in need of being stitched together.

And on top of that, above folding pattern was created after I finished the bag, since I was not sure if the pattern would translate well from paper to fabric. Creating the bag, therefore, involved a large amount of trial and error. In that sense no different from creating a website or any other design, except for the pins.

I made two cuts in the fabric, to be able to make a belt to sling the bag over your shoulder. The belt is not adjustable, but turned out the right size, the advantage of tailor made objects. The fabric was printed on one side only, slightly complicating the folding pattern, but with a satisfactory final result nevertheless.

The final product shows the complexity of the design, without giving in to functionality and without becoming overbearing.