fade : Recycled Drawstring Bag
Independent Project
Winter 2020
Inspired by two friends, one working on his brand's first cut-and-sew collection and the other making custom duffel bags from vintage Carhartt overalls, I decided to try my hand at sewing when back home in NY for the holidays by making a drawstring bag for my dad to use at the climbing gym.
I wanted the bag to be functional and beautiful, and denim from old jeans seemed like the perfect material. I love how jeans fade from use: the material responds to the nuances of how each individual wears it, physically capturing and representing those intimate details in color and texture. The strongest fades tend to occur by the hems and pockets, so I opened up those seams for the bag's outer pocket. The main compartment is sized to comfortably hold a chalk bag and climbing shoes; the outer pocket has enough space for phone, wallet, and other valuables.
Dissecting old jeans at my workbench.
Panel for outer pocket.
I really enjoyed digging through the shelves at Botani in the Garment District to source the strings and custom zipper, and I chose to use mustard yellow accents as a nod to traditional stitching on blue jeans. The nickel-plated HK clips were bought on Amazon, and the white cotton liner was left over from another project.
Zipper pull tabs at Botani.
Custom zipper on bag.
This bag was by far the most complex thing I had ever attempted to sew, but with the help of YouTube tutorials and my grandmother's tips everything came together pretty smoothly. Assembling the denim panels was labor intensive (especially the one for the outer pocket) but good practice for getting comfortable on my mom's sewing machine and figuring out how to make precise seams. The most complicated stitching on the whole bag is at the corners of the front pocket zipper, where I had to turn the sewing machine by hand to get enough force to punch through so many layers of material.
I was pleased with how this experiment went, and my dad was thrilled to replace his old climbing bag. Making a recycled bag like this takes way too much time for me to make a habit of, but it was a fun and relaxing project to do while back home. Maybe next winter I'll make something for myself!