We discussed starting the bag with a chain, how to fasten the handle at the top and the bottom, the use of split rings as the grommet, and putting a drawstring through the loops at the top of the bag. He also wanted it made of a thick cord and a mesh that would not allow one of his martial arts sticks to fall through the mesh. The stick was 1/2" in diameter.
I went looking on-line for some thin parachute cord. The 550 size was too bulky to work with at that size mesh. I finally found something I thought would work at Supply Captain.
I did a bit of experimenting while working on my missionary son's sweaters, but did not start in earnest until after I finished the sweaters. Then it became a race with the clock since my oldest son's birthday was the middle of October and I figured that would be a perfect present for him.
I finished it shortly before his birthday, took a few pictures, and shipped it off.
This is a picture of the inside of bag, including handles looking from the top of the bag to the bottom of the bag. If you look carefully you can see where some of the joins are. (That's what makes it the inside of the bag.)
Here is the full handle stretched from the ring to the mouth of the bag. When finally finished, the handle was longer than the bag. It took 100 feet of cord to make the handle and 950 feet to make the bag. I used a total of 350 yards for the entire bag and handle.
On the left is the start of the handle. I net into the top round of loops and then went back and forth decreasing one loop each row. This created a wider handle to go over the shoulder and help support the bag when it is full.
On the right is the bottom end of the handle attached to the split ring. The split ring will also hold the loops at the bottom of the bag.
This it the outside of the bag with the handle attached; the drawstring is pulled closed.
Here is the handle attached to the outside of the bag at the bottom. I put the bottom loops onto the split ring until the handle was ready to be added. Then I added one loop from the handle and one from the bag until all the handle loops were added. Then I finished adding the rest of the loops from the bottom of the bag.
Because the split ring was 1" in diameter, the stick that my son did not want to fall through the meshes would certainly fall through the ring. To prevent that I wound the cord back and forth in such a way as to completely block the stick from falling through.
Yes, the bag arrived in time for my son's birthday. And it met all his expectations. The stick did not fall through.
To help me see that the bag truly worked, he threw a few juggling, martial arts things into the bag and, with the help of his wife who operated the camera, sent me a few photos.
Below are a front, back, and side view.
Oh,yes. Just as I was nearing the end of the bag for my son, I needed another gift bag for a baby shower. So I experimented with a top down bag and was able to figure out how to make the opening for the handle shorter than the opening for the bag. That way the bag has more room where it opens. Now to try the same thing for a shopping bag.
