Properly Made Bag
The VPCo Properly Made Bag is designed for everyday life - be that in the city or the countryside, for leisure, or for work.
It's large enough for useful items, but not too big to be burdensome - for us, it's the perfect size.
Practicality
We've been field testing these bags for months now, for anything from mid-week grocery shopping, beach trips, and city breaks. We've used it to take parcels to the post office, as an airplane carry-on, and just as an everyday bag for stuff! It's great!
But why did VPCo make a bag?
We're always thinking about making products that might compliment our Properly Made Books and printed papers, something that utilises our craft but which offers customers a different, practical way to enjoy what we do.
Last year we made a range of printed bags which were very popular, especially the lined denim bags, but we wanted to up our bag game this year and make something that was more than a fancy shopping bag.
The sensible thing to do would have been to appproach third-party manufacturers who make off-the-shelf, customisable bags but as is invariably the VPCo way, we came to the conclusion that whilst sourcing a "Made Somewhere in The Far East" product would certainly be the most sensible, practical and financially viable route for us to take, it just wasn't right for us when we knew, if we put our minds to it, we could do it ourselves.
Don't get me wrong, we're not super woke, eco mad or anti global trade. We're more than aware that there's a place for these things in our world, but we feel, if we can make things here, locally, then we should, so we did.
After all, this business is built on "Handmade in Orkney".
The manufacturing materials and process.
The bags are made with a machine printed VPCo organic linen fabric - the Stromness Mackerel pattern. Inside, it's lined with natural calico. The fixtures are London Tan leather and brassware.
In keeping with our (sometimes overly ambitious) ethos of Handmade In Orkney, these are indeed handmade in Orkney.
Our neighbour, Annie Fanning, is the seamstress. She sews these by hand and by machine, in her basement studio, just a few doors down from our own workshop, here in Stromness.
The leather fixtures are made by our longterm collaborator, Findlay Tulloch, a violin maker and all-round craftsman engineer, in his workshop in Birsay, a tiny village a few miles north of Stromness.
The bag has two sets of handles; a pair of permanently attached London Tan leather handles, and a detachable, organic linen crossbody strap for when you want to go handsfree.
The top of the bag has a hideen, reinforced inner liner which takes the strain of the leather fixtures and the bag's carrying weight, and also helps the bag sit upright when you place it on the floor.
The brass fixtures are Chicago screws and rivets which look great and ensure safe carrying of your personal goods!
Inside the bag is a brass plate with the limited edition number engraved on it.
The numbered brass plate is screwed through to the laser engraved Stromness Mackerel tab on the front through which the leather closure strap fits.
Inside the bag, which has been fully lined and stiffened, there's a full-width, zipped pocket for valuables (purses, phones, candies), a couple of pen pockets and a thick London Tan leather base.
The internal leather base is attached through the fabric to four brass feet on the bottom of the bag which allowsthe bag to stand freely and keeps the fabric away from dirty floors.
These bags are made in very limited quantities - the first series is limited to 16 pieces.
Size: 13½ x 13½ x 3 inches, 350 x 350 x 75 mm (approx)
Leather Straps: 24 inches, 600mm
Crossbody Strap: 45 inches, 115 cm