Slat-sided bag were common from the 14th century onwards in Italy, Germany and other European countries, used for carrying all sorts of things. I made this one to hold my husband’s archery gear.
About a year ago, my husband asked for a bag to hold his archery kit – his knock-down bow, glove, bow rest and the like – plus the quiver I had made him. His requirements included that it be easy to access everything at one, so I thought a gathered, slat-sided bag would work well.
I made a mockup to check the proportions – and to confirm it would actually prove useful, and that he would indeed use it. A year later, the mockup had been in constant use and has finally failed. Time to make a real one!
Research & design
Bags with slats or battens to stiffen the sides of the mouth are seen in artworks from the 14th – 16th century, and they continued in use much later. There is an 18th century example in the Bayerisches Nationalmusuem, used for hunting, made with iron rods in place of wooden slats.
These bags were used by both men and women for many practical purposes: larger ones were used for collecting crops, carrying school books or travel needs, with smaller ones used for tools or food.
I haven’t found a consistent name for them, but I’d be interested if you have! Goubitz notes this style in Purses in Pieces (2007), but classes them under a general ‘Bag’ heading.
I have found three basic styles of slat-edged bag. The simplest sort has sewn sides and no gathers, as seen in this 16th century sculpture below. Another common type used for tools has a side-seam and a few gathers, as per the example in the painting by the Master of the Karlsruher Passion.
A third type is heavily gathered, with no seams and rounded ends (seen in the Tacuinum Sanitatis birdseller below). The other image fom the same manuscript probably has a side seam to achieve the sharp corners.
All these variations on bag style were made in both linen canvas and leather.
For the archery kit bag, I’m going with the round ended, open gathered version which provides easy access to the contents, made from canvas.
Construction
My quick mock-up was just long and deep enough to hold all the archery gear. Since it was a quick trial, I made it in calico with random wood as slats. I didn’t even make real eyelets or put holes in the slats – I just put holes in the fabric with my awl and threaded a cord through!
For the real version, I checked if my husband wanted any changes to dimentions. He asked for a little more depth, but was otherwise happy with it. Of course, all the materials and build will get an upgrade…
First step is to make the slats. They need to be solid enough to allow the cord to pass through without breaking, but not too heavy.
I started with some scrap Tasmanian oak, which my husband thicknessed down to 6 x 25mm. I cut them to size (90cm), mitred all the edges with a plane and then sanded to round them off – especially the ends. I tested the hole size on a scrap, then drilled holes in the ends and smoothed these well with rat-tail file and sandpaper, to reduce friction on the rope.
I laid these on my draft pattern to finesse the details – the slat pockets needs to be larger than on my trial version, and I need to allow for the holes through the slat, and the first folds on the side. The final pattern is very simple – and quite different to the pattern for a bag with straight sides. There is extra length in the slat casings to allow for the first critical fold on each side.
I cut the bag from a heavy cotton canvas drop-cloth, then basted the hems on both ends, pressing to ease around the curve. Then I turned the long casing for the slats and basted them in place. Then I felled all these edges with waxed linen thread, leaving the ends of the slat casings open for now, so I can work eyelets on both sides of the slat holes.
After I was finshed, I realsed I could have used a sewing machine for the hems and casings – this is a piece of practical kit, and my husband would not care. But the handsewing was a useful mindless wind-down after my conference presentation!
My test version had 16 eyelets per end, but would work well with less – and fewer eyelets to make is a win. I played around with the canvas and decided 8 each end was workable, plus the ones that match the holes in the slats.
I started with the ends, threading the slates, locating and marking the holes, then removing the slats again. I worked these eyelets separately on the two layers, piercing the canvas with my awl to make a hole large enough for the 6mm rope (you should never cut eyelet holes – it weakens the fabric).
Using single waxed linen thread, I whipped around with a few stitches to hold the hole open, then worked another round in doubled thread to finish the eyelet. Then the rest of the eyelets – much harder in this heavy canvas. I found wetting the canvas around the hole helped with the stretch, but I need to keep using the awl to keep the hole large enough. Slow going.
With the eyelets done, I threaded in the slats, lined up the holes and eyelets, and sewed the remaining sections of casing.
For the handle, I’d initally planned to use some 6mm sisal rope left over from our rope bed, but it looked very rough. Hemp rope would be nicer to handle and more historically accurate too, so I ordered some from a boating shop (they still stock hemp rope for sheets (ropes) on sailing boats).
I threaded the rope through the eyelets and slats without cutting to length, then got Nico to try it out – it needed 3m of rope.
With the length set, I tied off the stop-points for my splice, unravelled and sealed the ends with beeswax to keep them from fraying, then spliced the ends together to make a smooth join. Then I trlmmed the ends and rolled the splice to set it.
And it’s done. This version should last much longer than the quick mockup!
Afterthoughts
A friend suggested that commercial rulers would work well for the slats, for those with limited woodworking capabilities. They come in a range of sizes and would work well!
While I was working on the bag, I found some additional images which made me re-think the pattern for this style. After making some mini versions to test my new theory, I think this is a better pattern:
The proportions should suit the contents. The slats need to be as long as the longest thing you put inside and the depth measurement enough to wrap around the contents. Then add your semicircular ends plus allowance for hems/casing (here 5cm) and you have your pattern.
It might be possible for me to adjust the bag I made, shortening the slats and changing the end shape, but Nico is happy with it as is, so it will do!