Possibles Bag

[Spinner]

I got my dad into Black Powder shooting last year by accident. He's now getting into the spirit of the hobby and attending rendeavous and such and needs some period style gear. So, I am trying to make a few things for him and am finding there is a lack of templates for possibles bags online. So I sat down at the computer on Saturday and using a number of photo references put together a template/cut-sheet that I thought I would share.

These are the major pieces for a 'beaver flap' style possibles bag minus the side strip. I figure it will change depending on the size bag one wanted to make and it's simply a straight strip that would be sewn in, so don't forget to make one to your size preference. Hope it helps someone!

It's full size, which unfortunately won't print on most printers so you may have to either print it in pieces and cut/paste them together after printing or simply adjust your print settings to 70-80%. Just make sure to adjust them all to the same % so the pattern pieces still work together.

Chris

[UKRay]

Hey, Chris - how about a picture of the finished bag?

Ray

[Spinner]

Hehe...as soon as I make one Ray, I'll be happy to post it! I kind of suck at sewing/lacing still so I'm practicing on test pieces right now. I hope to have one made in the next week or so and will post when I get one done.

[esantoro]

Nice patterns, Chris. How did you get the patterns to be symmetrical? Even when I outline an item and get the vector outline, the lines still need to be smoothed out, and then the only way I can get the pattern to be symmetrical is to print out only half the pattern, which is than doubled when I transfer onto poster board. I've been using Corel Draw.

Ed

I got my dad into Black Powder shooting last year by accident. He's now getting into the spirit of the hobby and attending rendeavous and such and needs some period style gear. So, I am trying to make a few things for him and am finding there is a lack of templates for possibles bags online. So I sat down at the computer on Saturday and using a number of photo references put together a template/cut-sheet that I thought I would share.

These are the major pieces for a 'beaver flap' style possibles bag minus the side strip. I figure it will change depending on the size bag one wanted to make and it's simply a straight strip that would be sewn in, so don't forget to make one to your size preference. Hope it helps someone!

It's full size, which unfortunately won't print on most printers so you may have to either print it in pieces and cut/paste them together after printing or simply adjust your print settings to 70-80%. Just make sure to adjust them all to the same % so the pattern pieces still work together.

Chris

[Spinner]

Nice patterns, Chris. How did you get the patterns to be symmetrical? Even when I outline an item and get the vector outline, the lines still need to be smoothed out, and then the only way I can get the pattern to be symmetrical is to print out only half the pattern, which is than doubled when I transfer onto poster board. I've been using Corel Draw.

Ed

Hey Ed,

I drew the whole thing out in XaraX. It's a program I have been using for about 10 years now. Unlike Corel or PS, it does everything in vectors, not pixels or vector conversions. How I do a drawing is this:

Lay out a layer for guides (grid lines) for my major and minor measurements. Then I draw one half of the piece to the spec I want. From there I will clone, flip and move the half into position on the opposite side. Xara's line tool has an option to select two lines and connect them at ending points as an editable join. By connecting the two sets of ending points, it gives me the full shape and I simply have to smooth out the two joins to make everything look right. As I add pieces, I add reference guides to use in lining up future pieces of the template.

I also work in layers, using a different color for each piece so I can overlay them on top of each other to make sure each piece is the right size and fits accordingly. For items that have multiple pieces that use the same set of curves like the front/back, back/flap, etc. I simply take the last drawing of one piece and slice it up/add to it to create the next piece. This ensures all of my curves on the new pieces are exactly the same as the first one.

To do this drawing, I had 7 visible layers & 7 different colors going. Using different colors for each layer/piece ensures that I can identify if one piece is deviating from the rest without having to figure out which piece is off.

As to what you were asking about on curves:

The initial drawing does take a bit of smoothing to get the exact curves I want sometimes. One thing I learned is to play with the number of plot points in my lines. I have a general idea of how tight a curve I can get from nudging a straight line and so I will plot my line and then nudge it into place. If I still can't attain the curve I am looking for, I will add a plot point into the middle somewhere and then nudge both sections until I get it. The fewer plots points in a curved line, the smoother the final line will look.

[esantoro]

Thanks, Chris.

So far my method has been to outline the object I want using the pen tool in Corel Draw (for me CD is more intuitive than is Illustrator). I use as many pen points as possible. I then remove the background color graphic and am left with the vector lines, which I enlarge to appropriate thickness. I then tweak the pen points to get the lines as smooth as possible. I crop the best looking half of the vector drawing and print out onto graph paper that has lines drawn every 2 mm. I also print out a reverse copy. I position both sides onto poster board so that they line up properly. I tape the printed patterns into place so they don't move around. I then use either a thumb tack or a scratch awl to make a bunch of little pinholes along the vector lines through to the poster board. I remove the printed patterns and am left with a perforated outline of the pattern on the posterboard. My smoothing out comes with cuttling along the perforations with a very sharp exacto knife, which I strop every now and then on 1200 or 2000 grit paper. I am then left with a posterboard pattern, which I will some day transfer to a sturdier material.

Thanks for your pointers, as I need to improve my use of these computer programs. My method is very simplified.

I first started printing out to grid paper (there's a link somewhere for making grid paper to custom specifications), but ended up not really needing it.

Ed

Hey Ed,

I drew the whole thing out in XaraX. It's a program I have been using for about 10 years now. Unlike Corel or PS, it does everything in vectors, not pixels or vector conversions. How I do a drawing is this:

Lay out a layer for guides (grid lines) for my major and minor measurements. Then I draw one half of the piece to the spec I want. From there I will clone, flip and move the half into position on the opposite side. Xara's line tool has an option to select two lines and connect them at ending points as an editable join. By connecting the two sets of ending points, it gives me the full shape and I simply have to smooth out the two joins to make everything look right. As I add pieces, I add reference guides to use in lining up future pieces of the template.

I also work in layers, using a different color for each piece so I can overlay them on top of each other to make sure each piece is the right size and fits accordingly. For items that have multiple pieces that use the same set of curves like the front/back, back/flap, etc. I simply take the last drawing of one piece and slice it up/add to it to create the next piece. This ensures all of my curves on the new pieces are exactly the same as the first one.

To do this drawing, I had 7 visible layers & 7 different colors going. Using different colors for each layer/piece ensures that I can identify if one piece is deviating from the rest without having to figure out which piece is off.

As to what you were asking about on curves:

The initial drawing does take a bit of smoothing to get the exact curves I want sometimes. One thing I learned is to play with the number of plot points in my lines. I have a general idea of how tight a curve I can get from nudging a straight line and so I will plot my line and then nudge it into place. If I still can't attain the curve I am looking for, I will add a plot point into the middle somewhere and then nudge both sections until I get it. The fewer plots points in a curved line, the smoother the final line will look.

[Spinner]

Hey Ed,

If it ain't broken, no sense in fixing it...sounds like your method is pretty much the same as mine with a bit more manual manipulation. This is the first time I have some this sort of template but last week I used this technique for drawing and will be starting to use it for carving patterns. Xara has a 3D beveler tool that allows me to get a very good approximation of what the carving should look like without having to test it out on leather to see if I like it. When I get home I'll post something I did last week as a test to show what I mean.

[Luke Hatley]

Spinner nice shape for a Beaver Tail bag.

what part of the country are you in.

"see you on the Green"

[Spinner]

Thanks Luke. I'm in Los Angeles...your post reminded me to add some details to my profile. LOL

[anne newkold]

Look forward to seeing it Sunday at the local guild meeting.

[Spinner]

Hey Ed, here is an example of how I am beginning to plan out my project templates. First I do the line drawing and then I can apply the layers and bevels & textures to it to get a rough idea of how it will look.

Look forward to seeing it Sunday at the local guild meeting.

I don't know if I'll have one of these finished yet Anne, here's the practice piece I will likely bring Sunday (hopefully with more progress on it):

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=17186

Edited June 8, 2009 by Spinner

[esantoro]

I downloaded the trial version of XARA, which is completely new to me. Seems quite nice.

Thanks,

ed

Hey Ed, here is an example of how I am beginning to plan out my project templates. First I do the line drawing and then I can apply the layers and bevels & textures to it to get a rough idea of how it will look.

I don't know if I'll have one of these finished yet Anne, here's the practice piece I will likely bring Sunday (hopefully with more progress on it):

http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=17186

[St8LineGunsmith]

I made this bag for one of my wifes co-workers. he is supposed to take some pictures of it for me if he does I will post them here.

the bag turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself.

it is all hand stitched which took forever and a day!

I won't make another one without a machine.

[Ian1783]

Spinner, can you (or anyone) explain how the "rear support tabs" are used? I can see how the rest of the bag is meant to go together, but have no idea about those tabs. What do they support?

Perhaps you could use your new way of working up designs, to see how they look (computer rendering), on this bag.

And thanks! This looks like a perfect first project. I'm thinking of adding a gusset to the design.

Ian

SF Bay Area

http://imcinnis.blogspot.com/

[St8LineGunsmith]

I did not use the tabs on the bag I made for I did not see much of a need for them however the tabs go in between the front flap and back

[humperdingle]

Looks like they're used as a reinforcing hinge perhaps?

[St8LineGunsmith]

Ya that is my thoughts as well however the leather I used was pretty sturdy so It really did not need reinforcement.

[Dwight]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Blackey Cole]

Tandy's online leather library has a black powder shooter pattern pack, and several patterns for possibles. Yeah it's not free but the patterns while look dated, the fifties, still are useful.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Blackey Cole

[St8LineGunsmith]

Here's some pics of the one I made

[Blackey Cole]

Nice possibles bag. Little loops for tools would have been a nice touch

[St8LineGunsmith]

Nice possibles bag. Little loops for tools would have been a nice touch

They are on the shoulder strap.