Any backpack is not made easily, they have to go through design, material selection, proofing and other processes before production. The article aims to introduce these. As an old bag factory with more than 20 years of experience, how his sample makers bring the patterns on the paper into reality.
Here are some of the Steps:
STEP 1- The bag sample maker communicates with the designer about the sketch and details
STEP 2- The stylist breaks down the backpack structure and builds a template for each piece
STEP 3- Cutting
STEP 4- Use sewing equipment to stitch fabric into a bag
STEP 5- Use sample and test for ergonomic suitability
STEP 1- The bag sample maker communicates with the designer about the sketch and details
Product design sketch is the first step of bag design, it should be able to reflect the concept, trend, market forecast, material, color and size, etc.,it is the most important step, the designer will refer to the needs of customers to design products, analyse the demands of consumers and what can be improved.
“Many of our clients have their own professional design teams, and they will give us the design drawings and product details. We will communicate with the customer about the product details and let the printer prepare for further steps. Of course, there are customers who don’t have their own designers, so we will provide samples from our sample rooms and catalog to customers as reference for design.” Said the sales manager of Honeyoung Bag.
STEP 2- The stylist breaks down the backpack structure and builds a template for each piece
Make a sample from the design. After studying the product design carefully, the printer calculates how many pieces of material are needed for the product on the sketch. And calculate the size of each piece of material. The patterners then use the cardboard to make the same shape and size as each piece of material. Usually a simple structure of the backpack has about 15 templates, the more complex the backpack structure, the more templates.
STEP 3- Cutting
The stenographer places the template on the fabric and then carefully cuts the fabric on the same piece of fabric with a knife according to the shape of the template. If the fabric is different, it may cause the difference on a bag without the color difference. This link must not be wrong, or the finished backpack will be deformed. In addition, the direction of the fabric texture is also a point to pay attention to. If the wrong direction of the fabric texture is used when cutting, the finished product will be deformed.
STEP 4- Use sewing equipment to stitch fabric into a bag
As an old Chinese saying goes, “If a worker wants to do a good job, he must first sharpen his tools.” A high-speed sewing machine is essential for stitching fabric into a backpack. Sewing machines used in factories are more efficient and intelligent than those used at home. In addition to sewing machines, a lot of equipment will be used in the production of backpacks, such as full-automatic cutting machine, synchronous sewing machine and vertical type sewing machine.
Sewing: sewing is the most important process in the production process of backpack, directly affect the quality of the backpack. Sewing is divided into sewing front piece, sewing envelope, sewing material, padded sewing, sewing side pocket, sewing accessories, assembly accessories, installing zipper head, sewing rear piece, Post Bed Sewing Machine and assemble bags, each process is very important.
STEP 5- Use sample and test for ergonomic suitability
First of all, a preliminary inspection of the appearance is needed, observe whether the product is defective, and the appearance must be smooth, cutting thread ends.
Then, the printer needs to measure the size of each key position of the sample,to make sure it is consistent with the product data requirements. The standard of Honeyoung bag is to control the size error within 0.3 cm.
A good backpack should not be “useless”. After production, it needs to undergo a series of quality tests. We will use professional tension testing machines to measure the backpack’s tensile performance and load-bearing capacity. A test of pulling up and down with 10 kg load in the backpack. The test must be done at least 500 times. If the handle and shoulder strap of the bag do not break during the test, then the product has passed. Different types of bags have different requirements. For example, hiking bags need to pass 20kg load bearing test, while students’ backpacks only need to pass 5kg’s.
Some bags also need to do wear-resistant test, waterproof test, color fastness test. If the product is exported to Europe, it also needs to pass chemical tests to ensure that the nickel, mercury and other harmful substances in the product are within the safe range.
An experienced bag manufacturer can produce 3-4 templates a day. The sample room of Honeyoung bag has 3 stylists and 6 sewing masters, which can turn the sketches of 10 bags into samples in one day, which will greatly reduce the time. After the sample is printed, the customer will have deeper understanding of the product when he sees the sample. The sample also provide convenience for us to improve or modify. Bringing the sketch of a backpack into reality is the most important step before mass production.
