The TY Tote Bag Enterprise
A Transition Year group must produce 120 tote bags for the Christmas craft fair, selling at €12.00 each. The brief: each bag must carry 6 kg, be machine washable at 40 °C, carry a screen-printed school logo, and cost under €5 in materials. Option A is new cotton canvas, 10 oz, 150 cm wide, at €9.00 per metre. Each bag needs two panels cut 40 cm × 50 cm, which already includes seam and base allowances. Handles are 2.5 cm cotton webbing at €0.65 per bag, a woven label costs €0.15, screen printing costs €0.45 per bag for the run, and thread and needles come to €0.20 per bag. Option B is donated denim jeans, free: 40 pairs have been collected, each yielding enough usable fabric for two bags, but the fabric varies in weight, stretch and shade and several pairs have worn knees.
1. Calculate the material cost per bag and the total material cost and gross margin for the Option A run of 120 bags. Show your cutting-layout reasoning.
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Panel: 40 cm × 50 cm, two per bag. Canvas is 150 cm wide. Across the width: 150 ÷ 40 = 3 panels (120 cm used, 30 cm waste). Along the length: 100 cm gives 2 rows of 50 cm. So 1 m yields 3 × 2 = 6 panels = 3 bags. Fabric per bag = 1/3 m × €9.00 = €3.00.
Cost per bag: fabric €3.00 + webbing €0.65 + label €0.15 + printing €0.45 + thread €0.20 = €4.45. That is inside the €5.00 brief with 55c to spare.
For 120 bags: 40 m of canvas = €360; other consumables 120 × €1.45 = €174; total materials €534. Sales: 120 × €12.00 = €1,440, giving a gross margin before labour, packaging and the stall fee of €906. If the group counts labour at, say, 20 minutes per bag at €12 an hour, that is €4.00 a bag (€480), and the surplus falls to about €426 - still viable, but they should decide now whether they are pricing their time or donating it.
2. Evaluate Option B against Option A using at least three criteria, and make a recommendation.
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Option B (donated denim): the fabric costs nothing and it carries a strong sustainability story, which sells at a craft fair. But 40 pairs at two bags each gives 80 bags, not 120 - the order is short by 40. The fabric varies in weight, stretch and shade, so a rack of 120 bags will look mismatched. Worn knees and bulky seams mean cutting around damage, which wastes time and fabric; denim also needs heavier needles, stronger thread and more machine time, and every pair has to be unpicked first.
Option A (canvas): predictable, uniform, quick to cut in layers at three bags per metre, takes screen printing cleanly, and meets the brief at €4.45.
Judgement: use Option A for the main run of 120, because consistency and delivering the full order on time matter more than a marginal saving. Use the denim for a limited 'recycled' line sold at a premium, or as pocket and accent panels on canvas bags, which keeps the sustainability message without risking the whole order. Whatever is chosen, make one test bag first - load it with 6 kg and wash it at 40 °C - before cutting all the fabric.
3. Explain the care labelling you would specify for the canvas bag and one construction choice, giving reasons for each.
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Care label:
- Fibre composition is a legal requirement under the EU Textile Regulation, so the label must state '100 % cotton' (or the true blend if denim panels are used).
- Care instructions are not mandatory in the EU but are expected by consumers and reduce complaints: 'Machine wash 40 °C, do not bleach, line dry, warm iron, do not dry clean'. This matches the brief and the fact that cotton canvas can shrink 3–5 % on a first hot wash - pre-wash the fabric before cutting or the finished bag will distort.
- Add the producer's name and a batch code for traceability, which also supports the enterprise's marketing.
Construction: a French seam on the side and base seams. It encloses the raw edges inside the seam, so there is no fraying, no overlocker is needed, the inside looks neat, and the seam gets stronger with washing - exactly what a bag carrying 6 kg needs. Order of work: sew wrong sides together with a 1 cm seam, trim to 5 mm, turn, then sew a second 1 cm seam enclosing the first. Finish handle ends with a box-X stitch or bar tack, since that is where tote bags fail first.
Before selling: 6 kg load test, one 40 °C wash, correct needle and tension.