About

The bag

One bag, made properly. Sixteen inches square, unlined, with a fourteen inch handle drop — long enough to sit on the shoulder over a coat, and wide enough to hold a full shop without cutting into your hand.

The canvas is unbleached and undyed. That's why it's a soft off-white rather than a bright one, and why no two bags are quite the same shade. It's the fibre showing through, not a finish.

The printing

Two methods, and we keep them separate so you know what you're getting.

Line drawings are printed one colour at a time, the ink sinking into the weave. Run your hand over it and you feel cloth, nothing else. It stays soft and shouldn't crack with normal wear.

Full colour designs are transfers, which sit on the surface of the canvas. That's what allows the detail and the colour range the line process can't reach — and it means you can see and feel a faint square edge where the print meets the cloth. It's how the process works, not a fault.

The name

Kapas is the word for raw cotton — the boll on the plant, before it becomes thread or cloth or anything else. It seemed right for a shop that sells one thing, made of one material.

Where the bags come from

The designs are drawn and chosen here in Tasmania. The bags are made and printed in Gujarat, India, then shipped to us, checked, packed by hand and posted from Blackmans Bay — usually within a working day.