My range of travel luggage consists of a duffle bag; toiletry bag; wallet and luggage tag. The duffle bag features patchwork appliqué using tweed and corduroy fabrics; a pleather base and handles with a personalised 'M' motif laser cut and embossed into pleather. The inner base of the bag is stabilised with a heavy weight Pellon. The toiletry bag's inner lining is a sublimation printed image of a map on water proof canvas. The outer is water proof with a brown dyed strip and decorative braid. I enhanced the zipper pull tab with an embossed pleather 'M'. My wallet has a highly textured, tactile fabric exterior with contrasting smooth inner lining. It has a magnetic closure on the pleather tab and also features the 'M' motif. My luggage tag was laser cut and shows a large embossed letter 'M' on the coordinating pleather. It is able to be secured to the duffle bag handle with a black buckle. I thoroughly enjoyed this design experience. It achieved many functional and aesthetic features suited to the end-use goals. I gained insight into the many difficulties of manufacturing. It strengthened my problem solving skills through thinking about innovative solutions. Some challenges included determining the most appropriate material for straps; stitch type for pleather; sewing foot for leather; needle type and size for pleather; fabrics for outer shell of wallet/duffle bag/toiletry bag in terms of combinations of colour, textures, lustre and strength; closure type; fabric and finish for lining; stitches to apply the patches; type of cutting tools and method. The most significant functional element is the selection and placement of each of the fabrics to withstand the rigour of use when travelling. Not only are the fabrics best placed for durability and efficiency, the colours of the fabrics were chosen to be enduring and resistant to wear and tear.
