One of the questions we get asked quite often is, “What exactly are your bags made from?”
The short answer is: it depends.
Because when you're working with materials that already exist, you don't get to start with a blank sheet. You start with what you can find, what can be salvaged and, sometimes, what someone else has decided they no longer need.
Over time, we've built relationships with recycling units, scrap and dismantling facilities, manufacturers and industrial surplus suppliers across different material streams. We sort, clean, inspect and then figure out what each material wants to become.
Some become the hero of a bag. Some become a pocket, a strap or a lining. And some are stitched together with a few others to create something completely new.
Here are some of the materials you'll find most often in NO MORE bags.
Once a pair of jeans, now your bag.
PRE-LOVED DENIM
A single pair of jeans takes around 3,781 litres of water to produce over its lifetime. We’d rather keep that denim going.
Our denim comes from post-consumer jeans collected through collection drives and recycling partners, along with post-industrial denim and fabric remnants. Each piece is sorted, cleaned and thoughtfully combined into bags that are entirely one of one.
No two bags are alike. That's exactly the point.
Built to protect. Built to last.
RECLAIMED SEATBELTS
Seatbelt webbing is made for strength and durability. But when a vehicle reaches the end of its life, those webbings can end up being discarded along with it.
We work with authorised scrap and dismantling units to recover seatbelts before vehicles are crushed. Once cleaned and inspected, they find a second life as straps, handles and functional details across our bags.
Some materials are simply too good to use only once.
Designed to be seen. Designed to last.
HI-VIZ UTILITY JACKETS
High-visibility jackets are built for demanding environments, using durable fabrics designed to withstand years of wear.
We source decommissioned jackets from industrial surplus streams and give them another purpose. Each panel is selected, cleaned and incorporated into our bags, keeping the material - and its character - in circulation.
Visibility with a second life.
Made to take on the elements.
REJECTED AIRBAGS
Airbags are engineered to be incredibly strong, lightweight and durable. But sometimes, they don't make it into a vehicle at all.
We work with rejected and surplus airbag material that would otherwise have limited use. Its strength and lightweight construction make it particularly interesting for bags, where we can put those properties to work again.
Made for safety. Ready for a second journey.
Surplus, not surplus to requirements.
DEADSTOCK FABRICS
Deadstock fabrics are materials left over from manufacturing - produced, but never used.
We source these fabrics from manufacturers and surplus streams and work them into our designs wherever they make sense. The quantities are often limited, which means some materials appear only in a handful of pieces.
Already made. Still worth making something from.
A little rain never hurt.
RECLAIMED RAIN JACKET MATERIAL
Rain jackets are designed to keep water out, which makes their discarded fabric particularly useful for us.
We source surplus and industry-discarded rain jacket materials and use them primarily as linings, giving our bags a layer of water-resistant protection without producing something new for the purpose.
A material designed to keep things dry. Now keeping your everyday essentials protected.
Different pieces. One composition.
FABRIC REMNANTS
Not every piece of fabric is large enough to become a bag. That doesn't mean it isn't useful.
We collect fabric remnants and curate them intentionally, bringing different colours, textures and prints together to create panels and patchwork compositions.
What might have been too small to use on its own becomes part of something much bigger.
Nothing has to match perfectly to belong together.
A new material. On our terms.
RECLAIMED LEATHER OFFCUTS
Leather is a material we've consciously stayed away from for a long time. It never quite sat right with us.
Then we came across leather offcuts from a belt manufacturing facility—perfectly usable pieces left behind after production.
So we decided to try it, but on our terms: using what already exists rather than creating new leather for our products.
And that's how leather found its way into Stitched Stories - alongside pre-loved denim and fabric remnants, each piece stitched together into something one of one.
Not new leather. A new use for what already existed.
Why these materials?
We don't use reclaimed materials simply because they're reclaimed.
They have to work.
They need to be durable enough for everyday use, interesting enough to inspire a design and practical enough to become a product you'll want to carry for years.
That's probably the biggest shift in how we've come to think about waste.
We're not trying to make something look sustainable.
We're trying to make something good - and starting with materials that already exist.
Because there is already so much around us that deserves another chance.
NO MORE of More.
