Making the Demob Case

I wanted to make the Demob case to use as the vessel that the other objects are placed in to help give the impression that a soldier has just walked in home from war and put down the case. I like the vintage appearance of the old case as well so I thought it ould be a fun thing to create.

Original Plans

        Initially I was going to make the case from wood and chicken wire, but I opted to make it from cardboard and just fibreglass that using clear resin as I thought the case would look interesting lit up if it was semi-transparent. I used the dimensions I found on the internet to make sure the case was an accurate scale as the other objects were so this being off scale would look odd in a way that I didn’t want it to. Once I had all the pieces I stuck them together using parcel tape and also covering the whole of the outside of each case lid in parcel tape so that when I used the resin the cardboard would stay in the right shape and not get stuck in to it. To fibreglass these I used a multi-purpose resin rather than a clear resin partially because it was only available one and also I was now reconsidering covering the fibreglass in fabric anyway because it would look much more feminine.  It took a lot of resin to do the fibreglass on the lids but dried reasonably quickly, though there was a greenish tint to the fibreglass because  of the resin I used. The edges also came out very rough so I had to file and sand these down to a smother finish. I didn’t enjoy this at all, because it resulted in me have a lot of tiny glass fibres in my skin which was very itchy and uncomfortable. At least I know now that when I so that process of fibreglass to wear gloves and pull my sleeves down so my skin is covered.

The Fibreglass Shells

Once this was done I decided I would definitely upholster the case and try to make it look luxurious which really contrasts the idea of this case because its coming back from war, something not luxurious in the slightest. So to do this I used some satin, purple bed linen and an old bed pillow which was torn apart to get the stuffing from. I glued the satin to the case in a way that made it looked cushioned and then stuffed the filling in this.  The overall look of the interior reminded me of quilting because of the padding, which was something that was done a lot by women in WW2 so I was pleased with this link in the outcome. 

The next thing I did was to cover the outside of the case. I wanted to keep with the Make Do and Mend theme so I collected some old floral skirts from charity shops to use. One that I found I really liked with the colour of it and the satin together and had an air of Cath Kidston about it which made it both more feminine and luxurious. Another theme I am carrying through the whole project is the hand made and hand stitching, so I cut and sewed the corners in a way to deliberately show the stitches. Then I sewed the outer material to the inside one to cover the edges of the fibreglass. 

The next thing to do was to add the eyelets in to the lids so I could thread the ribbon through which would act as a feminine solution to a hinge. This was done by using a drill to make holes prior to fabrication, then forcing the two piece of the eyelets to lock together by hammering them, this also cut through the material. This was relatively easy but I did have an issue with two of the eyelets through the thicker parts of the resin as when I hit them to join the two eyelet pieces together they didn’t meet up properly through the resin so one part got stick inside. This was frustrating as, to me it ruined the look of the case because the fabric already had holes and I could re-do them as the eyelet piece was stuck firmly in the resin and I didn’t want to risk breaking it. So to get around this I trimmed the fabric for a better finish and glued to other piece of the eyelet where it would have been. This worked but to me it’s now not perfect so I still find it a bit annoying even thought it won’t be clearly visible when the ribbon is threaded through.

The material use on the case

All I had left to do at this point was to add details to make the case more realistic. I firstly made the handle, this was simple because all I did was knit a section folded it and sewed it to made a thick knitted handle, which I sewed on to the top lid of the case. This was so the lid would be easily lifted and to me it balanced to look nicely. The next detail added was the lock/clasp section at the front of the case. This was made by crocheting two semi-circles, one was bigger to go on the bottom which I noticed in the reference image I used these were them sewn on to the case as well. 

One of the extra bits of detail I added was the crochet trim around the edges of the lids. I did this because I wanted to look more feminine but also to use it to accent the case and draw attention to both it and its contents. The next section I did is actually more important to the case as it was the straps to hold the lids up when it’s opened. This was a simple solution, I used the excess ribbon from the hinge part and cut that to size, sewed those on a used  white crochet flowers to cover the joins to make it look more finished.

Case With details

I like the appearance of the ribbon and eyelet at the back of the case

Handle and Lock Area

Personally I think the outcome looks good, the size it right and the details and colours compliment each other without being too much. I’m not hugely satisfied with the eyelets still but at least I know the issue in the future so I would sand the thicker bits down so the eyelets fitted through better. All in all I believe this object, which was initially a masculine one from war, had been changed in to something far more feminine and homely using some methods and materials that were from the WW2 era, which is what I set out to achieve.