So my pint-size/Shmedium copy of a support bag is done. This worked out even better than the squishy bag. The heavy canvas was much easier to work with.
I first cut the pieces out, five of them and then before stitching them I waxed the pieces with a canvas wax from Bull Hide Leather. Rub it on and then melted it in with a heat gun. I applied it two times. It did not make the canvas as stiff as I thought it would but it did give it some more body. I then stitched the pieces together adding two handled made from some 1-1/2 web. All the seams are double stitched and the seam in the bottom of the center "valley" in the bag is reinforces with a second piece of canvas on the inside.
The fill is were I really made out. I order some heavy fill from Amazon and compared to the stuff I bought at the local hobby store that I use for the spandex bags it roughly twice as dense and is dense enough the plastic pellets sinks in water. I was very please with this.
I did not do the embroidery of the initials that was from the wife's much newer sewing machine. The canvas I used was scraps from one of her projects and this one scrape had my initials on it from her learning to use her new sewing machine. I was able to incorporate it into one of the side pieces. I am not allowed to play with fancy machine, I am still using a Singer made in the 1950's for Montgomery Ward and passed down to my from my grandmother.
This is the plastic fill:
The low density on the left and the high density on the right.
For a size comparison:
The far left is the larger of my spandex bags and weighs in at 2lbs, the small spandex bag weighs 1.5 lbs, the new canvas bag weighs in at 7.5 lbs. For comparison the large Caldwell commercial bag on the far right only weighs just shy of 7 lbs.
If the weather cooperated my brother and I will put them to the test tomorrow with some shooting.