Formal Sporran

**Irish in Tacoma** · 5th August 10, 10:46 PM

After some inspiration by Artificer and some of the other talented DIYers here, I started on a couple of sporrans. My intention was to do a hunting sporran, but I initially got sidetracted with a formal one. Since the basic shape was the same, I made the basic parts for both of them at the same time.

First came the pattern. After playing around with the compass, protractor, and ruler, I came up with the following.

Next came the parts. I made two fronts and two backs. Since most of the store bought sporrans are too small, I made mine with a three inch gusset of deertanned cowhide. The fronts and backs are 9 oz veg tanned leather with more of the deer tanned cowhide glued to the front.

**Irish in Tacoma** · 5th August 10, 10:55 PM

Here is a shot of one of the backs before it was dyed.

For the front, I chose a grey rabbit fur. I'm going to do the dangles in a different colored rabbit.

Since the gusset seam was going to be covered up by the fur wrapping around it, I sewed the gusset to the back side of the front piece.

This shows the front with the rabbit fur on and the top edge trim. I really didn't need to do this part, but I wasn't sure if I could find a cantle, so I put it on just in case and to give it a more finished look. I used pre-dyed black pigskin ("mission grain") for the binding.

**Irish in Tacoma** · 5th August 10, 11:10 PM

Another couple of shots, one of the side and one looking inside. The inside shot makes it look small but its just the camera perspective.

I did find a cantle, but I need to find the camera battery charger I misplaced so I can take more pictures.

Some notes on construction:

The top half of the formal sporran is 6" in diameter, or 3" radius. This fits the cantles, and also (I discovered by accident) is exactly the same size as one of those plastic protractors. It didn't do much for the formal one, but came in handy in laying out the hunting sporran.

I have a roll of construction paper that I cover my workbench with. In addition to giving a clean surface to work on and keeping the dye off the wooden benchtop, it gives a place to write notes and draw diagrams (outline of the front piece with centerlines showing) to help line things up.

Fur is a terrible thing to work with. Glue makes it worse, and trying to sew it up with waxed thread just mixes everything up. I'm glad that part is done.

Get a box of rubber gloves from the pharmacy. They are great for gluing, dying, and other nasty jobs. The box of 100 is cheap and you just toss them when you are done.

The edge binding became a bit of a liability, because I sewed it on before I received the cantle. I had to trim a bit to make it fit right. Get the cantle first. I think I got this from SportKilt for about $20.

**BLHS209** · 6th August 10, 07:59 AM

Wow, very nice. The photo's and description make seem fairly easy to make. But I know better than that....

**Irish in Tacoma** · 6th August 10, 08:14 PM

You'd be surprised. Most of this is pretty easy stuff, but like everything, can take a lifetime to "master". Each new project brings a little more experience in layout, dyeing, finishing, assembly, stamping, etc. There are actually very few tools needed to do most projects. A little trial and error goes a long way.

**Eleazar** · 6th August 10, 09:16 PM

Very nice indeed.

**artificer** · 7th August 10, 05:59 AM

Looking good! I can't wait to see it with the tassels and cantle. I'm also looking forward to seeing the hunter!

**kiltedsawyer** · 13th August 10, 07:21 AM

Thank you so much for sharing your design. I have been wanting to make a similar sporran, but didn't know the dimensions. Looking forward to seeing the finished product! Thanks again.

David