Fur sporran help

[Oregon_Lamont]

I was just given a complete fur on seal pelt that my wife's grandfather brought back from Alaska in 1947. I would like to make a sporran with part of it, but I have never made a fur sporran before.

Are there any tips or tricks that I could use to make this come out right? I really don't want to waste this pelt making rookie mistakes.

Thanks for any advice given.

[Downunder Kilt]

I am not a sporran maker, but I would suggest that you try to make a couple with some cheap acrylic fur so that you can work out the best way to attached the fur to a sporran.

I am sure a few of the resident sporranmakers on this forum will chime in with some tips

Good luck with your project

[artificer]

I would encourage you to do exactly as Downunder Kilt suggests. Make a LOT of sporrans before you start cutting up that antique seal! It is, for all intents and purposes, irreplaceable here in the states.

If you'd like me to send you some tips, drop me an email to artificer@earthlink.net.

BTW: I would also document in whatever way possible how you came by the pelt. Any animal sourced after the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 was passed can be confiscated and may be subject to fines - so you want to make sure you don't lose what is rightfully yours.

ith:

[davidlpope]

While I'm very much a proponent of DIY, I'd encourage you to at least consider having a professional sporran maker make this particular sporran. You might find one that would be willing to trade part or all of their labor costs for some seal fur.

If you do decide to do this yourself, please, please buy several inexpensive muskrat skins and make two or three practice sporrans so that you will be at the top of your game when you start cutting up the seal hide.

Best of luck in your endeavor!

[Oregon_Lamont]

I just got the whole story on how the seal fur was obtained. The seal was killed in 1939 on St. George Island, Alaska for the Fouke Fur Co. My wife's grandfather was stationed there while in the navy and was in charge of recording the number of seals taken by the fur companies. I now have all the documentation to use the skin. I will probably have someone else make the sporran for me and practice with cheap furs for awhile.

[Harold Cannon]

That is probably the best move. I am pretty good but I waited a long time before taking on my seal sporran. Iain Sherwood does fantastic work. So you may want to look him up. He is tained to deal with museum pieces and even makes custom working cantles in real silver. It may be a bit expensive but worth it.

[Pleater]

Do you have a museum or conservator you could consult before even starting the project?

With the skin being over 70 years old it could be in need of some treatment or dressing to help it, or perhaps it is no longer strong enough for the task of being a sporran.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Jon Lilley]

Very sound advice, Anne! I would agree that a pelt from anything that old would probably fall apart the minute you tried to do anything with it. Get yourself a cheap sporran and take it apart to see if you really want to do all that work first.

I was given an old seal skin sporran, but the pelt was so bald I couldn't really wear it. The cantle screwed off very easily. I snipped the threads that held the pelt on and it fell off. It was glued on when it was new, but that had long since turned to dust. I used the old pelt to make a pattern for the new covering and it worked out fine. All I wanted to do was recover it. I really didn't want to dissect any further than that. A good friend had sent me a few furry bovine pelts so the timing was perfect. I used Gorilla Glue (sort of like Rubber Cement) to secure the pelt to the front and stitched the edges back down, screwed the cantle back on and I was pretty much done. I wasn't really sure how to recreate the tassels so I cut 3 dowel plugs that fit into the bells, covered them with the left over pelt, poked them threw to the inside and I was on my way. It wasn't really that difficult and I think it only took about 2 hours so if you've got the time and the wherewithal, you should be fine.

Good luck!