I Made A Sporran!

[Muddy]

Wanted to share how I recently made a "poor mans fur-head-on sporran".
I was at Goodwill and spotted a womens "stole" the other day. Red fox
with the head and everything for $7.99. I bought it, took it home and carefully
pulled off the ripped and worn silk lining on the back exposing just the healthy
pelt. I carefully cut off the head portion at approximately "flap" length, turned the rest the other way so the fur ran the right direction.....then using imitation sinew (found in my father in laws box of "effects") I stitched the sides and the top together inside out and then turned it back the right way.
I stitched the little paws on the back down to form the flap where the belt
goes thru. The last thing I did was to super glue a separate piece of stiff
scrap leather, cut to size to the inside back to stiffen the sporran. Voila!!
A poor mans fox head sporran! It looks pretty good and is quite likely more
like what an authentic Highlander might have made than the $3 to 600 dollar
commercially made sporrans out there. I'm pleased. Hustle down to your local
thrift store and look for an old "stole"....I see them every so often though you
must keep looking for a bit till one turns up. Good luck!
P.S.....sorry, I'm not able to shoot a pic at this time as my computer is broken
and I'm currently using my wife's work lap-top when she brings it home.......

[Bob C]

Sounds great. I would not have guessed that fur stoles would show up in thrift stores, except on rare occasions.

[David Thornton]

Very timely as well.
Does anyone have a patern for a full face sporran? I have a client in the critter getter business. He said he would make me on if I could find an easy pattern.
David

[cavscout]

Way to capitalize on a rare find!

[auld argonian]

For the adventurous, I submit this link to a leather company that has full skins of lots of interesting critters:

http://leatherunltd.com/furs/natural/natural.html

(you'll have to cursor down to the bottom of the page to get to the sporran-friendly critters...unless you want a full elk skin sporran)

I just don't think that I could get away with a critter sporran...my dogs would probably be chasing it around the house all the time and my neutered-but-he-doesn't-realize-it would probably be trying to *ahem* "take it out on a date".

Best

AA

[GMan]

Great bit of recycling you did there Muddy, I commend you on your creativity.

[GlassMan]

I just don't think that I could get away with a critter sporran...my dogs would probably be chasing it around the house all the time and my neutered-but-he-doesn't-realize-it would probably be trying to *ahem* "take it out on a date".

Best

AA

My spouse saw a full face sporran of a badger at the Scottish Merchant in Alexandria this weekend and he thought it looked really cool.

Thankfully he also agreed with me that it wouldn't survive in our house long. Our beloved pooch would either tear it to shreds - or worse - attack it while I was wearing it possibly neutering me!

[Shay]

Sounds great. I would not have guessed that fur stoles would show up in thrift stores, except on rare occasions.

More often than you think- a lot of women today don't wear fur for one reason or another. (I myself don't wear anything I don't eat, but there's also the fear that one will be targeted for abuse.) For a number of reasons, fur stoles (and stoles in general) have become passe. But the old stoles were made really well and hold up over time. There's a thriving business around here that takes old fur coats/jackets and makes them into teddy bears!

A quick search on EBay turns up a lot:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...ole&category0=

Sounds great, Muddy, we can't wait to see pics!

[Sherry]

More often than you think- a lot of women today don't wear fur for one reason or another. (I myself don't wear anything I don't eat, but there's also the fear that one will be targeted for abuse.) For a number of reasons, fur stoles (and stoles in general) have become passe. But the old stoles were made really well and hold up over time. There's a thriving business around here that takes old fur coats/jackets and makes them into teddy bears!

A quick search on EBay turns up a lot:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...ole&category0=

Sounds great, Muddy, we can't wait to see pics!

Yep, my PIL gave me a wrap that belonged to my FIL's mother, a beautiful blonde mink. But I don't wear it because it is so passe. I had already wanted to make, or have made, a teddy bear from it, but now I want dress sporrans made for my guys. I believe there'd still be enough left over for a wee teddy bear for my DD.