Help with building a skunk fur sporran

[usndoc]

I am getting married in August and I am lacking a more formal sporran. The one I have is a semi dress brown rabbit front. I think something in black would look better with the Macgregor kilt I will be wearing.

I have aquired a full skunk pelt. I am seriously considering making a sporan out of this pelt. It has character and would mean a lot to the person that gave me the pelt.

I have a general idea for the pattern and access to leather at a local shop for the gusset sides and back panel.

Does anyone have any advice on working with fur pelts for sporran making? I have searched here and google. I see a lot on bare leather but little on fur. I think that building it inside out would help hide the stitches on the fur side.

The mask was not removed carefully enough to use for a "full mask". The tail is in great shape.

I do not have a cantel and I am not sure if I even want one on it. That leads me to building a flap out of part of the pelt.

I have an idea of putting the fur on the flap and making the flap the main part of the sporran. Under the flap would be plain leather. You would only see that area if the flap was open.

I will try to post a photo of the pelt so you can see what I have to work with.

[Tartan Hiker]

My suggestions would be these.

1. Don't use the tail on the flap. It would end up looking a bit more penile than you'd want at a wedding.
2. You'll probably have to work inside out then reverse it, as you stated. Be certain that neither the gusset nor the back are too rigid, since you definitely don't want to wet the pelt (wetting stiff leather is the only way to do the reversal)

[usndoc]

No, I was not going to use the tail for the flap... :-) That would not look appropriate at all. I might make a key chain out of it.

[Pour1Malt]

use this threid as a visual reference....

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=17878

Bae Cannie! ...many fur sporrans turn oot ooglie an luekin like roadkill...

ya dinnae want tae hae roadkill tied roon yur waist.... :rolleyes:

ai suggest buyin' a gorgeous enameled sporran instead....

[usndoc]

I wish that mine had a decent mask to work with. As for road kill.... would a good highlander have used roadkill? That is if they had cars killing the critters? Its would be a shame to let a good pelt go to waste. Plus the tire tread gives it more texture :-)

[auld argonian]

...once again, I'll refer you guys to that leather company that has a suprising range of pelts available:

leather unlimited

http://leatherunltd.com/leather/skins/skins.html

Skunk is further down on the page.

I can't vouch that the masks are in sporran-perfect shape but you can probably contact them and asks...they seem very customer oriented.

Best

AA

[way2fractious]

As for road kill.... would a good highlander have used roadkill? ... Its would be a shame to let a good pelt go to waste.

I have had two good experiences with FRESH!!! roadkill, a year apart. Two fine specimens of local gray fox, both skinned immediately, salted, and rolled. One I oil tanned using a mail order tanning kit; the other went to a local tannery and was dry (or garment) tanned.

If the kill is not fresh (hours, or a very cold overnight), decomposition destroys the hair follicles and the fur pulls out. Most tanneries will not take walk-in trade for this reason, or will make you sign a waiver regarding damage during the tanning process.

Highlanders wore whatever they could, ate whatever they could, and used sticks and really heavy stones to amuse themselves in athletics. I'd bet they used whatever (and however it was presented) to fabricate articles of high utilitarian value.

[way2fractious]

No, I was not going to use the tail for the flap... :-) That would not look appropriate at all. I might make a key chain out of it.

The pelts of small furbearing mammals make wonderful sporrans. I've made several and will make many more from my collection of pelts (if I quit making kilts from my collection of fabrics and tartans.) Do not discount the tail. Both the mask AND the tail are in use here on my favorite homemade sporran. Because the tail is off-center, there is no risk of it being mistaken for something else very large and hairy, but it does have a nice "swing" to it that complements the swing of the pleats behind.





Referring to the tail ONLY - here is a my homemade badger sporran with the tail on the flap. In truth, I only put it there as a placeholder for the full mask - if or when I get it finished.



Both of these are very large, fully usable sporrans. They were constructed with a plain fabric front panel. The mouth of the sporran is reinforced with a circle of stiff leather belt. The main piece of fur is cut large and handstitched to the belt and somewhere on the gusset toward the back panel, and the stitching is not nearly as noticeable as you imagine. Stuff the sporran to fullness with newspaper beforehand. The edges of the fur have to be gently "pleated" around the curves. Extra pieces of fur are glued/stitched on each side of the flap to flank the mask or tail or whatever (or do the whole flap in fur.) I pass on adding feet or tassels.

These sporrans are obviously rustic, but have a certain classiness to them. Mr. Skunk nicely complements any black and white outfit.

Kids will love your fur sporran - but beware of women who try to pet your sporran while you're wearing it!

[ozmeath]

Usndoc, Sounds like you could use a similar pattern that I did. I made a casual, My one and only attempt at sporran making, and it worked just great.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=17283
With the side pieces, if they're of fur I'd shave down where the seam is to get a clean join. As for the fur flap on the front you could have that as a separate piece to the back, and line it with a longer piece of finer leather so it can be seen when you open the sporran yet cover the seam of the fur flap. The combination of the two layers should compensate for the lack of a heavier piece that would usually be used.
I'm glad you've decided against a cantle, I think the pelt would look better without. I'd recomend a figure-8 stitch with awl and two needles and waxed cotton.You may need to wax it yourself by running it thru bees' wax a few times.
Erin.

[majdan]

Doc,

While I've not made a sporran yet I have been making gun leather for over 15 years now. I will make myself a badger sporran as soon as I get back from Afghanistan(I'm short) so I've been going some research on sporran patterns which brought me here.

If you want to make a headless sporran like the one above, here is what I'd do (and probable do myself when I get home):

Start with the Old Blackwatch sporran pattern found here:http://www.nwta.com/patterns/pdfs/291sporr.pdf
there are some modifactions that you will want to make. You"ll want to move the attachment points for your D rings in a couple inches and not use the strap shown. Make sure that you dye your gusset black before you stich it up. Glue the skin onto the front and the flap peice and dress the edges with a 1/2 inch strip of either glove weight pig skin or any other light weight hide as you stich it together. This is what they did in the picture above. Once again make sure that it's the color you want before you stich it up. You can ditch the tassles or make them out of black light weight leather.

Rember to cut fur from the back side with a very sharp knife only cuting the hide.

A few tools that you will find very handy are:

1) A stiching awl and a spool of waxed black thread. This will make all of the stiching much easier.
2) a Grooving tool. You use this to make a uniform groove along where you are going to stich. It helps to keep your stich line straight and helps the stiching to lie flat.
3) Either a star wheel and a awl or a 3 or 4 point stiching chisle (I always use a a chisle) . Either of these to line up and make your holes for the stiching.
4) a small bottle of black dye and some latex gloves. the dye will not only dye the leather that your sporran is made of but also the leather that you are made of. So if you don't to explain that don't have some sort of necrotic skin disease because your distal phalanges are turning black you might want to use gloves when you dye.

I hope that that helps. I'll post the results of my project in about a month or so.

Maj Daniel Morris
TF Phoenix
Afghanistan