Thanks very much, folks, some great ideas I hadn't thought of!

artificer said:

" If I had to guess I'd say it was probably the chain and it's clips that are wearing on your apron, although the edges of the strap keeper may be an issue as well.

I'd be amazed if the maker's mark was the issue."

I don't think the chain is to blame - I was very careful to select one that had no burrs and had the open side of the clips away from the kilt when the chain was flat.

I think you are right about the strap keeper because it does have a fairly sharp edge around it. It may well be responsible for the higher part of the scuffing, though it extends a bit too low for this to be the only cause. I guess I could try bevelling and slicking the keeper as others suggested for the outer edge.

I'll check out the maker's mark again, the edges are very sharp and quite deep, unlike most leather stamps I've seen. May be cut, rather than pressed?

Thanks for your insight.

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Chas said:

"Most sporrans of this type have a rough outer edge. The edge is usually not "slicked"..."

You are spot on, the edge is a straight square cut and quite hard to the touch. Also the texture of the leather creates an almost serrated top (kilt side) edge.

Your description of bevelling and slicking reminds me of years ago when I used to be into lino cuts and I'm guessing the tools would be much the same. Search of the shed called for, I think I may still have them!

I'll certainly give it a try - sounds quite therapeutic!

I wonder if a piece of chamois leather would work for the slicking? I used to use that for fine finishing of the edges of wooden furniture - took a long time but produced a perfect result.

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MNlad said:

"... or switch to a leather sporran strap...

... slick it up and finish it off with a bit of shoe polish to match the color of your sporran...

... Finally, it looks like there is a knot in the stitching at the bottom of the sporran..."

I know leather sporran straps are the favourite here but I've never been very keen on them - I can't get them to lie right when I'm sitting (I'm too thin, perhaps!) but I'll bear it in mind.

I might get away without more polish/stain the leather looks like it was pretty thoroughly soaked but I won't know until I bevel it. I do have a black stain I got from an upholsterer in England years ago. It came with a kind of "fixer" that was painted on afterwards and stopped it staining clothing etc, so that may just do the trick if necessary.

Thanks Ken and The Official [BREN] for your reminders about leaking polishes.

I was thinking of undoing the stitching to remove the knot you spotted and tying a smaller knot between the back and edge leather layers, like I do with double skin belts. I can usually work a small knot into one of the stitch holes so the two skins lie flat. The hard part (making the holes) is already done!

I'll post back when I've made some progress.

Thanks, Tom and Artificer for the additional thoughts. I do have my doubts about the quality of the leather - it is stamped as "Real Leather" and smells like leather but it might be one of the near substitutes - I'll know when I try bevelling it.