Sporran Leather Weight Questions?

[artificer]

Hello all,
I am embarking on the exciting (and apparently addictive) journey of crafting my own sporrans. As you may or may not be able to guess by my forum name, I am a crafter of things... don't ask all what - you're probably not interested.

I've done leather work in the past, but only as an accent to whatever else I'm making. So 'bags' are relatively new to me.

I've been browsing around this site and many others looking at sporrans, and have finally come to a stall-point and need some info.

I'm interested in what weight leather you'd use for the following:
a) stiffening panels and top flap on a Rob Roy style sporran
b) face/body panels of a standard leather 'day' sporran.

I have a whole hide of heavy upholstery (~3oz) grade chrome tanned beautifully finished leather. I also have a 1/2 shoulder of 5oz Veg tanned that I was planning on using for the reinforcing/stiffening panels on the RR and the face/body panels on the standard 'day' type. Do you think 5oz is heavy enough?

Once the 5ox is dyed and waxed it's a bit softer than seems perfect to me, almost like a pannier bag for a motorcycle or a heavy duty messengers satchel. It's a really supple feel, but compared to the POS cheapy I bought to deconstruct as a guide... it just feels a bit 'floppy'.

Should I step up and get some 7oz? or give it a go and risk having too soft a body on the standard? I suppose I could always double up on the 5oz, but 10oz seems like armour plating

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Tobus]

I've done a lot of work with 4-5 oz and 6-7 oz. Personally, I think either would do well. But I'd probably stick with the 4-5 oz as it will be a tad easier to work with, and should still be plenty strong and stiff for a typical "day" sporran.

One thing you could try is to wet the leather and let it dry. Usually when I wet-mold the leather to shape, after it dries it is as hard as a brick. I then have to oil it profusely to get it somewhat soft again. But if you wet it and let it dry, then simply dye it and finish it, it will likely remain a little more stiff than it otherwise would.

I'm not familiar with waxing the leather as a finish, so I don't know if that's contributing to your issue. But you could try just dyeing it and then finish it with something like Neat-Lac, which won't soften the leather and will actually help stiffen it just a wee bit.

[artificer]

One thing you could try is to wet the leather and let it dry. Usually when I wet-mold the leather to shape, after it dries it is as hard as a brick. I then have to oil it profusely to get it somewhat soft again. But if you wet it and let it dry, then simply dye it and finish it, it will likely remain a little more stiff than it otherwise would.

I'm not familiar with waxing the leather as a finish, so I don't know if that's contributing to your issue. But you could try just dyeing it and then finish it with something like Neat-Lac, which won't soften the leather and will actually help stiffen it just a wee bit.

After casing the leather for trim, beveling and slicking, it does stiffen up. After I dye (water based) it does toughen up a bit. I like wax finishes, as they are natural, water repellent, burnish up to a nice antique luster, and easy for others to maintain. Once I apply a good dye and then wax, it just seems like the leather is too supple. Perhaps I'm just comparing apples (good quality leather) to oranges (crap-board POS sporran that I bought as a guide).

I guess the real question is, then;

Is it okay for a classic leather 'day' sporran to have a body that is somewhat 'bendy', for lack of a better term. I just don't want it to deform and look like an LP left out too long in the summer sun.

However, if people are used to a sporran having the qualities of a nice pannier bag (slight bend in the facings) with a nice hand and good finish, I think we're well on the mark with the 5oz.

I put it down to my inexperience with fine quality Scottish wear (my family is almost 100% German - our leather tends to end up as shorts )

[Tobus]

Well I can't speak for others, but I personally would prefer to have a little flex in the leather. I see way too many day sporrans that look like they're made of wood. They're flat and hard, and look as if you couldn't put anything in them. But that's just me.

[Downunder Kilt]

Totally agree with you Tobus. Acouple of spoorans that I purchased when I first got into wearing a kilt were hard and board like, but after a good beating they became pliable and lost that stiffness.

[English Bloke]

Don't forget pictures of the creative process. I like pictures...

[artificer]

Thanks all for the feedback. I'm currently making a .6 scale version of the Rob Roy I've planned out. I know it's an odd scale, but it will be about the right size for my son (who'll no doubt use it as a pirate pouch... I'll probably just put a pirate concho on the lid) and it's good as a test for general fitting.

It does, of course, mean that certain things like hole placements, corner arcs and 'hems' like for the bag top don't work quite the same way, but it's a good starting place.

I fully plan to document the process when I move to a full sized bag.

One more question out there for the Sporran crafting crowd regarding the Day Sporran.

Do you prefer an inside seam (ie sew and then fold right side out) for where the back panel meets the gusset, or a flat edge joined by a visible whip stitch or lacing?

[RB51]

Do you prefer an inside seam (ie sew and then fold right side out) for where the back panel meets the gusset, or a flat edge joined by a visible whip stitch or lacing?

On the few sporrans that I've made, I've just used a flat edge joined by a saddle stitch. I use a fairly heavy leather (7-8 oz) for the back panel and having used an inside seam for the gusset on the front panel, I wouldn't think that you would be able to turn it inside out again if an inside seam was used on the back. Might work if you were really carefull and used a lighter leather, but I'd be worried about ripping or distorting something in the process.

Good luck, and make sure you post pics.

Laurie

[artificer]

Here's a quick shot of my wee pirates new 'loot bag'



You'll have to excuse the lacing, I need to make a trip back to the store for bells and laces. Also, you'll note some distortion on the left side of the flap. That's camera 'fish-eye'. Although I did goof up a bit on the carving on the LSF flap edge.

Also, this leather is really too thick for a bag this small, which is why it isn't folding up as nicely as it might. I still need to soften things up a tad.

Onward and Upward to a full sized one next.

[dfmacliam]

Seems to me you are on the right track.....