OhKiltedNun: Having worked with leather for several years, you won't have any luck dying black leather; better off purchasing another sporran. I paid reasonable money for my formal one, then got a day wear one from one of the vendors for around $15. I cut the threads on the back of the center strap, went to Tandy Leather and got a piece of black scrap. I cut a strip 1 1/2" wide then used black carpet thread to widen the existing middle strap make it functional.