Help with building a skunk fur sporran

[davedove]

Craigie Originals offers a skunk fur sporran:



http://sporrans.com/

[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

[Bob C]

I don't think a non-mask sporran without a cantle could be considered formal. Just an opinion.