Help me on "artificial leather"

[Mipi]

I found a leftover of leather imitation material 0.8 x 1.4m. It cost me a bit more then nothing ($2). It looks and it feels very much like light soft leather. I thought I could use it for pouch sporran.

Please, look those 2 photos and advise me what pattern to use. Or maybe something else could be made out of it?

Thanks!

Mipi

[kiltedwolfman]

I've used "pleather" a fair bit making different sporrans. What I suggest is pick or make a pattern then sew up a sporran out of a different cheap material to see what your finished product will look like. This way you can fine tune your idea before pulling the leather out and making the good one.

[Pleater]

The outside looks good - but I think that the inside lets it down - I'd be tempted to use some faux suede to line the pouch completely in a fawn or tan colour, or at least some shade of brown, to improve the illusion of it being leather.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Frank McGrath]

Comes from artificial cows. Pleather cows.

[Mipi]

Those atrificial cows have this funny blue skin on inner side. I'll use some faux suede (faux leather faux suede) for sure. This will add some ware resistance to the pouch, too.

Thanks!

[Pleater]

I just thought - if you need to stiffen the edges or flap of the sporran - sometimes artificial alternatives have properties which are different from the real thing, plastic bottles from milk or juice are often very useful.

I am assuming that you have plastic bottles for these, not paper ones, though they might be of some use, but I have used the plastic bottles in the past, first ironing them to remove the bends, and then using a naked flame to round the edges and then further heat to create any necessary shaping. Sturdy scissors, not the best dressmaking scissors of 'she who must be obeyed', or a craft knife should do the trick cutting up the bottle.

Iron between pieces of cooking foil, just in case you overdo it and weld the iron to the ironing board cover - minus one thousand Brownie Points for that, not a good idea.



Crank the temperature up slowly and iron patiently until you achieve the required alteration.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[piperdbh]

As it looks like this material is pretty soft, one of the "Rob Roy" type sporrans might be your best bet.

[kiltedwolfman]

When I make mine I sew the inner to the outer inside out, then flip it so it hides the seams, then fill the hollow with a shaped piece of craft foam sheet cut to the sporran shape. You can get the foam ( about 1/8" thick ) at any Walmart or craft store really cheap. I do the front and back of the sporran seperately, fill each with the foam to give it some thickness and stiffness, then sew both halves together. With some experimentation and fine tuning you can make some rather nice and very inexpensive pouches.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Sturdy scissors, not the best dressmaking scissors of 'she who must be obeyed', or a craft knife should do the trick cutting up the bottle.

Truer words have never been spoken. Just ask my husband what I thought of him using my best pair of sewing scissors to cut a sheet of tin.

--Chelsea McMurdo--