Tan leather & goat-skin sporran - pewter cantle

[Troglodyte]

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Now, I know some of you have views and feelings about fur on essentially day-wear sporrans, so avert your eyes if you fall into this category..!

This little lovely has just been pushed to the 'finished' end of my work-bench, so I thought I would let you see it.

The pewter cantle has been culled from an organ-donor who has made the selfless sacrifice, and so has given a goatskin fur and tan leather project the potential of a long and useful life.

I have tried a couple of new techniques with this sporran, such as the decorative pinked-and-pierced rear edge-binding that has been folded into the crease of the gusset, and a novel way of doing my hallmark-style leather tassel caps.

You will recognise the 'vintage style' chain-strap tab at the rear, which melds well with the old-fashioned tone of the leather - a deliberately cunning move on my part, that.

And the interior is lined with a very soft deep pile suede, which adds a touch of luxury.

Like it..?

[ShaunMaxwell]

Nicely done!

SM

[crumbaughs]

I am very impressed! That is a work of art.
Is it hand stitched or machine sewn or both?
I have never attempted a sporran, though some of my leatherworking friends have.
Very, very nice!

Steve Crumbaugh

[Troglodyte]

I am very impressed! That is a work of art.
Is it hand stitched or machine sewn or both?
I have never attempted a sporran, though some of my leatherworking friends have.
Very, very nice!

Steve Crumbaugh

It is all entirely cut, stitched and assembled by hand - no machinery involved whatsoever, which is why they take an age to make..!

I have no leather-working or bag-making experience, and have come to sporran-making via another craft. Whilst I fully appreciate the practical needs of commercial sporran-makers, my own making time is free and so I can indulge in time-consuming and potentially costly techniques.

My approach has been to look at a good quality vintage sporran, and think such-and-such could be improved if... and have the set about to make it so.

My choice of leathers are not the usual bag-hides that normally get used (commercial sporran-makers have now even go so far as to use leather-look fibreboard for the front and rear panels), preferring skins specially intended for the antique restoration and fine-binding trades.

Quality furs are not cheap, and the usable area is limited by the hair-growth direction - even a fairly large goatskin like this is only good for upto three sporran fronts. Which is good in a way, as each of my sporrans is unique.

They are fun to do, and it's gratifying when people offer to buy them - even if the price is only enough to cover the cost of materials and give me a bit of beer money...

I'm glad you like it!

[FossilHunter]

Perfection.

[OC Richard]

Beautifully done!

One thing that might or might not be of any concern to you is that 100 years from now anyone coming across your sporran who is familar with 20th century sporran makers will assume it's by Forsyth.

[Troglodyte]

Perfection.

High praise indeed..!

Thanks!

Here are some more of my recent projects, in case you're interested...

I made a matching solid brass chain-strap for the brass cantled fur-front sporran, which makes a nice combo'.

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