Maksim's Recycle Sporran #2: Black Leather

[Maksim]

Hi all,

as Mike_Oettle wisely pointed out when I presented my new John Morrison Kiltmakers kilt to the rabble, I'd need a proper leather sporran to go with it - back then, I only had the used-jeans one.

My first shot at getting one was to look for a cheap black leather sporran on Ebay. I did acquire one from Tartanista, but it was indeed cheap, and I couldn't even be sure if it really was leather. It felt more like plastic to me. So, lesson learned: don't buy a 15€ sporran if you don't want it to look like one!

The second step took a longer time: I don't have a lot of money to lay down on a really cool thing like those from Sporran Nation, and most traditional sporrans would look really out-of-place where I live. So, I'd have to make one.

So, I began looking for second-hand leather: a jacket, a handbag, etc. Last week, I found the perfect one: a black leather handbag that cost me all of 5 euros.

Pic #1: The 5€ handbag and the 15€ sporran.


The handbag is made of a lot of material, and even though all of it isn't leather, there's plenty of it, certainly enough for a sporran.

Pic #2: Such a lot of material!


Doing this for the first time, I first made some "sketches" for the back and front piece.

Pic #3: The sketches


Then I cut out the pieces.

Pic #4: The frontpiece. As you can see, there's a little hole, where originally there was the buckle.


As my Husqvarna 2000 flies through this soft leather like a hot knife through butter, I decided not to try any technique I'm not familiar with. A simple zigzag would do. I also attached a finished corner piece from the handbag to cover the hole. This way, although the sporran is still just plain leather, it will have a little "something" to make it a bit different. I hope the "real" reason won't stand out in the finished sporran.

Pic #5: The frontpiece again.


With the backpiece, there are similar holes where the handbag's handle was. This wasn't a problem however, because there are none on the front flap-to-be, and the back side won't be seen when worn.

Pic #6: The backpiece.


I did a zigzag finishing on the flap, and attached the piece of leather the sporran chain will go through. Before sewing it on, I marked it as made by me: ruma means "ugly" in Finnish, and Ruma is a kind of an ideological handcrafts concept created by me, my wife and a friend of ours this summer: "It don't have to be perfect as long as it does the job."

Pic #7: The backpiece and the Ruma "logo".


The battery of my camera ran out when I was sewing the gusset (?) on, so the next pics are of the finished thing.

Pic #8: The finished sporran, front view. The flap attaches with a snap.


Pic #9: Back view. Yep, the holes are still there.


Pic #10: The snap.


I'll post action pics later. Thanks for reading!

Maksim

[Schiehallion]

That's what I call resourceful! Well done.

[Chas]

Well Done, Maksim.

Always good to see some handcraft and recycling!

Regards

Chas

[Maksim]

Thanks!

Here's me and the sporran and my Freedom Kilt after a walk in the already chilly (+8 Celsius) autumn evening.


And as there was a sturdy handle left from the handbag, I made use of it in my little effects board (the box is also of recycled material, I found the chunk of plywood floating in the sea this summer).


yours,
Maksim