please help with sporran material decisions

[bismish]

Hi

I have been looking for a thread that explores my exact inquiry, I have learned heaps and been inspired by all the fabulous creativity of people in this forum, but nothing as yet answers my full question. I live in a rural area, so it's a 5 hours drive to a shop to have a look at other sporrans, I don't have access to a "sporran reference pool". I'm kind of flying blind, and hoping I can use people's experience...

I am about to begin making two formal sporrans, to go with Prince Charlies for a wedding, one for an adult and one for a child. I will use a purchased cantle for the adult sporran, but will probably make the kid's one with a plain flap (and hairy front- see below).

I live in Australia so I think it will be nice to use hair-on kangaroo hide for the front but am thinking I will use cowhide for the back (and possibly gusset). I'm thinking of lining them with either pigskin or suede. I have some 25mm cowhide and a small amount of 15mm cowhide that I could use for the gussets. My questions are:

1. I'm thinking of bonding the roo skin to a cowhide front (I don't have the roo skin as yet but i think its fairly thin and wouldn't hold its shape). Is this a good idea? Should I just stitch it in?

2. Should I use the 15mm hide for the gusset? I don't want it to be too stiff (especially the kid's one). The other alternative is I could use kangaroo for the gussets ( or a double layer of the lining pigskin or suede???) Any comments/ideas? I'm more concerned about opinions re practical pros/cons than aesthetics here.

3. Is a 25mm back going to keep it stiff enough? Should I bond 2x25mm pieces? Or are there better ways to approach this?

4. Lining???? Any opinions or ideas welcomed, once again, practical rather than aesthetic...

5. magnetic or snap closures?

6. Any opinions on the (practical) pros and cons of an all-hairy (front/gusset) rather than hairy front/hairless gusset construction?

7. (Phew) is there anything else that I haven't asked about the adult's and/or kid's sporran that I should know about? (Either practical or aesthetic?)

thanks in advance

[Tarheel]

PHEW! indeed new friend. Here are my thoughts on your question.

1) I bonded my thin skinned pelt to a thicker, tougher hide for the front of my sporrans. Reasons - Stiff enough to hold the shape of the sporran (large interior) I bonded the pelt with clear adhesive without stitching. My fur wraps around to the side and was sewn to the back. If I were just attaching fur to the front panel, I may not use adhesive when sewing would do the job.
2) I used thick leather for my flap. The weight keeps the sporran closed better.
3) I like a cloth lining that can be assembled separately and inserted (attached to the top rim of the inside sporran). Easy to replace if needed.
4) Magnetic snaps may or may not interfere with credit card and cell phones. I like mechanical closures of different kinds. Examples; post on front of sporran that pierces the flap, draw strings that loop from flap or loop onto a element on the flap, etc.
5) Lining choice should include amount of use from the sporran. Extra pockets for phones, keys and loose coins are great options for every day (roomy) sporrans and leather is a great material for that need. A formal sporran is usually for show and not as roomy. Dressy sporran, showy interior.
6) I've made both faced and wrap around fur sporrans. The wrap around fur was easier and faster to shape, design and sew. The fur faced took longer to stitch, took less fur (not a problem for me but could be with limited access to pelts) and seemed more formal looking by design and shape.
7) Children (age dependent) may damage tassels on sporrans. I think, keep the fur to minimum (faced instead of wrapped around to the sides). Add a special touch (emblem or badge) to a child's sporran and they will take more pride that it is their personal item.

That's all I have for now. I assure you, I am far from any kind of expert. There are members that can give you thoughts from the hundreds of sporrans they have made. I hope that any thing I offer will help. Good luck and post any photos and thoughts of your progress.

[Taskr]

Bismish,
Some of this may echo tarheel who has provided some great insight and advice.

My recent refurb of a sporran is fur front and flap: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...-refurb-91852/. It is a simple sporran pattern - not unlike one that I made.

Mink is a very thin pelt. Bonding just didn't sit well with me; perhaps because of the permanency and it was my first attempt with fur. The stitching runs along the entire edge and has a cross-pattern of a few stitches to anchor the pelt from 'floating'. I decided to face only as a fur gusset was looking too hairy to my tastes. The cowhide facing behind the mink is imperative as it most certainly would not hold up to wear on its own, and closure would be less than ideal.

I do have some beautifully soft red leather, but I used cloth lining that was repurposed from a thrift shop purse instead. It was easy to machine sew in an internal pocket.

My gussets are kid-glove leather. Soft and supple but strong enough to take wear.

My one formal sporran, purchased, has a front and back that, although are leather faced, I don't think are animal hide at all as both front and back are board-like. However, I am fashioning my own formal fox fur face and I'm finding the thick cowhide is going to do just fine. A soft leather gusset will be used.

I have sporrans with snap, magnetic and pin closures. More about fit to style methinks.

Best of luck

[bismish]

Hi Tarheel

Thanks very much for your reply - I didn't think anyone had replied, I'm new to navigating these things, so sorry for the delay in my response....

My bits and bobs (cantle, boss, dogs) arrived yesterday so I'm sitting down today to begin to plan it all, so your comments are very helpful. At the moment I am sitting with pencil and paper, I think I might do a cloth test run to begin with...

cheers

[bismish]

Hi Taskr

As I said to Tarheel, I am new to this forum idea, couldn't see any photos of your work on the sporran refurb post, the text reads like there are photos - do I find them somewhere else on the site?

I like the idea of a few stitches to hold the fur - I have never used fur, but just in case the glue performs differently as it ages, I would rather not glue (providing these sporrans are worth keeping!). I will do a couple of tests with scraps as I'm not sure how forgiving the roo fur will be to parting (I don't want to see the holding stitches).

I'm still thinking about the gussets/linings, but if the roo folds over without parting too much, it might be more forgiving for my first go. It's also renowned for its toughness so would probably perform fine for a gusset (not sure about the fluffiness, TBH).

cheers

[bismish]

Hi again

A million questions, I am an apprentice rather than a book-learner, but without a tutor...

I have been sitting here with my cantle and am at a loss re what to do with the very long posts - they are longer than the edge of the cantle, so will poke into the pouch and will inevitably scratch. Do I just hacksaw off the ends? I have tried to add a photo, not sure if i'm doing it right...

[bismish]

I am trying to add another photo, this time of my roo pelt, which is lovely, I'm feeling a wee bit anxious about cutting into it...

[Tarheel]

I have been sitting here with my cantle and am at a loss re what to do with the very long posts - they are longer than the edge of the cantle, so will poke into the pouch and will inevitably scratch. Do I just hacksaw off the ends?

I see your post and am adding a photo of a sporran from member Benning Boy. The side posts do stick out further than the cantle edge and (in this case) pass through the leather. Other cantles do not have the posts (maybe they are cut off) and the leather is attached with a rivet, or bunched up at the contact point.

Are you talking about the posts on the inside of the cantle? There are methods to deal with those to decrease damage to the leather and hands of the owner. A common solution is nip the posts shorter and make a new bend to attach the sporran body. I hope any of this helps.

[bismish]

I see your post and am adding a photo of a sporran from member Benning Boy. The side posts do stick out further than the cantle edge and (in this case) pass through the leather. Other cantles do not have the posts (maybe they are cut off) and the leather is attached with a rivet, or bunched up at the contact point.

Are you talking about the posts on the inside of the cantle? There are methods to deal with those to decrease damage to the leather and hands of the owner. A common solution is nip the posts shorter and make a new bend to attach the sporran body. I hope any of this helps.

Hi Tarheel

Thanks so much for the photo and explanation you sent - if only the pins I am talking about were so decorative. My photo didn't load - if you imagine the cantle being 6" long, and 2 inches high (the front face - an arc) and about .5 inch wide (the top edge of the metal bends at 90o to form a bit I would call a rim, I guess - it is the very top shiny edge, and points back towards the fella's belly at 90o to the front of the sporran). The screws are on the "wrong" side of the cantle face and poke out beyond the edge - they have bolts on the end so are clearly for fixing the leather to the cantle but its beyond me why they stick out so far, I have looked at dozens of photos and can't figure out what's going on...

I am going to the city next week and will find a kilt shop and plead my case for a squizz at their sporrans - hopefully I will get some idea of construction. I imagine that the commercial sporrans would have similar parts.

I'll keep you posted as I find out more... , once again, I am blown away by the generosity of you and others on this site

cheers

[Tarheel]

It took me a while to find the inside photo of Benning Boy's sporran. He did a fine job of documenting when he put this together in an earlier post. Here is the photo.
Maybe this extra photo will help clarify other questions you may have. Cheers.