Depending on what type of sporran you make, hair can be tricky. If it's longer than about 1/2 inch a Rob Roy style is tough because of how the hair may look when the strings are drawn, but if it's short enough it can work very well, as below. Remember to cut from the leather side and use a sharp blade, not scissors, or you'll cut hair you don't want to.

Plan on using some thin leather as edge binding for a finished look, rather than leaving raw edges. Cut the strip to double the widthe you want to show and, using leather glue, glue it to the edge. Then punch and sew (The glue is only to hold the binding in place for sewing. When I work with longer hair I usually clip the hair off about 3/8 inch in from the edge to be sewn (seam allowance) to minimize pulling hair through the holes when I sew.
Also, you need to really look at the hair grain before you cut it to minimize weird cowlicks that don't show up on a full hide but show a lot on a smaller piece, as is evident on the flap here (deer pelt with hair greater than 1 inch)

Also - for a gusset, cut out a thin piece of leather the full length and width needed. Then cut two pieces of your hide half that length so that the hair can run from top side to bottom center. Width should be about 1 inch less than the leather gusset. glue the hair pieces with the front edges (adjacent to the front panel) flush with the sub-piece and overlapping about 3/8" at the center. Punch and sew through the overlap across the width. Punch and sew along the length on the rearward side (sew the hide to the leather). This leaves a gusset ready to be punched along the outside edges and sewn to the front and rear panels.
hope this helps.
Convener, Georgia Chapter, House of Gordon (Boss H.O.G.)
Where 4 Scotsmen gather there'll usually be a fifth.
7/5 of the world's population have a difficult time with fractions.
Bookmarks