I gave the whole thing a good dose of baby oil ( ever see a squeaky baby, or one that was all dried out?) and got a very gratifying level of flexibility, though it darkened things a good bit, too. I decided to glue the gator onto an existing cowhide sporran for strength and ease of construction. After I glued the flap in place, I decided I liked the look of the dark brown gator flap against the black cowhide body, so I set a snap to fit and have left it. Pictures soon- thanks for the advice, all