Looking for sporran tassles

[Thistle Stop]

I'm VERY VERY grateful for all your help.. but I was told last night that Dad has the tassels for it somewhere.. Thanks and sorry about that! lol.. how embarrassing....



P.S. I guess it's not so bad, in the search for tassels I now known I don't need, I found a forum full of very friendly fellow kilt wearers

Cheers,
Tom

I'm glad you found the 'lost' tassels!

And now that you've found X Marks, please stay and join in the discussions!

[Norm McRae]

Tom,

If you can't find tasssels in Britain, and you are willing to tackle the project yourself, I'll be glad to mail you a pattern for tassels.

Doc - would you be kind enough to email that pattern to me - I'm making a (Culloden style) leather belt bag from an old leather jacket that's been retired (after a serious case of road rash), and those nice silver tassels would just look wrong ont it.....

I found the pattern for the sporran on an SCA site, and it took me about 2 days to make it. Since the jacket was worn daily for around 10 years, the leather is nice and soft - maybe it'll convince me to wear my kilt more often.

I'm new to the forum here, and glad to see that there is somewhere where us kilties can chat and get some advise when we need it.

[Southern Breeze]

I'm not sure what type of tassles you need. This sporran plan has leather tassles.
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=16716

[Norm McRae]

Thanks, Breeze - that's EXACTLY what I'm looking for!

The sporran I just made is really just a belt bag, but being soft leather, it should be quite a bit more comfy than my "formal" one of hard leather.

This is the second time I've done a sporran - although the first time, I didn't make it, I just modified an old one. It was a very basic black leather one, and I needed a more formal one, but unfortunately, I live in the middle of nowhere, and time was against me. I got creative and glued some black fur to the front of the old black sporran, then I took 3 white rabbit's feet that I found in a dollar store, along with some small chrome chain from the same source.... and hung them from the front in 3 V's as tassels. The flap looked kind of bare, so I pop-riveted a clan badge to the flap and voila - not bad from a distance, actually.

Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to acquire a REAL fur sporran - I've seen them of Skunk's-heads, and fell in love. Unfortunately, I have a ready-made supply of original owners, although I'd much prefer one that isn't quite so "fresh"......

[bubba]

I found a great way to cut the tassels. I cut the strip of leather I need for it then lay a course toothed comb on it and use a rotory cutter using the combs teeth as a cutting guide. Works like a champ and makes it go quick.

[Norm McRae]

Cool idea, Bubba - I just used a piece of metal with a small lip (to ensure I was holding down firmly along the cut) as a straightedge, guestimated the width of each cut - held it down firmly and used an x-acto knife. If I didn't hold down firmly enough, the leather tended to stretch a bit and I got a curved cut - but mostly it worked pretty well. Of course, if you have stiffer leather (Mine is so soft as to be quite floppy), it would be easier.

I've been beating my brain to figure out exactly how the tassels would have been used Waaaaaaay back to secure the sporran. The two tassels on the sides were obvously used to tie the top closed, but how would the middle one be used to hold the flap down?
Every pattern I've seen have strings or ties on both the top flap AND the front face of the sporran - and don't show how the (center) tassel would have connected them together to hold the flap with any amount of security.
Possibly - would the tassel itself have been used as a button, with the strings underneath making a flexible buttonhole?
Almost every sporran has 3 tassels, and they would have evolved from functional items to what are now decorative, but how would the originals have funtioned?

[Joe Gondek]

The bag on Old style sporrans were made of one piece of leather cut in a circle. you then punch holes around the top and run a thong through the holes and draw it closed.

You can attach the bag to a back piece with a flap.

I believe that the center tassel was used as the draw string to pull the bag closed.
Thetwo tassels on the side were the ends of strings that were also placed through the draw string holes.
Those two strings acted as an added check to control how large the pouch opening could expand.Because without the side checks the bag could open open into a flat piece of leather

Or I could be toally wrong and they they were just placed there for decoration.