Follow along on a recent Scottish sporran build. I decided to make a sporran to go with my Irish saffron kilt. When first conceptualizing what I wanted to make, I spent a lot of time researching other sporrans. I dug into my 18th century hunting pouch references (of which I have many!) to look for inspiration as well. I modified a pattern I had for an 18th century hunting bag to make the shape and size sporran that I wanted.
After visualizing what I was after, I started sketching it out. I usually start a new idea by sketching it out in my notebook and writing a description of what I am trying to accomplish. I do this before I start digging into actual measurements and pattern making. In the picture above, I am post sketch and in to the pattern making step. I start by using tracing film over my cutting board with measurements so I can be sure to get the size parameters I am looking for. You can see that the tracing film is folder in half because I actually only draw half the bag and then fold in half and trace the other side to ensure symmetry. After getting a tracing of a pattern I am happy with, I then use the tracing film to transfer the pattern on the carboard (or in this case a file folder) which will then be my permanent pattern I will keep to use for future projects. This step of making a leather project is fun but also time consuming. When someone asks me to make something I have never made before that I do not have a pattern for, this process has to start all over again!
Next up in the process is to transfer the pattern on to the leather and cut out the leather pieces. For this project, I am using 4-5oz veg tanned cow hide. I use a scribe to mark my pattern instead of a pencil, pen etc... because the scribe leaves a slightly hard to see indention on the leather that denotes the cut line but does not leave any permanent or unsightly marks like a pen might make. I knew I wanted a gusset on this sporran, so I used a strap cutter to ensure I got a nice even 2.5" strip of leather to use for the gusset.
Next up is adding the stich line holes. I used 6mm pricking irons and a leather mallet to accomplish this task. Sewing leather by hand requires making holes for the stich line before sewing can begin. I use an edge groover to mark a uniform line around the project for me to follow to knock the stich line holes.
Next up was tooling and dying. I love the look of different leather colors on a single project. I knew that I wanted to add some tooling to the front of the sporran. The tooling is done prior to dying. Leather is "case" or "wetted" (a particular process of its own) and the tooling is added. The leather is left to dry and set overnight. The black parts are dyed with a couple coats of black dye. The tooled part is first dyed with a saddle tan color dye and then a darker brown antiquing dye is added to give the tooling and color more texture.
Belt loops are added and attached with hand hammered and hand peened copper saddler rivets. I exclusively use saddlers rivers (or post and burr rivets) on my work because they are stronger than double cap rivets and have a lot more personality. The backside of the sporran is stitched to the gusset portion. As in almost all hand sewn leatherwork, the saddle stitch is used for this purpose.
The gusset here is completely sewn to the back portion of the sporran.
I decided at the very beginning that I was going to add some fur to dress the sporran flap. The fur is rabbit fur from sustainable raised rabbits from my friends at Two Bees Farms in Newport, NC that I alum tanned myself. The fur is glued to the flap using barge cement.
The tooled front panel is then saddle stitch to the gusset. In the picture above, I am about 3/4 through the stitch and the project is really starting to come together!
The sporran complete!
And finally, the sporran in action with a kilt belt I also made, and my Irish saffron kilt at the Crystal Coast Highland Games.
Thanks for following along. If you have any questions, please let me know!
-RPK
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