Step-by-step construction of a hair sporran-

This is my first post and I am interested in learning to build a sporran. Is there any news as to when this thread will continue?

Hi all-
Man....I have SERIOUSLY neglected this thread, and for that I'm sorry. My business has just been out the roof this season and I'm left with little or no time due to work constraints.

Lets do this. Lets get the hair ready to be stitched. You will need a sewing machine, about a half pound of horse hair, and a supper thing piece of leather. By thin, I mean almost paper like. DO NOT USE SUEDE!!! At least not yet-That takes some skill. If you go to Tandy leather, they can provide you with a piece of leather that is EXTREMELY thin, and is the thinnest that they sell.

First-
Trace the front panel outline on this thin leather and cut. It should match up perfectly.

Second-
On this piec of leather, mark a line about 1/4 of an inch inside following the edges. This is marking a boundary of sorts.

Third-
Make 3 lines across this panel spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. LET THE LINES STOP AT THE BORDER YOU TRACED BEFORE THIS- There will be a 4th one at the top of the panel, but thats later. Just do these 3. These will be the sew lines for your hair.

The trick is that you need to layer your horse hair. The more layers you do, the better it looks. But for starting purposes, we'll do 3.

Should look like this- You'll notice that the bottom and top lines are shorter than the middle-Thats because the width of the panel is longest there. The 4th line of stitch will balance out the look of the sporran later-



------------------------


--------------------------


----------------------


Now-Take the panel and your horse hair and sit at you sewing machine. Untie the hair and gently pull a tuft out. Start with the bottom line and gently lay and spread out the hair to about 1 inch in length. Set you sewing machine to medium tension and the tightest stich setting. Straight stitch also. Sew the hair along the line to the end, then back stitch, and then forward up to the end again. Take another tuft and spread it out and repeat sew process. Do this to the end of the line. Careful that you don't go past that border you made earlier-Thats where you'll be stitching this piece to the front panel.

After you've sewn your first layer of hair, take your gorilla glue and gently put down a line over the thread-go over it and back one time. The glue will spread above and below the stitch line and begin to sink into the hair. When this is almost dry, it will appear white-ish and bubbly. Mash it down as hard as you can when plyable and not gooey. This will ensure that the hair NEVER falls out.

Once completely fry, repeat for lines 2 and 3.


Pics and next stages to come shortly.

On a sporran I have the base leather appears to be fuzzy. I it noticable at all without the pelt?

Keep em coming.

Great stuff! No worries--it is good that you have been busy. Looking forward to photos and more stages. What a great thread. I am going to try to make grey horsehair piper's sporran's of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders for the pipers in my reenacting group. Thanks again, regards BYU

OK y'all-
Some pics-

First. Prep for sewing the hair. Remember, you need a very thin piece of leather delegated with sew lines. Take your horsehair and start with the bottom line and sew in with a sewing machine your horse hair. Don't over-do the hair. generous, but not to thick that your sewing needle can't pass through it. Sew twice to get a good hold.




Once the hair is sewn on, you need to put a binding agent over the exposed stitching and let dry- Do this for each of the sew lines. Once it has dried, you'll need to use that binding agent to attach the hair portion to the front panel leather. The front leather panel need to be thick and strong to prevent molting. put a layer of glue over the leather and lay the sewn thin leather on top of it and put a pile of books, or something heavy to get a good bond. The edges will not bind well, but thats OK-We'll be stitching those parts tight. Should look like this when done-




Now-Lets do the back paneling. Cut your sporran's shape from a nice piece of finished leather.



Cut a inner stabilizer piece of leather and a piece of lining suede to match and glue.





Now-Glue those pieces and put a heavy object on top to get a good bind.

OK-We're halfway done-More pics later today-the one I just did looks like this when finished-

Looks GREAT, Josh. Can't wait to see the further pics! Thanks for doing this! I do have some questions--you sew the hair onto the super thin piece of leather. Then the thin piece of leather with hair gets fastened to the body of the sporran--is the hair then "sandwiched" between the thin piece of leather and the sporran body piece--do I have that right? Do you both glue and sew the thin piece of leather to the sporran body piece [front piece], with the hair in between them?

Another question--I now have two original Argyll & Sutherland Highlander piper's hair sporrans. On one of them, [made in Scotland] there appears to be a piece of goat skin and fur underneath the mixed brown hair. On the other, a more recent model, made in Canada by L&M Highland Outfitters, does not have such a goat hair piece. Do you have any ideas about this goat hair piece? Do you think it is somehow a substitute for the super thin piece of leather?

Thanks so much, Josh!

O.K. Some more questions. I am looking on the Tandy Leather website, looking to buy leather. Here it is: http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/default.asp
I do not have a Tandy store anywhere near me, and so will have to order online. It looks like at least four types of material are needed: leather for the sporran front and back panels, super thin leather to which to sew the hair, leather for the gusset, leather to line the interior. Am I on the right track?

Do you have info from Tandy as to the various types of leather you use for the elements of the sporran? For example, the Tandy description of weight or thickness of leather says that thickness is usually described in ounces, as follows:

"Thickness or Weight - Leather is usually measured in terms of ounces. One ounce equals 1/64th of an inch thickness. Thus, a weight of 7 to 8 oz. means the leather is 7/64th to 8/64th of an inch thickness. In an effort to make leather a uniform thickness, wet hides are run through a splitting machine. However, each animal is different and there is always a slight thickness variation throughout the hide. This is why leathers are usually shown with a range of thickness, such as, 4 to 5 oz., 6 to 7 oz., etc."

Would you say that the super thin piece of leather to which the hair is sewn is one ounce, or 1/64th of an inch thick? I am not sure they even sell leather that thin on the Tandy site. Thanks for your help. Regards, BYU

https://i.servimg.com/u/f29/15/69/02/45/irishf11.jpg

https://i.servimg.com/u/f29/15/69/02/45/irishf12.jpg

HOW'S THIS?

Absolutely excellent. Your next one must have a fuller hair scheme so it can fill the cantle under area, but that is really a fantastic sporran you've done!!

SkyeHighlandOutfitters wrote:Absolutely excellent. Your next one must have a fuller hair scheme so it can fill the cantle under area, but that is really a fantastic sporran you've done!!

https://servimg.com/view/15690245/4

How could I make this more full? I have hair under the entire cantle area. I guess I don't get what you are suggesting. Thanks.

BobsYourUncle wrote:

Another question--I now have two original Argyll & Sutherland Highlander piper's hair sporrans. On one of them, [made in Scotland] there appears to be a piece of goat skin and fur underneath the mixed brown hair. On the other, a more recent model, made in Canada by L&M Highland Outfitters, does not have such a goat hair piece. Do you have any ideas about this goat hair piece? Do you think it is somehow a substitute for the super thin piece of leather?

This was the question that I had asked earlier. I will continue to read but mine is not goat hair, more like rabbit fuzzy. Sorry for the extremely delayed comment.