Making a Dress Sporran - Questions

[MacMullen]

I'm planning on making a dress sporran after I finish the leather sporran that I'm making. However, I've never seen a dress sporran in person, so I have some questions:

1. What does it look like when it's open? Is the cantle hinged, like a purse opening, or is it only one piece? A picture would be helpful.

2. Does a dress sporran usually have a lining (satin or something similar)?

3. Does a fur sporran need a cantle, or, if not, does it have to have a mask (i.e., full animal head)?

4. Does a dress sporran have to be white to be appropriate for formal wear, or can it be black?

I'm thinking that I'd like to use a skunk pelt, not so much for the humor factor, but because I think it would look nice. Although humor also would be a factor,as well as interesting.

There's another reason I'd like to use a skunk, and that is, that my dog has killed six skunks over the last 5 years. It used to be that they sprayed her, then she killed them. But the last few have wandered into our yard, and she has crept up on them and killed them outright. So, skunk would have some personal meaning too.

I'm not going to use one of her kills though. I've skinned out a lot of animals (even a porcupine), but never a skunk. I figure on buying a tanned pelt off of eBay.

Other pelt possibilities would be a coyote, as I spent a lot of time hunting them when I lived in Colorado.

I'm not planning on doing a full head. If I can avoid using a cantle, I'd like to put it together so that the tail makes up the flap over the top. If I have to use a cantle for it to be "correct" then I'm going to buy the cantle set from SWK and go from there. I'd probably still do the tail flap for more of a daywear sporran.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Advice?

Thanks!