I'm working on making a tartan sporran that matches my moggins, I am going to use burnt leather for the flap. As to the chain maille one; if I were you (Talking as a maille period reenactor here) definatly get riveted aluminum links. I use the real maille for my armor, but I have seen non-combat persons at fairs and such in aluminum maille and the un riveted variety tends to fall apart because it has little to no tensile strength. The weight of the maille itself will split the rings. The steel one, even with the lighter galvanized steel will still be a bit heavier than one might like and would be very uncomfortable to wear. Either way have fun.