Car 1, Fox 0

[SteveCrowley]

I wanna make a skunk mask sporran. I found some pelts online for $35, so I'll see about doing that.

[emolas]

Now if one of you gentlemen could just post a step-by-step pictorial of yourself making one for those of us with absolutely no leatherworking experience, that would be great.

I've been thinking about it as well but since I have no idea how, it hasn't gone beyond the "It would be cool if I made a full mask sporran" stage.

[JS Sanders]

<< ...I have no idea how, it hasn't gone beyond the "It would be cool if I made a full mask sporran" stage. >>

I dunno how helpful this may be, but here's what I have. I've created two mask sporrans, coon & possum. Both turned out well and I'm not ashamed to wear them publicly. I could add though, if you've not sewn a sporran before, it may be best to make one with tanned leather before going to tanned fur.

I made mine a couple of years ago, so only have one photo. It's an overcast day here, so won't be able to add any more in immediate future. I shall if interest warrants it.

Here 'tis....

I purchased the tanned fur from Moscow Hide and Fur (www.hideandfur.com), and glass eyes from a taxidermy website – Van Dyke’s I believe. If you purchase "flint eyes", you save a bit on pocket change. Flints are clear and paint must be applied to their flat backsides. The color is your choice. I made my possum sporran with flaming red eyes. 8-10 mm should be large enough.

For the varmint's head, I had some styrofoam pieces that were glued together to form a block. I used a serrated knife, rasp, and Dremel tool to form the head to an appropriate shape & size of the animal. It takes a bit of shaping and fitting, however, styrofoam is easy to carve. Picture in your mind, the head to be jawless, since the head must rest flat against the body of the sporran. This the most difficult portion of the project. You can purchase pre-made “rug forms” in various species from a taxidermy supplier, but they may not be same size as your tanned fur. Your sporran could look like 10 lbs of taters in a 5 lb bag.

Once I did complete carving of the form, I inserted a whittled down twig into the muzzle of it. This served as a ‘rebar’ to give a bit more strength. A length of wire could’ve done the same thing.

The selected fur was tanned properly and in good shape. One pelt had a hole behind the right ear and required stitching closed, but afterwards was not at all apparent.

I wetted the pelt for pliability and fitted the rug form to fit the head portion once I got down to almost the final shape and attachment of skin to Styrofoam head. Snug but not tight. Too tight and the hair will remain somewhat erect – you don’t want that.

Before permanently gluing the head in place, the eyes must be secured to it. They must be aligned properly or the final product will look like it has amblyopia. You can mark their position thru the eye holes. I used epoxy putty only because I had it on hand. A flexible-type adhesive may be best.

To glue the fur in place, insert the head form, then inverted and apply an all-purpose glue on the muzzle end of the head. From there, the fur was rolled onto the form, more glue applied, etc. Numerous straight pins were used to secure the fur to the form. Any air pockets that formed were eliminated by application of pins. Be vigilant about the glue and keep it off the fur.

Attention to the eyes is necessary. My glue was slow-drying so there was plenty of time to adjust the skin around the eyes accordingly – use as many pins as needed to tack down around the eyes and make them life-like.

The ears were pliable because of the soaking, and I pinned them back and down against the head where they dried securely into place. Otherwise they'd be subject to breaking. The cartilage within them doesn't accept the tanning process. Again, there are ear forms available from taxidermy suppliers, but you would hafta dissect the existing cartilage out. Not fun duty.

After the glue dried, I severed the head from the rest of the fur. If left in place, the abdominal fur would have been the only visible portion. Fur on the back is far more attractive and luxurious.

Using an existing sporran as a pattern, I traced onto the tanned skin and also onto a piece of tanned leather to serve as the backside of the sporran - leave a little extra margin for sewing. I prefer not to have a furry pelt rubbing against my kilt. Eventually the guard hairs will break off onto the wool and appear as if there's been a cat rubbing up against you.

I learned a long time ago not to cut a fur with scissors, but to use a sharp blade: X-acto, or perhaps a scalpel. Try scissors on some scrap fur – you’ll understand. The fur and leather were placed together by their visible sides and hand stitched together. Then they were reverted to their proper sides.

Next I trimmed the severed head and stitched it to the rear of the sporran body as it pleased me. Be careful to align or the head may lay askew. It’s OK to shave away fur to allow stitching if it’s on the backside.

Next a strip of leather was sewn at the back of the sporran to contain the sporran belt – I suppose this could’ve been done beforehand.

For final detailing, all that remained was to touch up around the eyes - I used some black acrylic paint and a very small brush.

I covered the exposed styrofoam on the underside with some pieces of garment leather, glued on.

Total cost for this project was roughly $45. Though not terribly an ambitious project, I can see why some of these sporrans are three bills or more.