Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Okay, so it seems a little silly, perhaps, to write such a long post about such a small item, but when has that ever stopped me before, right? (And besides, that’s sort of what the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy is, if you think about it.)

Anyhow, as I mentioned in my recent “Treasure!” post, I’ve been trying to flesh out some small little corners of my kit and persona, and one of those that I keep coming back to is that it would be nice to have a little in-universe money that I can keep with my kit at all times, since even a Ranger occasionally needs to pay for goods and services. I already had one fantastic copper Bree penny from Elleth, and four absolutely stunning copper Dwarven coins of Erebor from Gulli, but I wanted just a bit more jingle, if yoiu will, so I ordered seven coins from the Shire Post Mint to round out my collection.

But of course, that made me realize that I needed something to PUT them in! And yes, technically I already have several basic drawstring coin purses that I’ve used with various kits and costumes over the years, but because of who I am as a person, I decided I wasn’t actually satisfied with any of these. Mostly this is because they’re all just made from pre-finished, commercially available chrome-tan leather, and roughly sewn together with big, visible stitches on the outside - which I do actually kind of like, for the sake of texture, but it just doesn’t feel as Middle-earth authentic to my eye now as it might have like 5 years ago. I wanted to do something that looked real.

So, somewhat inspired by the beautiful little green leather purse Gulli sent my most recent Yuletide gift in, and slightly inspired by the little pouch Cimrandir made for his own Yuletide gift to me a couple years back, I decided to make a brand new one from what remained of the veg-tan goat skin I had left over from my ill-fated bota-bag reskinning project. I also thought it would be fun, since it’s technically veg-tan, to tool in a Tengwar “m” initial, for my persona name (also inspired by that pouch Cimrandir made me), and I thought turned out very nicely!
HOWEVER.
I should have known better than to trust this damned goatskin. It failed me when I tried to use it for the waterskin, and I should have known it would fail me again. I don’t know why, because I’ve always heard how durable goat skin usually is, but this stuff is awful. It tears like paper, and, well…
…This is what happened when I tried to turn the damned thing right-side-in. Sooooooooo back to the proverbial drawing board went I, and I realized I ALSO had some very nice, thin, calfskin which I had bought ages ago to cover a scabbard, but still had a little left over from that as well. This time I decided to tool the “m” design into a separate patch, and I also added a second patch with the same style of star I used previously on my quiver and belt:
As you can see above, I also opted to add two narrow strips of leather as reinforcements for the side seams, which I got from how Gulli did the little pouch he made me.

luckily, this stuff was WAY more resilient, and it went together beautifully! And here’s the final result:
I used Eco-Flo Gel Antique to stain the leather, and it came out with a really lovely, variegated color - quite similar looking to a natural walnut dye, IMO. One of these days I will break down and actually try walnut dye, but for the present, I’ve got to say I’m really happy with the finish on this! I finished it up with some Satin Shene and Aussie leather conditioner, and here’s the final result! (Seriously though, this calfskin is gorgeous, and it’s SOOOOO soft to the touch)! It’s VERY wee, but I think it will make a quite nice small purse for my modest supply of Middle-earth authentic currency! It should fit well inside my main belt pouch, and I feel adds some nice extra depth to my kit! (Also, I was at least able to salvage the drawstrings I had cut from the goatskin, which for some reason seem much more robust than what I had used for the actual body of the pouch).

Anyway, I know it’s just such a little thing, but I’m really happy with how it came out!

And now, for the glamor shots! I wanted to wait to post this until I could get some of these, and it’s SO cool to see how it looks with all of these beautiful coins!

On a roll and kicking goals yet again Manv!

There's simply nothing here not to like. If I can make a tiny suggestion it would be to collect a few small tradable valuables that aren't necessarily hard currency. Things that would have value to some folks that coins may not. I can see a goodwife trading you a hot meal and chunk of bread for some replacement sewing needles or perhaps a few rare beads she can use in her daughters wedding attire.

Great work!

Excellent work! You mentioned a couple points of inspiration but I'll add on that it looks quite a bit like the Iona purse find. So well done indeed on blending together the historical and the fantasy so well yet again!

I'm curious about the re-enforcement strips you mention. Would you mind going a little bit more in-depth on them and how you attached them?

Thanks folks!
It’s funny - this wasn’t really on my to-do list, but once it popped into my head I just couldn’t get it out. And I’m glad, because I now feel like it’s kind of an essential little piece of kit!

Eofor wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 1:22 pm On a roll and kicking goals yet again Manv!

There's simply nothing here not to like. If I can make a tiny suggestion it would be to collect a few small tradable valuables that aren't necessarily hard currency. Things that would have value to some folks that coins may not. I can see a goodwife trading you a hot meal and chunk of bread for some replacement sewing needles or perhaps a few rare beads she can use in her daughters wedding attire.

I love the idea of having some small trade goods as well! Very good thinking, and very in line with what I imagine the Professor had in mind for the mixed economy of Eriador in the late Third Age!

Cimrandir wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 4:22 pm Excellent work! You mentioned a couple points of inspiration but I'll add on that it looks quite a bit like the Iona purse find. So well done indeed on blending together the historical and the fantasy so well yet again!

I'm curious about the re-enforcement strips you mention. Would you mind going a little bit more in-depth on them and how you attached them?

Yeah, good eye there! I didn’t necessarily base it on the Iona purse, specifically, but I did base the overall design on a whole bunch of extant medieval coin purses I’ve seen pictures of over the years. The basic folded rectangular design with the dual drawstrings at the top seems very common, and I’ve made quite a few little purses like that over the years, but I usually sew them on the outside, with what I guess they call an “overlap cross stitch” (basically, a spiral stitch around the outside of the seam up one direction, and back down the other, to form little X’s along the edge) - which I like the look of, but the more time goes by the more I see how most real items like this from history were sewn inside out, then turned right-side-in so no visible stitches could be seen, and I wanted something that fit that aesthetic.
As for the reinforcement strips, I just cut two very narrow strips of the same leather, glued them in place along the edge where I intended to punch the stitching holes, then glued up the pouch, punched said holes, and saddle-stitched the whole affair together. When I turned it right-side-in again you could barely even see them, but I feel like it adds a little strength to the seams instead of just sewing through the two sides of the pouch body itself.

Nicely done...
Leather work can be a pain at times, but in the end the results are beautiful.

Yowza...that's beautiful work Michael..it's perfect for your persona!

Looks like another idea for an item that I'll be borrowing for my own kit, in due time!

Rob

Very nice. Fits in with your work style perfectly.

Beautiful work!

Thanks again, everybody!

And I just realized - a perfect example of the style of pouch I was talking about always doing before now is actually visible in these very pictures! In the second batch of pics, the tobacco pouch in the background is made with that same commercially-chrome-tanned leather, and put together with that same “x” style outer stitching I mentioned wanting to steer away from here!
(For what it’s worth, I still like that pouch, and all my other various pouches made like that, but I’m very excited to have a few pieces with a little more archaeological weight behind them, if you will.)

Manveruon wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 5:24 pmAs for the reinforcement strips, I just cut two very narrow strips of the same leather, glued them in place along the edge where I intended to punch the stitching holes, then glued up the pouch, punched said holes, and saddle-stitched the whole affair together. When I turned it right-side-in again you could barely even see them, but I feel like it adds a little strength to the seams instead of just sewing through the two sides of the pouch body itself.

Ah interesting. For some reason I was picturing the reinforcement strips as folded over either side of the main body seams (already folded in two) and then glued and punched. Effectively four layers of leather which is why I was confused as to why the main body was laid out flat still haha. Makes sense! Thank you!

Well that is just gorgeous!


.... and for what it's worth, if you told us that was walnut dyed, I'd have believed you. It's a close match!

Amazing work!
When I see a pouch this size my first thought is how tedious they have to be to make.
Would most likely make me want to bang my head against a wall!
Awesome detail!