A friend of mine asked me to make him some buckskin bags so he could store his ceremonial pipe and other accessories in them.
It was a little bit challenging to make the bags considering that I didn't have the items themselves; I had just taken measurements about the width, length, and depth of all the items so I had to think pretty carefully about my layout before I cut the buckskin, especially because I wanted to minimize the amount of sewing to be done.
For storing the pipe bowl I went with a simple design, the layout being 11 inches long (for two 3-inch sides, a 2-inch bottom, and a full 3-inch front flap) and 6 inches in width, with two extra 3-inch "wings" attached to the bottom. That gave me 4 simple 3-inch seams to sew with a welt. To tie the flap securely I attached two thongs to the bottom of the flap and wrapped them around the bag completely so they could be tucked under themselves.
Next I made a tobacco bag by cutting out a 9-inch diameter circle. I then punched holes all along the edge, making them extra large so that the cinching string could easily slide through them. The string had to be strong enough so that it wouldn't break with the force required to pull the circle tightly shut into a little ball. That little pouch ended up being 3 inches in diameter.
For the larger bag, which will hold a pipe stem and the items above, I was at first concerned that it would be a little too loose and baggy so I cut it pretty tight to what I wanted. That ended up being a mistake and I had to add a little extension to one side so that the bag was roomy enough. The problem is that that scrunched up that one side and the bag ended up slightly lopsided. The moral of the story is that we should always make room for a half inch seam on all sides and sew things symmetrically.
If everything had worked out, I would have cut one panel 16 inches by 7 inches and another one 28 inches (to allow for a long flap with fringes) by 7 inches, sewing them together with a welt. To keep the flap securely shut I drilled a hole through the tip of a small piece of antler, threaded a thong through it, then punched two holes in the front pane of the bag where I wanted that button. I punched two holes instead of one because buckskin tends to stretch and just having a knotted thong through one hole would not work in the long run. So with two holes I could actually tie the thong securely inside the bag. Then I simply cut as small a slit as possible through the flap to let the button go through. Again, buckskin stretches so it's better to start with a very small slit and let it get bigger by working the button through it gently.
I then cut the flap into a V shape and cut thin fringes about halfway up toward the top. To get rid of the monstrous "new fringe look" I wetted them and worked them in my hands. It's better to let them dry untwisted though as they may be hard to restraighten once dry, when I gently work them soft again.
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