Buckskin sling

by Linda Theil

I made this buckskin sling for my friend who is a bowhunter; this is buckskin from a deer he hunted. I imagine him using this bag while he is working in his epic garden.

I didn't have enough buckskin to make the entire "Clamshell Sling" by Spencer-Ogg designs, so I combined the buckskin with a Mora faux leather from Emmaline Bags in Alberta, Canada. I stabilized the very flexible buckskin with Pellon "Fashion Fuse" a very light-weight, low-temperature fusible made especially for leather, fur, and faux leather construction.

In a way, I was glad to combine materials because I learned that my very useful and inexpensive Jenome HD is not really up to all-leather construction. I had to remake the original buckskin slip pocket on the back of the sling because my machine couldn't sew all those layers of buckskin.

The sling is lined with cotton from Sarah Sczepanski's "Rust and Bloom" collection for Free Spirit Fabics. The construction method is binding the interior seam -- a choice I particularly like because binding provides structural support and seam reinforcement for this small -- 9 x 5-inch -- but mighty, bag.

I added a key-catcher to the interior so my friend can find his tractor key more easily.

I love this Spencer-Ogg pattern; it's really beautiful and elegant, but after completing the bag I felt the 54-inch webbing strap was not suffieciently roomy for a masculine chest, so I added a 12-inch piece to the strap with unsatisfactory result because to avoid pulling the splice through the tri-glide, I lost a lot of flexibility in the strap length. Perhaps the hunter's wife will adjust it to his satisfaction.