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I recently decided that I have too many historically correct shooting outfits for guns I have yet to build that I never use. Consequently, I resolved to sell those outfits and make an entirely new shooting outfit for myself making the shot pouch, powder horn and patch knife that interests me and not necessarily a cohesive historically correct outfit . I am starting with an embroidered diary case type shot pouch with a little different flap design than on my previous pouch of this type. If you will recall, this pouch is based on one shown on pages 34-37 of Jim Webb’s book on shot pouches and powder horns of Southern Appalachia.
It took a while to work out the pattern, but the shot pouch actually went together much easier than I expected. I cut out the leather very precisely making sure all the mating edges (and punched holes) lined up exactly. I punched all the holes for the embroidery and used my own design. Once the embroidery was done, I glued the pieces together along the edges using white glue. I think this was the key to being able to easily sew it all together; that and the precise matching of the holes. In case you were wondering, the glue mostly dissolves away when the bag was soaked in warm water to turn it.
I used linen thread for the embroidery; the same type thread I use to assemble the bag. You can get that thread in an unbelievable number of colors. I only used red, yellow, blue, and green as close as possible to the historic fraktur colors. All the stitching that shows is done with red thread. I used natural color thread for the stitches that don’t show.