How to make a "Hawken Era" Muzzleloading Possibles Bag | Beginner Leather Pouch | NMLRA

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On this week's episode of Craftsman's corner from the NMLRA, we're going to show you how to make this “Hawken Era” hunting pouch, inspired by Madison Grants, “The Kentucky Rifle Hunting Pouch”.

Featured on Plate no. 70 in the book, this pouch is described as follows

“Circa 1845-1855. Well made commercial pouch of heavy black cowhide. The outstanding feature is the shaped flap which is bound on the edge and has coinciding patterns of impressed tool work. Above the brass button closure is a sunburst design topped by diagonal hash marks.
The scabbard, being hand made, is probably a later addition by the owner. The knife is of the kitchen variety with a homemade wooden grip. A variable iron powder measure is suspended by a chain”

This won’t be an exact copy of the pouch described above, if you follow these directions, you should get “pretty close”. From there, you can personalize the pouch into something of your creation, or follow the description and make a more direct copy of the original. For this tutorial, I’ve left out the pouch flap edge binding, the brass button, and the knife sheath, (which can be added at a later date, just as the original was).

To get started, I’m using some 8 oz vegetable tanned hide that is colored a light brown. If you don’t know how to find the weight of your leather, check out this link for a handy guide

The tools I’m using on this project are
Tape measure/Ruler
Artificial sinew
4 prong stitching chisel
Awl
White pencil
2 Blunt needles
Binder Clips
A Pair of Dividers
Heavy scissors
Chisels, one flat, one slightly curved
Knife
Rotary cutter
Leather dye
Leather hole punch
You don’t need all these tools, all of the cutting can be done with a knife or scissors.

Start by printing out the free pattern included with this article, cut along the outside of the heavy black lines, or the grey lines depending on your choice of personalization, and then trace the paper pattern cut-outs onto some cereal box cardboard, or other thin cardboard you have around your workspace. Thin cardboard like this is a great way to keep a durable set of patterns handy for any future projects you might have.


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