indian medicine bags

[halo]

i want to make some of those indian medicine bags that ray mears had with him on his canada trip does anyone know were to get the leather from and what thickness i would need?
any help on this would be very welcome

thanks halo

 

[pumbaa]

According to a book i have called "Native American Crafts & Skills" A medicine parfleche is mader of rawhide ! I think it may look better in leather though . As for thickness , that would depend on how sturdy you want it . I would say between 2mm and 4mm deppending on strength required .
Pumbaa

 

[george]

I use chamois leather for making small pouch bags they dye easily and they're cheap - get them from any motorist supply shops and most garages.

george

 

[halo]

what i want them for really is for bannock ingreedients,tea,coffee things like that but obviously with ziplock bags inside and want to make a smaller one for my flint and steel aswell!
so probably 2mm would be thick enough


halo

 

[jdlenton]

I'd say you want clothing leather 1/1.5/2mm the identity store in northampton do it a a number of natural and bright colours

James

 

[Bumblebee]

i want to make some of those indian medicine bags that ray mears had with him on his canada trip does anyone know were to get the leather from and what thickness i would need?
any help on this would be very welcome

thanks halo

Those "indian medicine bags" are actually Sami coffee bags made out of reindeer skin which is very soft but still strong.

 

[BorderReiver]

Those "indian medicine bags" are actually Sami coffee bags made out of reindeer skin which is very soft but still strong.

Do you have a link or a supplier's address?

 

[Bumblebee]

Viking here sells coffee bags in his shop. Most sites selling them doesn't have english pages buf you can google for "renskinn kaffepåse".

 

[tomtom]

I think its more important what you keep in the bag then what its made of though raw hid was probably the most suitable of the materials avalible i have seen woven cotton ones.

 

[halo]

thanks for that link bumblebee,there the ones i meant but still fancy making my own,did'nt know they were sami coffee bags.
thank's for all the replies and links guys.

yey just noticed i'm a tenderfoot now


paul(halo)

 

[bambodoggy]

Tom, I think you're a little confused mate, you studying too hard! lol Raw Hide is hard as old boots and certainly not ideal for making pouches...I'm presuming you meant Buck Skin lol

Bumblebee's right, they looked like Swedish coffee bags, no doubt picked up the idea from Lars

I'm sure one of our first nation members will correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that while medicine bags were not exclusively so, they were mainly on the small side (compared with coffee/flour bags) and used to carry special herbs and charms etc. I seem to remember Oh Canada mentioning them not too long ago.

For the pouches you want Halo, I'd say 2mm would be fine. You can get scrap leather off evilbay pretty cheap, just do a search for scrap leather or similar and you'll find it. Failing that, nip down to your local charity shop, pick up an old 80's style Micheal Jackson leather jacket and cut that up to make your pouches, that way you get to mak mistakes without worrying about costs and you also give a little to a good cause.

Hope that helps matey,

Bam.

 

[tomtom]

Tom, I think you're a little confused mate, you studying too hard! lol Raw Hide is hard as old boots and certainly not ideal for making pouches...I'm presuming you meant Buck Skin lol

thats the one :bluThinki :thinkerg:

 

[halo]

good idea bam,i did'nt think of that i'll have a mooch about over the weekend while crimbo shoping

halo

 

[anthonyyy]

I use chamois leather for making small pouch bags they dye easily and they're cheap - get them from any motorist supply shops and most garages.

george

Looks like a great idea. I would be ruluctant, however, to use chamois leather for food containers. All sorts of nasty chemicals are used in the tanning process. (and in the pre and post tanning process)