Four-Panel Leather Ball

I've been trying to come up with projects that use the lighter pigskin leather I have, because I have enough of it to make twelve Norwegian-style coin purses ... and who needs *twelve* purses?! I still plan to make a girdle book, but in the meantime I thought I'd try my hand at making a ball.

Leather balls of various construction have been recovered in York, dating to both the Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval periods. Generally they were made of repurposed leather--commonly from shoes--and stuffed with scraps of fabric and leather or, in some cases, moss. A tenth-century example with stitching partially intact was made of sheepsking and sewn with a whip stitch.

Because I've never attempted this sort of sewing project before, I wanted to do a test run before I began cutting my expensive leather. I grabbed an old work shirt and cut four elliptical panels from the fabric. Then, using a needle and thread, I sewed the seams together one by one. I had to leave a gap at the top of the fourth seam so that I could flip the ball from inside-out to rightside-in. I then cut up more scraps from the same shift and stuffed the ball through this same opening.

Then came the challenging part. I had no idea how to go about closing up that opening. I remembered a project in home economics class in eighth grade where we made and stuffed a pillow, but I didn't recall how we finished closing that seam. Fortunately, in this modern age you can find a how-to for just about *anything* online! I found a very helpful set of directions for closing a pillow and knew that it would adapt well to this project.

Now feeling at least mildly confident, I decided to take a stab at the leather. I again cut out the four elliptical panels, saving the scraps of leather that I created in the process. Using the same waxed linen thread that I have on hand for my other leather projects, I threaded a sewing needle and began to whip stitch.

Well, I tried to, anyway. I discovered immediately that even leather as thin as this pig skin is too tough to simply pierce a needle through. I grabbed my awl and set to it, creating the stitching holes one by tedious one. It took well over an hour to bore all the holes and stitch the pieces together.

I decided to leave the center of a seam open for rightsiding and stuffing instead of the top, because I thought it might be easier to stitch closed afterwards. After I flipped the leather rightside-out, I stuffed the ball with the saved scraps of leather and strips of an old work shirt. When it was firmly stuffed, I used the blind stitch I found online to sew the seam closed.

At the start of the project, I hadn't realized that the stitches would be visible on the outside of the ball. Fortunately, my sewing was fairly even (there's a reason I don't make my own garb!). For my next project, I may use the same stitch I use on the blackjacks instead.

The ball is surprisingly weighty for being stuffed primarily with scraps of my old uniform shirt! I was initially worried that it would be too light, and wouldn't be hefty enough to actually toss around. I'm glad to learn that worry was unfounded!