This may have come up before, but I don’t see a way to search the archives for this board, so please forgive me if this topic has been hashed out here before.
I am curious about the colours for bag covers for UPs. Some makers will only make them in one colour, some don’t care, and many don’t provide covers period. NPU was able to tell me that UP bag covers are traditionally purple or green, but they didn’t know why. The trim is wide open to anyone’s fancy.
I’m sure I could come up with some real whoppers on this, but I’m curious to know if anyone has a real idea of where this comes from, or where the tradition started.
Hey Dave, let me know if you find the answer to this one. Even though it’s relatively unimportant in the scheme of things, I really want a purple bag cover for my new bag (more feminine you know!).
p.s. Bill the Cat looks like he needs hairball relief.
I always found animal prints nice… leopard skin, for example, can give a very wild edge to your music Isaac Alderson used to have one… not sure if he still does???
Sure, Bill the Cat has been used before, but I can’t deny the similarity to what looks back at me in the mirror every morning
Damn! I was really keen on getting a Holstien pattern, but Brian, you say its already been done. Okay, there’s still the zebra skin pattern.
Janice, the traditional purple is sort of a reddish purple, like a Scottish thistle, as opposed to something dark like a royal purple. Fringe for purple is usually a fine gold braid, about an inch long. I’m not too fond of the material Joe offers, so I’m going to look into upholstery fabrics - something heavy that will wear well, like a heavy vellure. Hope that helps.
Actually, a black vellure bag with silver trim would go well with my set: ebony with plated nickel-silver and ivory mounts. But that wouldn’t be very traditional, would it, and then there’s that zebra pattern to consider …
DJM agus Janice re trad covers.The Purple is for playing in Lent agus Green for ordinary Sundays you could have black for funerals agus white for weddings.(only kidding although the pipes used to be used as a substitute organ for churches in Ireland)Whoever you talked to at NPU didnae have a scooby!!
Covers were, are and always will be, a personal taste sort o thing and has nothing to do with tradition,unless ye call getting whatever ye can in velvet at a reasonable price “tradition”.Velvet was and still is a luxury fabric so it was a bit of showmanship.
The cover is a protection against wear on the bag if your making your own get upholstery velvet as it will last much much longer.
Here endeth todays lesson,off to Ireland today
Slan go foill
I have been making bag covers lately. Currently I am using Upholstery Velvet. I can get it in Purple, green, red, black, and silvery white. There is also a Leopard Print, but it is super slippery. One particular fabric I was looking at looks like weathered/mangled Leather. IF choosing colors is a difficult thing.. multi colors with exposed metallic stitching might be the thing.
The Metallic thread is something I am experimenting with. IT also comes in silver, and variegated (the color changes ever couple of stitches)
How about a shaggy faux fur cover? Or, for the less perverse, one made out of wigs and toupees(spelling?). You could tell people it was made from the scalps of others who had asked you stupid questions about piping.
Hey. slightly off this topic but the “mangled leather” comment prompts my question: where can I get a decent sized piece of soft leather for a popping strap (why strap BTW)? I have a very small one that slips off my leg all the time. I would also use a piece to wrap my chanter and bass drone top section. Any ideas welcome. Thanks.
Lorenzo came up with a great suggestion. Go to a store that sells used clothing and look for a leather trench coat or long jacket.
If you try a shoe repair you might be able to get scraps of leather really cheap.
Chamois pieces are usually available at automotive stores.
where can I get a decent sized piece of soft leather for a popping strap
Here’s a couple of sources: any shoe repair place will have lots of scrap, anyone who makes or repairs luggage (the good stuff), anyone who does riding leathers for horses or motorcycle gear.
I like to hit up the leather workers at folk festivals, they always have scraps. One guy I know who does leatherwork from home tells me there is crowd around his garbage bin every collection day of people rummaging for scraps - probably easier just to ask politely, though
why strap BTW
If you tie it to your leg, I guess you could then call it a strap (?)
Another place you might check is a fabric superstore.
We have a leather place sort of like Tandy but not, and God only knows how they stay in business thier prices are astronomical. ..
The fabric store has 2 giant boxes with everything from scraps to full hides. Much of it is the same leather except at way better prices.
Vis-à-vis highland pipes, don’t forget the drone cords.
I remember someone getting kicked out of a gig (Christmas at a mall, for Pete’s sake) for having a battery-powered little string of Christmas lights strung across the drones.
In Eugene, Oregon, USA, there’s a store called Factory Fabrics that has a bin of recycled leather, mostly from old car seats. It sells for like $6 a pound, and there are plenty of pieces that are big enough to make a popping strap. Most of what’s available is beige, though you can sometimes find decent pieces of black or other colors. You might try calling around to your local fabric stores to find out if there’s one that sells recycled leather like that.
For most all (smaller) leather needs I find good assortments of used (women’s) purses at a thrift store. Some heavy stuff, but some light and also treated (air tight). I’ve used the lighter leather purses many times for back-pressure valves in both the bellows and bag stocks. Many larger pieces work fine for popping straps too. Tie a leather string from one side to the other and wrap around under the leg…this keeps it in plce nicely.
Isaac Alderson used to have one… not sure if he still does???
