The tarsoly was a highly decorated belt pouch carried by the nobility of the steppes of Eastern Europe. I've been wanting to make a tarsoly for a long time, ever since I was pointed to this link:
http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/atarsoly.htm
The original pouches are beautiful. I lack the metal skills and tools to do the any justice to the original pieces, so I simply hammered some texture onto thick copper sheet (12ga) and rivetted them on. I wans't too worried about exactly matching a period decoration as there is a lot of variety in on the period pieces but I loosely based the copper plates I added on these pouches:
http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/karosi11.htm
http://www.tarsolyosok.hu/eng/budapesti.htm
It was actually pretty difficult to find any good information about the original construction techniques and I couldn't find any patterns besides the basic shape of the existing pieces, so I ended up spending more time trying to dig up information and agonizing over details than I did actually building the thing.
It is 6ish ounce vegtan leather hand stitched with an awl and linen thread covered with numerous pieces of 12ga copper sheet hammered to add texture, remove the overly shiny finish, and match the pieces I put on my girlfriend's belt.
Here's mine, tell me what you think.