# animal hides blanket



## sherry in Maine

Hi,
a trapper neighbor of mine just sold me some hides. They've been stretched, etc. Soon I will send to Moyles to get 'garment cured' so I can make a blanket.

Here's the next step: I may or may not find someone who can sew hides on a machine. I dont have a sewing machine, nor do I know how to use one. I asked one of my penobscot Indian friends and she told me 'Granny so and so used to do that; she might still' If she doesn't still do it--


Is there a method to make my own 'blankie'? By hand? And have it look nice?

I want to keep the heads and tails on as well.

Any suggestions for a nice hide/fur blanket?

Also got me a fox hide. Thinking of just hanging it up, because it is pretty. Any other suggestions on how to present it?

thanks alot!
Sherry


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## LonelyNorthwind

I assume your hides have fur on. Here's how I do it. I sew with furs quite a bit and am currently doing some sewing with sea otter fur for an Aleut friend. That's the most awesome fur there is but a bit of work.

Anyhoo, I think there are fur sewing machines but you want to do this by hand. Use a leather needle and faux sinew. You can get both from Tandy leather. First, yeah, when you get your hides back from the tanner, (unless you want to tan them yourself which isn't that hard) you'll want to spray them to dampen and stretch them out on plywood, using staples every few inches around and pulling tight as you can.










When you cut your hides for sewing, use a straight-edge on the flesh side to mark, and use a razor craft tool to barely cut the hide, taking care not to cut any fur. If you gently lift the hide as you cut that'll help avoid cutting the fir.

When you sew your hides, you want to put them fur side in and sew with an overcast stitch as close to the edge as possible, tucking the fir in as you go. It should like this when you're done.










I line my blankets with a really good quality high thread count sheet fabric. Here's a sofa set I made.










I square my hides before making the blankets so I have scraps left over for small stuff. Like these. They're made with the otter fur inside, trimmed with wolf. My artsy friend did a little sketch on them.


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## sherry in Maine

thank you Grammascabin.

Everything is beautiful! Love that couch set that you made . . . Gloves, very pretty.


Sherry


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## LonelyNorthwind

Thanks sherry. It's the most awesome stuff to work with. That set sold so I made another which I have on my sofa. When I throw the blanket over me, fur side down, it just floats and is neither too warm or cool. Those mittens keep you warm all over no matter how cold. Neat stuff.


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## PonderosaQ

Those mittens are a real work of art. Reminds me of the slippers I had as a child. If I didn't now live on a different continent I would have them as a pure treasure to this day. I think mom got rid of them when I moved to the US.


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## mustangsally17

Grammascabin, Your work is so awesome! I love the mittens ,at first I thought they were slippers, the artsey sketch is the perfect finishing touch. Would love to own a pair.


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## secretcreek

What beautiful fur creations. My son asked for a fur blanket so I bought him a caribou -soft as butter-hide from an Alaskan tanner( he was little then). My son loved his gift. That was probably 8 yrs at least. It now is hung over a banister to be seen. The problem is that it sheds terribly. Is that the nature of a fur? Should I be doing something? The hairs fall out individually.
-scrt crk


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## LonelyNorthwind

Aw, that's too bad, secretcreek. My guess is that the hide has become dry and the fibers loose. Try spraying it - the hide side - with a mist of warm water then rub some neetsfoot oil into it evenly the palms of your hands. Fold it so the oil won't get on the fur, roll it and put in a plastic bag for a day. The neetsfoot oil will disappear right into the skin and plump it hopefully tightening the pores. I hope this helps, I had a deer hide do that to me after years of being just fine. Finally gave up and threw it in the compost pile.
Didn't my friends artwork just make those mittens incredible?! My grandson's girlfriend now owns them & my guess is that they'll be passed down for generations. I'm working on another longer pair that's going to be pretty awesome for snowmachining. I'll take a picture when they're done.


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