# Ideas for things to make with tanned rabbit skins?



## Ark

I just put 8 beautiful rabbit skins into the "pickle" (tanning solution).
Most of them are black, but one is brown, one is pure white, and one is mostly white with some black. Cant wait to see how they turn out!

What can I make with them IF they do turn out nice?? LOL


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## Robbvious

Wait for some more and then line a home made Capote style coat? Warmy warmness... 'Course, you're in Texas, so you don't need the kind of warmy warmness we need up here.


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## The Bunny Ranch

Oh I'd try to make some moccasins! I'm sure there are so many "how-to" videos on you tube if you looked it up.

What do you use for your pickle?


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## MaggieJ

Check out this thread:

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=326682&highlight=fur+blanket


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## Ark

thanks Maggie!

Bunny, I used sulfuric acid and salt because I read that if you use alum the finished product cant get wet.


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## rabbitgeek

After you finish your project of choice, you can use leftover strips of fur as "lures" on a string for cat toys.

Have a good day!


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## Ark

rabbitgeek, that is an idea that my daughter will love!! In fact, I bet she could make up some of those cat toys for Christmas gifts.... ah, now you've sold one of her problems. WHAT ON EARTH can she make for presents.


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## lonelyfarmgirl

this girl I know asked to have some of my skins for tanning practice. she sews and knits, and wants to put rabbit fur strips around the tops of her boots and around the arm ends of her gloves, and around the hood on her coat.


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## Ark

Robbvious, I'm thinking of at least lining some coat pockets with them - I know it doesnt get THAT cold here, but my daughter has lyme disease and has a fever every day so the cold feels extra extra cold to _her_. I could either line her coat pockets or make her some mittens... 

And lonelyfarmgirl, my sister knits so I bet she'd be thrilled to have some extras for use on gloves. Great idea, thanks!


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## lonelyfarmgirl

pocket liners are an awesome idea! My hands are always freezing in the winter. I am getting ready to order some tanning stuff, and try my hand at it. If I dont soon, my husband is going to kill me. I bet I have 100 skins in the freezer.


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## Dead Rabbit

when i was a young lad, my grandfather gave me a pair of leather gloves lined with rabbit fur. warmest things i ever had. i cant find any locally now adays......get creative, make some nice gloves and PM me. id be interested in a pair

i would try something simple first...like a small throw pillow. perhaps just rabbit fur on one side. get your feet wet before starting something big and fancy.....rabbit products shed terribly, just remeber.


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## Robbvious

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> pocket liners are an awesome idea! My hands are always freezing in the winter. I am getting ready to order some tanning stuff, and try my hand at it. If I dont soon, my husband is going to kill me. I bet I have 100 skins in the freezer.


Send them to me, I'll take care of 'em for you


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## Scarlettt

100 skins!!! Wow.


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## Ark

I went to the auto parts store to buy battery acid, got salt at the grocery store. 

So, you dont have to go to the trouble of ordering anything! Unless you are planning to use alum maybe? I dont know where to get that.

And Dead Rabbit - the leather gloves had rabbit fur on the INSIDE? No wonder you havent been able to find any more.  That sounds extremely difficult to make. But WARM!

BTW, when I threw my skins into the freezer, I just stuffed them into a grocery bag. I didnt know you were supposed to do it a certain way, remove the air from the bag, etc. So. We'll see if it harmed them any. The skin side has already turned white. I have been giving them a stir once or twice a day and I can't wait for the next step!

I have about 8 escaped rabbits that have been enjoying a happy free range life, hopping about the farm. Now that it's cooler I havent seen any more rattlesnakes, thank goodness, so they have been safe. However, I plan to "catch" them soon with a .22 so I can have some more skins. Errrr, I mean some *meat*!! LOL. No seriously, I plan to can the meat from the next ones I butcher. I did that last time too and it made the most delicious soup!!


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## lonelyfarmgirl

why would rabbit skin shed terribly? I have one here that a friend tanned for me. I keep it on the back of the computer chair. It gets leaned on, played with, dropped on the floor, etc, and it has never shed a hair.


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## Ark

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> why would rabbit skin shed terribly? I have one here that a friend tanned for me. I keep it on the back of the computer chair. It gets leaned on, played with, dropped on the floor, etc, and it has never shed a hair.


Do rabbit skins shed terribly or not???? THAT is the question! 
I sure hope they don't..........


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## Dead Rabbit

rabbits as a live animal shed terribly. back in the 80's the popular rabbit skin coats were notorious for shedding.....when i tried tanning, my skins shed, so i assumed this was the case. perhaps its all in the tanning method.


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## Pat Lamar

Um... rabbits don't "shed"... they MOLT! Molting usually takes place anywhere from 1 to 3 times a year and lasts about 2 weeks each time, thereby getting rid of the "shedding" all at one time. Pelts that "shed" aren't PRIME pelts, which is why they "shed." Prime pelts do NOT come from fryer-aged rabbits. First prime is usually around 6 to 7 months of age, although there is sometimes a "junior prime" which occurs around 4 months of age (but still too old to qualify as a "fryer"). This is why GOOD garments using rabbit fur require ONLY "prime" pelts... so they WON'T shed. Fryer pelts are used only for crafts, like Barbie doll clothing trims... because they "shed." 

I hope this answers your questions about whether or not rabbits and rabbit pelts "shed."

Pat Lamar

P.S. Those rabbit fur jackets and coats that were popular back in the 80's were made in China and used the belly fur from fryer rabbit pelts. Did they shed? You bet they did! LOL


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## Dead Rabbit

aaahhhh so its the age of the rabbit wearing the pelt....w/o this new found knowledge,,,i can go back to my wish list of having a bed comforter made outa rabbit fur. just gotta age them before slaughter...


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## Pat Lamar

Dead Rabbit said:


> aaahhhh so its the age of the rabbit wearing the pelt....w/o this new found knowledge,,,i can go back to my wish list of having a bed comforter made outa rabbit fur. just gotta age them before slaughter...


True... to a point. Don't forget... adult rabbits molt, so you don't want to catch it when it's preparing to molt, as it won't be a "prime" pelt, then. Of course, it's easier to tell a prime pelt after it's been removed from the rabbit by looking at the underside, but that doesn't help with a live rabbit, heheh. You will need to carefully examine the skin of the rabbit (blow on the fur). You'll be looking for dark blotches in the skin. A "prime" pelt will be all white or creamy colored skin. Dark blotches will mean NOT prime. The dark blotches are more noticeable on the underside of the pelt. And, of course, making sure there are no loose hairs, either.

Pat Lamar


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## Ark

VERY very helpful info Pat Lamar! 
Thank you!!

Now... what if the rabbit is dark skinned? Errrr, I mean, if it has dark colored hair? Can you still see dark splotches?


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## Pat Lamar

Ark said:


> VERY very helpful info Pat Lamar!
> Thank you!!
> 
> Now... what if the rabbit is dark skinned? Errrr, I mean, if it has dark colored hair? Can you still see dark splotches?


Curses! I just KNEW somebody was gonna ask that! LOL Sorry to say, but I really DON'T KNOW the answer to that one! I guess you would have to judge by the condition of the coat, itself... as in making absolutely SURE there are no loose hairs! Can probably do that just by wetting your hands and rubbing on the rabbit until dry like we do when grooming a rabbit. Any loose hairs will stick to your hands. Sorry... I just never pursued the subject that far 'cause I was always too busy to do any tanning, even though I had the stretchers for the pelts.

Pat Lamar


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## Ark

Pat Lamar said:


> Curses! I just KNEW somebody was gonna ask that! LOL Sorry to say, but I really DON'T KNOW the answer to that one! I guess you would have to judge by the condition of the coat, itself... as in making absolutely SURE there are no loose hairs! Can probably do that just by wetting your hands and rubbing on the rabbit until dry like we do when grooming a rabbit. Any loose hairs will stick to your hands. Sorry... I just never pursued the subject that far 'cause I was always too busy to do any tanning, even though I had the stretchers for the pelts.
> 
> Pat Lamar


Ha ha!!!! Oh well. Thanks!!


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## lonelyfarmgirl

I skinned some rabbits before, and they were black animals. their inside of skin was white, but they had big black patches. I assumed they had spotted skin. Is that the case, or is this not possible?

will tanned skins not in prime shed right away?. I have alot of skins and I dont know exactly which ones were in prime, although I have a pretty good 'idea'.
How about once they are thawed, but before being tanned? If I can figure it out, then I would de-hair those before tanning.


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## Pat Lamar

Even with the black rabbits, if the underside of the skin showed black patches, then, the pelt was/is not prime. If they had "spotted skin," it would have shown up in the hair, too, and they would have been broken (spotted) rabbits, not all black.

The best way to "test" shedding is, as I had stated before, to wet your hands and rub them over the rabbit (or pelt). Any loose hairs will show up on your hands. Should be the same for thawed raw pelts, too.

Pat Lamar


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## lonelyfarmgirl

thats what I thought, and now that I have had a day to think about it, those particular animals were done in the heat of summer and were kind of ratty looking. I only did them because the freezer was empty and I had an order for 15 or something carcasses.


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## RW kansas hogs

Stupid question time, i'm not sur how to type this so here it goes. can a person skin a rabbit like they wanted to put it on a strechter, strecht it and let it air dry for a peroid of time. Then can a person put it the pickle to finish tanning it?


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## wintrrwolf

RW kansas hogs said:


> Stupid question time, i'm not sur how to type this so here it goes. can a person skin a rabbit like they wanted to put it on a strechter, strecht it and let it air dry for a peroid of time. Then can a person put it the pickle to finish tanning it?


Also wondered the same thing, like how the old timers and indians did it?

wonder if winter coat would be prime coat?


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## Ark

RW kansas hogs said:


> Stupid question time, i'm not sur how to type this so here it goes. can a person skin a rabbit like they wanted to put it on a strechter, strecht it and let it air dry for a peroid of time. Then can a person put it the pickle to finish tanning it?


I think you'd have to salt it as well, but as far as I know, you can. I read that somewhere.... but honestly, have no first hand experience!

My skins turned out ok. Not soft enough to sew though.... so I am not totally happy with them. I need to figure out what I did wrong and try again. Although, each of the 8 took nearly 1.5 hours of work so it's going to be awhile before I can do it again.


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## Pat Lamar

Put 'em on a stretcher, salt them real good and FLESH them, then let them dry. When dry, do it all over, again, until all fat & fatty membrane has been removed. Then you can proceed with whatever tanning method you prefer. I did it a few times just using yellow bar laundry soap, baby oil and a lot of elbow grease, and they came out nice and soft.

Pat Lamar


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## SaratogaNZW

Ideas:
I have always wanted to make a "White Rabbit of Caerbannog" skin rug...
Imagine a taxidermied throw on the floor, the size of a big bear skin rug, but made out of rabbit hides sewn onto a quilt backer with a huge rabbit head (made out or styrofoam or something) so it appears to have come from a 7 foot tall rabbit...


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## Dead Rabbit

SaratogaNZW said:


> Ideas:
> I have always wanted to make a "White Rabbit of Caerbannog" skin rug...
> Imagine a taxidermied throw on the floor, the size of a big bear skin rug, but made out of rabbit hides sewn onto a quilt backer with a huge rabbit head (made out or styrofoam or something) so it appears to have come from a 7 foot tall rabbit...



LMBO!! someone would swear you just killed the easter bunny.


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## RW kansas hogs

Better yet, Search for giant rabbits on the web and you mite find a breeder here in the states. I know there is a guy up in Montana that has a few, Lives close to Glaicer Park. And yes they are monsters, Big enough to bite people and make ya bleed


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## Pat Lamar

RW kansas hogs said:


> Better yet, Search for giant rabbits on the web and you mite find a breeder here in the states. I know there is a guy up in Montana that has a few, Lives close to Glaicer Park. And yes they are monsters, *Big enough to bite people and make ya bleed*


Heck... ANY rabbit can do that, even tiny Netherland Dwarfs!

Pat Lamar


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## Mavors

You can always try your hand at parchment paper.

Back before paper from wood pulp came into creation they used to use tanned animal hides that were stretched, scraped and dried to make a very thin hide to write on and bind books. Not sure if rabbit was popular or not, but I know goat, cow, etc. were used.


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## Dead Rabbit

i saw a show on TV how they were making modern day parchement paper. fascinating process.

i dont know, but id think rabbit skin would be to thin. when fleshing it,,its mighty easy to cut and tear.


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