dhaverstick

My best bud, John "Cool Johnny" Norris, asked me a while back to make him a medicine bag necklace. Due to the bag's small size, it was hard for me to come up with a design that would be functional, would look good, and would be something that I could actually sew by hand. After a few starts and stops, I settled on the bag you see here. It is made from deer hide. I'm still not crazy about how it draws to close but it is what it is. I had a better idea for what I wanted the lanyard to look like, but that also provided some challenges. First off, I had to learn how to do a 4-strand round braid. Braiding deer lace can be a challenge because of how stretchy it is so I used suede lace which is a little more stiff. Then I had to design a clasping mechanism that I could carve out of deer antler that wouldn't be too bulky. I had a vision in my head of a hook and loop kind of clasp with the hook having wings at the end to lock it in place. That proved to be tough to carve out and I lost a bit of skin in the process. Lastly, I needed to figure out a decent way to secure the deer antler beads and turkey spurs in place. I settled on putting a metal brad through each piece and then epoxying the brad in place. I hope it brings Cool Johnny good luck in the woods. It already has a bunch of powerful mojo in it! Darren

I finished this side quiver last night. It will be an auction item at the upcoming induction ceremony at The Archery Hall of Fame & Museum in Springfield, MO. Hopefully, it will make a little money for the organization. I made it so that it can be worn around the neck by the straps or on a belt with the belt loop holder. Specs: The fawn colored leather is elk hide and the red, white, and blue leather is deer hide. The black leather on the thunderbird and ravens is bison and the rest of the black leather is deer hide. The hanger ring was carved from moose antler and the hanger buttons were carved from deer antler. I sewed everything up by hand using approximately 10 miles of artificial sinew. Darren

I finished this back quiver and matching arm guard a couple of days ago. They will be donated to the live auction taking place at the United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival the weekend of February 9th-11th in Springfield, MO. Hopefully, they will make the club a little money. The body of the quiver and the arm guard facing are made from water buffalo hide. The black leather that the arrowheads are made from is stingray hide and the shiny yellow bands are ostrich leg skin. The straps and trim are made from deer hide and I carved the buttons and lace hooks from deer antler. I sewed everything up by hand using approximately 4 miles of artificial sinew. My fingers need a rest now! Darren

I finished these arm guards yesterday and will be donating them as raffle items at the United Bowhunters of Missouri Rendezvous coming up in a couple of weeks. Both of them have a vegetable tanned cowhide backing and the facing is made from the hide of a large freshwater fish in the Amazon River basin known as a pirarucu. The arrowheads are made from ostrich leg skin and the trim is deer hide. I carved the lace hooks from deer antler and sewed the tan one up by hand using artificial sinew. I sewed the blue/gray one up with artificial sinew and B-50 bowstring material. Hopefully, they will make a little money for the club. Darren

Man, I love to bowfish! One of my near-future hunting trips is to go to the coast and shoot rays. Good luck! Darren

Carp hide is awesome to work with! It has a really interesting texture and is tough as iron. Darren

My friend got his arm guard yesterday and sent me this photo. He was quite pleased and that makes me smile. Darren

Those are lace hooks that I carved out of deer antler and then dyed black. Darren I have made many, many arm guards using this design and have never had a problem. When the guard is wrapped around one's arm, the lace hooks are well away from the bow string's path. Darren

I finished this arm guard yesterday for the feller who got me into bowhunting. He and I are headed to Mexico next month to chase Gould's turkeys with our recurves and I thought he needed to be dressed appropriately. I actually don't remember if he uses an arm guard or not so, if he doesn't, I guess he has a nice leather coaster to set his coffee on. This arm guard has a vegetable-tanned cowhide backing and a facing of leather that comes from a pirarucu, or arapaima. That's a giant fish that is native to the Amazon River basin. The tan trim is deer hide and the black leather is carp hide. I carved the lace hooks from deer antler and sewed everything up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

I finished this scabbard today for a good friend of mine. Knife sheaths and scabbards are always a challenge for me because of the leathers and methods I prefer to use. This one was no exception. It has a vegetable tanned cowhide liner with giraffe hide on the outside. The green bling on the front is ostrich leg skin and the trim around the edges is deer hide. I sewed the whole thing up by hand using approximately 10 miles of artificial sinew. What's sad is I will probably have to charge him more for the scabbard than what he paid for the machete! Darren

Thank you for the kind words, Joel! Yes, I am happy to share anything that I do. For the edging around the bag, I glued a piece of deer hide all the way around. I poked my sewing holes with an awl below the edge of the glued-down deer hide. Then I sewed the hide down using a whip stitch. I poke the needle through one hole, bring the thread back over the top of the deer hide, and stick the needle into the next hole. I make sure to pull the thread tight with each stitch. When I get to the end of a seam, I reverse the process which creates an "X" where the stitches cross on the top of the deer hide. This type of stitching on the soft deer hide causes it to puff up and gives the sewing a very distinct look. For the belt loops, I do something similar. For a loop to fit a 2" wide belt, I use a piece of deer hide 3 1/2" long by 1" wide. I put contact cement all over the flesh side of the piece and wait until it gets tacky. Then I fold the long outside edges towards the center of the piece and keep pressing them down until they stick. This will leave you with a belt loop just a little shy of 1/2" wide. I put something heavy on top of the loop to flatten it out and let it dry for a few hours. After it dries, I square up the ends and make sure the finished piece is 3 1/2" long. When I am ready to sew it down, I first poke holes with an awl 1/4" a part down the long centerline of the loop, down its entire length. I sew one end down onto what I'm attaching it to and then start doing the whip stitch on one side until I get to the end. Then I sew that end down and bring my whip stitch back. When I reach the point where I started, I go down the other side and then come back. The end result is really cool looking. The biggest trick to sewing them is to make sure to give yourself enough thread. Even though the pieces are short, they take a surprising long piece of thread to sew them completely. Hope this helps! Darren

Bob, it is great to hear from a fellow Missourian! Springfield Leather is like a second home to me. I should just have half my paycheck automatically sent to them to make things easier. When I walk in the door, they all holler "Darren!" just like Norm in the old show, "Cheers". BTW - Thanks for the kind words. Darren

I finished this bag tonight and I will be donating it to the silent auction held at the annual convention of the Conservation Federation of Missouri at the end of the month. Hopefully, it will make the organization a little money. The body of the bag is made from cape buffalo hide. The purple and periwinkle bling is ostrich leg skin and the black trim is deer hide. I carved the clasp from a piece of deer antler and sewed it all up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

I finished this arm guard tonight. A friend of mine wanted me to make one that he will give to his daughter as a birthday present. It is personalized with her initials. It has a cowhide backing with a shark skin facing. The trim is deer hide and I carved the lace hooks out of deer antler. Everything was sewn up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

I finished this archery arm guard Sunday for a friend of mine. It has a cowhide backing and the facing is cape buffalo. The hoof print and trim are deer hide. I carved the lace hooks out of deer antler and sewed everything up by hand using artificial sinew. I had purchased that tan deer hide about 4 years ago and was holding it back for just the right project. I think it worked really well with this one! Darren

I made this duffle bag for my sister. It's a big sucker and will easily hold all the bathrobes and towels she steals from hotels on her travels. The entire thing is made from mule deer hide except for the lacing on the straps which is deer hide. I carved the strap rings from moose antler and the strap buttons from deer antler. I sewed everything up by hand using approximately 10 miles of artificial sinew. I sent her some photos and she loved it, which a great thing because I really didn't want to start over! Darren

Thank you all for the kind words! I think I started working on this purse this past January but just couldn't get motivated. I didn't think the Celtic knots were going to look very good and I had to force myself to work on them. They did turn out better than I thought they would, though. I think I have about 100 hours in it, spread out over 7 months. Darren

After much procrastination, I finally finished this purse last night. The body of the purse and the trim are mule deer hide. The yellow and green material making the Celtic knots is ostrich leg skin and the brown in the knots is carp hide. I carved the strap buttons from deer antler and sewed it all up by hand using approximately 3.65 miles of artificial sinew. It has two external pockets and one internal pocket. I sure hope my cousin likes it! Darren

Yes, Bob, it is a piece of deer hide lace that I sewed down. Thanks! Darren

I hardly ever make a leather doodad for my own use but I thought my arrows for this season needed a matching arm guard so I cobbled this together over the past few days. I may not be a good shot or a stealthy woodsman but at least I'll be color coordinated! This arm guard has a Nile crocodile facing over a vegetable tanned cowhide backing. The arrowhead is made from tilapia hide and the trim is deer hide. I carved the lace hooks from deer antler and sewed everything up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

Last night I finished these two arm guards for a feller and his wife. He said he wanted a bear paw print incorporated into the design and I had to think about that one a bit before I came up with an idea that I liked. I think they turned out pretty nice. The right one has an elephant ear hide facing with a veg-tanned cowhide backing. The black leather around the paw print is carp hide and the gold leather is deer hide. The left one has an ostrich hide facing with a veg-tanned cowhide backing. The beige leather around the paw print is ostrich leg skin and the black leather is deer hide. The beige trim is elk hide. I carved the lace hooks from deer antler and sewed everything up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

I finished these two arm guards a couple of weeks ago and donated them as raffle prizes for a United Bowhunters of Missouri event. The gray one is caiman hide with a stingray arrowhead. The copper one is ostrich leg skin with an ostrich leg skin arrowhead. Both have a cowhide backing, deer hide trim, and lace hooks that I carved out of deer antler. Everything was sewn up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

I finished this shooting bag Thursday for Jordi Gene, owner of TanKab Outfitters in the Yucatan. A mutual friend of ours, Bill Cooper, commissioned me to make it and it will be delivered Sunday when Bill flies down there to hunt. The two main critters that people hunt there are Brocket deer and Ocellated turkeys so I did my best to incorporate them in the design of the bag. Yes, I know it's not period correct or anything but I think it does capture the essence of hunting in that area. Jordi is a big time traditional bow hunter and black powder shooter and I look forward to meeting him next year when Bill takes me down there on a writer's junket. I hope to kill another turkey with my bow and one with a flintlock smoothbore. The body of this bag is made from elk hide and the dark trim is bison. The colorful leather is embossed cowhide. I looked at A LOT of leather to try to match the color and texture of the Ocellated turkey's magnificent plumage. The images of the Brocket deer were a collaborative effort with my niece, Alex Sapaugh. In order to get the images etched onto leather, I need a clean, crisp black-and-white drawing. I couldn't find anything I liked on the web so I found a couple of photos I liked and had Alex do some magical artwork drawing them on a computer. As you can see, the end result is amazing. The photos and the drawings are identical. The strap buttons and flap hooks were carved out of deer antler and the strap "D" rings were carved out of moose antler. I put some personal touches on the inside of the bag and sewed it all up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren

Thanks, all! Aven, I normally get my bison hide from https://www.hidehouse.com/ but lately I've been getting some good stuff from https://www.glacierwear.com/ Darren

Finished these up Saturday for a friend of mine. My wife cut out my patterns and asked, "Who are you making these for? The Jolly Green Giant?" Dude has a large foundation to stand on! It's a good thing that a bison is a big animal. These are made from 8 oz. bison hide and are trimmed with New Zealand red deer hide. I sewed everything up by hand using artificial sinew. Darren