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Hey y'all. I'm new to the forum and new to leather making/leather work. I harvested my first deer in Nov and I've been attempting to tan the hide and turn it into workable/functional leather. Basically, I'm wanting to make a holster for my buddy, and a coin purse for my wife. I am trying to figure out if the end result (workable leather) has been reached or if I need to re-tan and continue stretching the middle. Or if i can resoak in water and stretch from there. Or if i need to stretch at all. I havent smoked the hide yet and I tanned using "Deer Hunter's & trapper's hide & fur tanning formula" Here are the images: My first tanned deer hide https://imgur.com/gallery/JxqN6 The white part (image 2) looks and feels like soft leather. It's not very thick, so I'd probably use that for the coin purse? I don't think it's split leather, but I'm also not entirely sure. The middle/tan part of the grain (image 3) is slick and much more thick. I'm thinking I need to stretch it more. But I'm worried about over stretching and essentially turning it into suede. I'm assuming this part of the hide would be best suited for the holster, based of it's overall thickness. Is the white part (image 2) the end point im looking for? Or have I gone too far and split the grain, when the tan part (image 3) is actually the endpoint? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! ☺️ P.S. If there is already a topic dedicated to this, I apologize.

Merry christmas! For Christmas I got this deer hide that my great grandpa shot and killed while hunting years ago. He never made anything out of it but my grandma (his daughter) wants me to do something with it if i can. Any ideas of something really cool i can make from it? All Ideas welcome!

I'm trying to dye a coat I'm making of deer skin burgundy on top, mahogany on the suede side. The swatches look great (where there was a lesser volume of dye applied), but on the larger coat pieces the mahogany undersides are bleeding through and making ugly dark brown splotches that look like water stains on the top burgundy side. I've never worked deer hide before. It's clearly another matter to dye it altogether. Should I try applying neatsfoot oil to the underside before adding the mahogany? I'm at a loss. -Hunter

Hello, I'm somewhat new to leather working....with veg tanned cow hide that is. I've used deer and elk hide over the years to make bags, moccasins, clothing, etc. Now I want to get away from the Native American style leatherwork I have been doing and going to more traditional leatherwork. I still have a supply of deer and elk hide and wonder about making items from it, for instance, journal covers. I wonder how to finish the edges so they don't look so rough. I tried edge trimming but the hide is soft and stretchy and doesn't seem to work. Sanding and rubbing the edges seems to make them 'fur' up. Any ideas? Thanks,