Creating a fur cloak

[WingTail]

First off, I'm new to the forums and to leatherworking. I've looked around a bit on the internet and these forums and I haven't been able to find anything that has an example of what I'm trying to do. So I basically thought up a plan that, in my mind, seems like an excellent idea. I just need some help filling in the gaps and making sure I'm going the right direction for this project. Alas, I have no sketches right now. I'll do my best with words for now and see about getting sketches uploaded if they're needed.

Basically, I'm making a cloak out of rabbit furs and an icelandic sheep fur. They're already tanned, so no worries about that. What I intended to do was take the sheep fur and have it go over my shoulders where the sheep's shoulder's were with the rest of the hide draping behind me. It makes a nice puffy collar that really makes a statement about the character I'm creating with this outfit. The rabbit skins were going to be used to make a mantel to provide more cover for my shoulders and neck/chest since I burn like a vampire in sunlight. Originally I was just going to sew the furs together and go, but I was concerned about the durability of doing it that way. Now the plan is to make a shirt yoke like structure, also of leather, and attach the skins to that so the whole thing is more structurally sound. Having the yoke underneath would also make the clasp attachment less of a hassle.

The areas of concern I have are rather significant to the completion of this project. I don't know the proper way to sew a tanned fur onto leather. And I don't know what type or thickness of leather would be best for the yoke. I'm hoping someone here can help with figuring those out. Also, if you have any commentary on the overall design of the cloak, please let me know.

[Jim]

Back in my days with the Rendezvous I did an awful lot of work with furs of every kind; from hats to bags and even a pair of bear hide boots. So I'm going to do my best to help you on this. This will be a litle easier than it looks on the surface.

I would like to do this via Email for faster response time. Keep in mind folks, I'm not trying to keep anyone out of the loop, it's just that things will go faster and easier by email. I will try to put the instructions on PDF and post it later on for all to view.

So, holler at me at brazosjack@att.net and let's hammer out some details.

Jim