Need Deerskin Help / Advice

[Dwight]

I have several tanned deer hides given me by a dear old uncle who has since passed.

I want to make a fringed deer skin jacket from them.

I've never NEVER worked with deer skin, . . . which is stretchy, . . . thin, . . . and all too precious to me to mess up.

Anybody got any good tips to share with an old veggie tan leather worker on how to not fail on this project??

Sure would appreciate any special pointers y'all got.

May God bless,

Dwight

[Dragonslayer]

I made a pair of pants from deer skins that i buck skinned. I fletched the hides by hand and smoked them to a medium brown color. I used a old pair of blue jeans as my pattern. I used slices of deer antler for the button fly. The 2 hides were not large enough to finish the pants, so i bought some cow hide splits to finish the pants legs. I made a shirt from the same (used a old button up shirt as a pattern) cowhide. Both garments were completely hand sewn, that was nearly 20 years ago, that was my first ever garment project.

[Arturomex]

You nailed it with, "stretchy," Dwight. I always try to have my leather laying "naturally" when I'm putting the pattern on. Nice and flat but not stretched anywhere.  Sometimes I cut with shears keeping the bottom blade as close to the table top as possible and letting the shears do the work. Other times I use an 18mm rotary cutter. (Works great for making fringe, too.) What you're really concerned with is making sure the leather isn't stretched in any way shape or form when it's being cut. I imagine you've got your own way of doing that.

I don't know what you're planning on using for a pattern but there's an interesting pattern here: https://www.crazycrow.com/mountain-man-clothing-patterns/trappers-fringed-buckskin-shirt-pattern

There's also a series of Youtube videos that start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PtT2Y-RDDo You might not decide to go this route but it's worth watching just to see her process.

I assume  you're goingto machine stitch this. I've had pretty good success cutting my fringe as a separate piece leaving enough for a solid "welt"  between two pieces on the seams. I think it makes things a little stronger. I use double sided tape to hold things in place when I'm assembling and sewing. In some ways this stuff is a lot like heavy cloth.

Don't know how much skin  you have, Dwight, but if there's enough, twisted fringe would be worth looking at. If there's not enough, think about a vest. I mean that seriously, Dwight. You don't need acres of leftover trim but if you can't comfortably accomplish a jacket with the leather you have, think about scaling down. I've had to do this several times and was always pleased with the result.

Lastly, I'd recommend looking at as many styles of buckskin coats and jackets as you can. I saw a really nice coat with braid on the edges a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was on the street and I didn't get a closer look. But from what I saw, it looked outstanding.  With matching braided buttons and button loops to boot. It's got me thinking.

Regards,

Arturo