Couldn't agree more with your lines on expense. I will venture to say that I think what makes Yellow Chrome Tanned Buckskin undesirable as an inexpensive substitute for brain tan is its color and its physical characteristics. You have come up with a good way to take care of the color and I would like to suggest a way to make it physically a better garment material.
The main problem with this leather for garments is that the hair side or scarf skin is allowed to remain on during and after the tanning process. What gives brain tan its warmth and wearability is the lack of this scarf skin. The leather can breath and does not stretch out of shape once you have stretched or sized it just before cutting and sewing. What needs to be done with chrome tanned leather is to take the scarf skin off!
My friend Tom Crooks worked out a system for doing this using a power sander and the resultant product is "almost like brain tan". I am going to visit him this weekend and I will refresh my memory on the particulars of his technique and pass it on to those that wish to use it.
I still hold with my original thoughts in that it is better to wait until the real thing is acquired but I acknowledge that some folks will not be able to afford brain tan or will not take the effort to make their own. I remain....
YMOS
Capt. Lahti'
MIA3WOLVES@aol.com wrote:
I concur that a well done brain tan is the best for making pants, etc.
However, it is VERY expensive if you are not tanning it yourself. I use it in
my quillwork but I have found a good alternative for my native american
dresses. I purchase pure white deer hides and make the garment with the rough
side out. After that I soak it in a solution of tea and coffee. This gives
it the color of a very tan creamy brain tan. The buckskin is, also, very
soft. Actually it as soft as some of the poorly done brain tan that I have
felt. I can do a dress for around $100. Pants would probably run less. Most
folks comment on how pretty the brain tan dress looks.Red Hawk
MIA3WOLVES@AOL.COM