MtMan-List: commercial leather clothes

[jbrandl@wyoming.com (Joe Brandl)]

I have created many articles of clothing out of both braintan and
commercial leather. When constructing clothing for film, there are many
techniques for ageing and coloring leather. Another note, the white
buckskin is tanned as a formaldehyde tan. Common colored hides you see are
chrome tanned, then dyed varoius colors. We can get these white hides
readily. I like to use a smoke colored hide then use "fullers dirt" to age
it. I also air brush to add highlights. I have taken the gold buckskin and
made it look great. The first thing though is to use the suede side out. I
have have a commercial buffer in our tannery and have buffed the grain off.
Also used a sand blaster on large hides. You can use a belt sander only if
you have a soft pad under the leather, otherwise you will tear holes in it.
The grain does not have to be completely removed, only roughed up.

Cutting fringe very thin, will disguse the commercial look. Nothing is
better than braintan when it comes to wear and looks but with some
imagination you can create a good looking outfit. Lamb suede is great for
light shirts. Deer and elk splits are ok but tend to be weak hides. Deer is
stronger than elk as the fibers are closer together. Why some folks want
shirts or pants from elk other than getting the neccessary size for a large
man is beyond me.

The best thing to do with all hides wheather braintan or commercial is to
"block" them or wet, stretch and tack out the hides till dry. This is why
some guys crotch hangs down to their knees or moccasins tend to grow a size
or two. Remember that hides have more stretch from side to side than neck
to butt. This is important in cutting leather. Also that no hide will lay
completely flat as it comes off a round animal.

If anyone is interested in some other ideas of how to age leather or tone
down the gold color, let me know. As for using" Rit out" for removing
color, just lay the hides in the sun for a couple day and the color will
fand quickly on the grain side, the suede side does not work as well. Rit
out really does not do that great of a job , and neither does bleach.

Just some thoughts

Joe

Absaroka Western Designs and Tannery
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