Post by paulette on Dec 14, 2012 9:16:11 GMT -5
Well this is a first and kind of a rush job! Making it for a friend of mine that traps a beaver now and then. I hope he likes it.. I can see how NOT to do this in the future! I think all I need to add is maybe a buckskin strap with an old buckle perhaps.. not sure about a flap.. maybe.. Well anyway,,,,,
I used a permanent marker to color the braintanned buckskin welt.. it 'ran' so now the leather around those tack thingies is slightly pink.. well some real men wear pink /> and my tacks are real disorderly. Gosh.. you'd think I was out in the trail.. I stitched the buckskin piece with the tacks to the buckskin welt using a running stitch and an awl.. and then, I added the beaver's tail pieces using a wrap stitch and a glovers needle.. and I can see some stitches.. well the tail pieces are rawhide and it was starting to dry (along the edges first naturally.. I tried to make them as close as possible.. like every 16th of an inch.. and pull them tight as could be but still I see 'em and well that looks like I did that out somewhere on the trail in the freezing cold or something too!
My board form that I'd planned to insert probably wouldn't have fit because of the taper on the top half of the tail skins so I thought .. oh the hell with it and just loaded the sac with some navy beans that were all spilt in my cupboard anyway.... Killing a couple of birds here with one stone! and I keep thinking that i'm not that talented.. I was a bit discouraged yesterday after turning this skin inside out and having a look at what I'd fashioned.. hmm.. kind of a hurried mess if I don't say so myself but today it looks a little bit more attractive to me and well now I just need to put a strap on it.. the scales of the beaver tail skin are still in tact and there is a spot on the opposite side that I really need to touch up with some brown paint maybe.. character already..I accidentally hit a small area.. (like a couple of beavertail scale size.. Small with the Dakota Pro fleshing blade.. better it than my fingers, I know that! I hope to NEVER touch my own flesh to that horrid blade.. From what I understand cuts made with one take A LONG TIME to stop bleeding profusely.. so yeah better a slight imperfection there! I don't know about lining it.. might be a good idea.. I was thinking to use deer rawhide for that.. but lots more work and stitching and no more glovers needles and lots more time.. that I just don't have.. this was a bag in a week project.. so kind of a rush thing..I just don't know how much more time I want to invest in it.. not a lot more.. I'll just chalk this one up as a learning experience and vow to do better in the future! so what do you all think?
Oh and the dye I'd hoped to use made the leather purple so.. not the right shade.. Guess that bit of braintan skin's junk now! Too bad.. had a great patina.. well maybe I could redye that with some walnut shell pieces. hope so.. I worked hard on that skin at one time!
working on tanning this big beaver at the same time as making this pouch.. pretty isn't it? it's definately not that tail from the same beaver.. this beaver fur is from one that weighed in just over 50lbs.. the tail pieces I'm using were from just small beaver. Had I tried to soften the tail pieces I am sure I would have lost it's scales by thing that kind of effort needed to cable them and so I would have probably been forced to paint the skin just to make it look like it HAD scales.. so that's why I kept it RAWHIDE.. Boy my lab sure would like to get ahold of this POUCH!.. this fellow will need to keep this well out of 'harm's way'!!
I have to smoke it well.. it smells a bit like pickled fish.. :/>
I used a permanent marker to color the braintanned buckskin welt.. it 'ran' so now the leather around those tack thingies is slightly pink.. well some real men wear pink /> and my tacks are real disorderly. Gosh.. you'd think I was out in the trail.. I stitched the buckskin piece with the tacks to the buckskin welt using a running stitch and an awl.. and then, I added the beaver's tail pieces using a wrap stitch and a glovers needle.. and I can see some stitches.. well the tail pieces are rawhide and it was starting to dry (along the edges first naturally.. I tried to make them as close as possible.. like every 16th of an inch.. and pull them tight as could be but still I see 'em and well that looks like I did that out somewhere on the trail in the freezing cold or something too!
My board form that I'd planned to insert probably wouldn't have fit because of the taper on the top half of the tail skins so I thought .. oh the hell with it and just loaded the sac with some navy beans that were all spilt in my cupboard anyway.... Killing a couple of birds here with one stone! and I keep thinking that i'm not that talented.. I was a bit discouraged yesterday after turning this skin inside out and having a look at what I'd fashioned.. hmm.. kind of a hurried mess if I don't say so myself but today it looks a little bit more attractive to me and well now I just need to put a strap on it.. the scales of the beaver tail skin are still in tact and there is a spot on the opposite side that I really need to touch up with some brown paint maybe.. character already..I accidentally hit a small area.. (like a couple of beavertail scale size.. Small with the Dakota Pro fleshing blade.. better it than my fingers, I know that! I hope to NEVER touch my own flesh to that horrid blade.. From what I understand cuts made with one take A LONG TIME to stop bleeding profusely.. so yeah better a slight imperfection there! I don't know about lining it.. might be a good idea.. I was thinking to use deer rawhide for that.. but lots more work and stitching and no more glovers needles and lots more time.. that I just don't have.. this was a bag in a week project.. so kind of a rush thing..I just don't know how much more time I want to invest in it.. not a lot more.. I'll just chalk this one up as a learning experience and vow to do better in the future! so what do you all think?
Oh and the dye I'd hoped to use made the leather purple so.. not the right shade.. Guess that bit of braintan skin's junk now! Too bad.. had a great patina.. well maybe I could redye that with some walnut shell pieces. hope so.. I worked hard on that skin at one time!
working on tanning this big beaver at the same time as making this pouch.. pretty isn't it? it's definately not that tail from the same beaver.. this beaver fur is from one that weighed in just over 50lbs.. the tail pieces I'm using were from just small beaver. Had I tried to soften the tail pieces I am sure I would have lost it's scales by thing that kind of effort needed to cable them and so I would have probably been forced to paint the skin just to make it look like it HAD scales.. so that's why I kept it RAWHIDE.. Boy my lab sure would like to get ahold of this POUCH!.. this fellow will need to keep this well out of 'harm's way'!!
I have to smoke it well.. it smells a bit like pickled fish.. :/>