I have been working on beaver plates with the bonis last couple days.
Want to re cycle the bags of leftover pieces of fur from making hats and mitts by sewing them together in 4 by 6 foot plates to sell as patchquilt rugs or to use for patchwork hats.

I deciided to make a beaver pelt just for fun.

Nice piecework. How does the fur side look? IS it all one color, or did you use belly and back pieces to get the color changes?

All different pieces.I like the look of that,instead of matching the fur.
I wont know how the fur side looks until it dries and I unblock it.


It will look something like this hat that was made from a beaver plate.
Some people like the patchwork look.Pretty much the same price as a tailored hat because of the extra work that goes into the plate.
Hat is just as warm.

Interesting project.

Plates are pretty big in the furtrade.
There is a town in greece where furriers send all their leftover feet tails and gills.All the people in the town are employed making plates out of the small pieces to be sold back to the furriers to make garments.
Chinese dont have the centuries old skills that the greeks and italians have in working with fur that way.
The Chinese were making plates out of half skins-muskrat in particular-they would plate the backs and then plate the bellies separately.
Rabbit skin garments are normally made from rabbit skin plates.

Looks very interesting can’t wait to see other side

Nice! Send it to FHA.

Its already tanned.

Missed opportunity.

Boco, I had a beaver coat made , and the furrier, a very talented man from Greece , in New York, named Tassos, built it to perfection . I designed it and he built it just so according to my custom specs.

Four under ice perfect blankets, three blankets and one super blanket. Sent to Canada first to be hand plucked and sheared.

The heads and scraps he sent back to me and I made a lap blanket from the pieces. The heads too. It is an odd looking puzzle pieced together thing, but it is a great lap blanket and I feel good that I made use of the remaining pieces.

Will like to see your project when you're done.

Thats great Sharon.
The Greeks and Italians are the master furriers for sure.I was fortunate enough to study under Master Scarpi for a week at the NAFA fur school about 15 years ago.The knowledge I gained from that man(an Italian designer) was priceless.Also a greek fellow,who was the technician(the guy who taught us all about the sewing using the fur machine) at the school was a great source of information and knowledge.Also Master Scarpi's wife was the "finisher"which is the person who puts in the linings by hand sewing.Another priceless source of knowledge.
I like sewing with the fur machine.Like any other physical task it gets quicker and better once you get in the groove.
Sewing the plates for a couple hours before sewing hats really speeds up the task.

An art worth its weight in gold.

I am happy that such talented furriers are still working and handing down their skills to be preserved in the younger generations.

It is quite surprising the amount of people who actually sew fur locally.
Each town around here has a few people who have fur sewing machines.It is all men that I know of.
Up north in the indigenous communities on the coast all the older women sew fur and do beadwork,but they do it all by hand.

Looks like a stained glass or leaded glass beaver pelt.I like it.

That is so cool

Can’t wait to see the fur side.

Looks great!!

That’s awesome can you post a pic of fur side?

Looks neat, fur side should be interesting. I think FIC puts on courses for making fur products, seen an article in one of my old magazines. I’d be interested in attending.

Back in the late 70's I was buying coyote fur hats from an outfit called Rappahannock Trading Company for $7.50 each. They were constructed of small pieces of tanned fur (presumed scraps) with a full tail on each one. Made some good $$$ on those at rendezvous.

Moosetrot

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Never cease to amaze Boco.

Nice

That's cool Boco. I like the patchwork look

Fur side looks nice. Great way to use up the scraps from other projects.

Really Nice

Boco, what brand sewing machine do you use?

Boco, you really sand those hides down, I see alot of blue on the hides. Do you shave them down that far for Gloves/Mitts too? Are you sanding or frost scraping?

Impressive

Very cool, nice job!

I like that hat but I dont think I would have but two occasions each year to wear it though.

Bonis B-machine.

D+3B,those pelts were all tanned at international in Winnipeg.
They are shaved evenly,the dark is from the leather being wetted for blocking.

very nice boco

Amazing thread here. Boco really makes this Trapperman site worth while.

The old bonis neverstop in action.All steel,no plastic-made in the 1940's-they dont make stuff like that anymore.




A fur machine is a good investment-it is like having a machine that prints money.

That looks as good or better than any southern beaver I've ever caught....

As in the amount if sewing necessary right? I hear ya!

The sewing looks like a lot but with the fur machine,you can sew a couple feet in just several seconds once your in the groove.

Good work Boco!

I will get several thousand dollars worth of fur hats out of those plates once finished.
Takes about 1 1/2 ft by 2 ft to make a full fur hat.
I spend about an hour in the evening,arranging and sewing a few sq. feet at a time.It is relaxing for me.
Cutting and sewing a hat takes about 20 minutes-not counting finishing/lining.Takes about 45 minutes to hand sew the lining and finishing.

I could get into that....watching the snow fly..sipping on some Scotch...Making hats.

If we only lived longah...I'd take it up.

Looks relaxing Boco...once youve made 50 or so

You got plenty of time Nessy.Plenty of time.