Beaver Mittens!

I’m in the process of starting a beaver mitten project. I have everything I need for materials, and have a pretty good idea of how I am going to make them and put them together. I have the tanned pelt of the first beaver I caught from a few years back and thought that would be a good use for it.

Ive done a little research and have seen many pictures of beaver mittens, all the designs and different styles, and I’ve chosen to do a full fur mitten with leather palms. Now one thing I’m stuck on is which direction to put the fur.... guard hairs toward the fingertips or away. I’ve seen pictures of them going both ways. Hairs toward the tip makes a bit more sense to me for water to run off and not get trapped. I just need some input there.

Also what’s the best thread to use, I’m planning on using braided fishing line that I use to sew pelts, or I’ve heard upholstery thread or dental floss works good as well. This is my first time making anything with fur so it will be an adventure, I just want all my ducks in a row before I start. Thanks guys

Travis

I never thought of using braid to sew leather. It might work good. I ordered a leather sewing kit online for 10 or $15 and it has been very useful and it came with thread

Hand or machine sewn?

If machine? Leather or regular sewing machine.

Hair tips toward finger tips is my preference. We sew with waxed dental floss.

Are you sure one beaver hide is enough ?

I had a guy up north somewhere send me some moose leather and coon. I think I ended up making him two sets? Anyway,. We use a regular Singer sewing machine, match color of thread to item being created, direction of fur flows up arm, and it's your stitching that is key on a regular machine.

It is a xxl hide, I haven’t laid out the pattern yet, I’m just keeping my fingers crossed lol. I don’t have super large hands, but if I need more I have some more pelts in the freezer yet from last season I could send off to the tannery. My mittens would just have to be delayed for a while.

I don’t own a sewing machine, so they will be hand stitched. Also which stitch should I use, a blanket stitch or similar?

I'm thinking about mine that go clear to my elbows. Solid fur including the thumb. Palm is moose hide. I'm sure they took more than one super . What happens when you are limited to materials is that you have to start sewing small pieces together so the fur will lay correctly.

Anyway your pattern may not require that much

I’m thinking mid to upper forearm

I know nothing about hand sewing.

U should be alright with that one beaver for a set of mittens if you have separate material for palms and inners. I have gotten a set of mittens out of a blanket beaver using beaver for whole set minus the inners. Put the fur inside the gloves on palms then waxed the leather n palms to make water resistant.

I make mitts with the fur running towards the fingertips,like White said.Where fur meets fur use a whip stitch,where leather meets fur(or leather on leather) use a stab stitch with a welt.
Upholstry thread works well and is strong.Use a good #5 glovers needle and it will be a pleasure sewing.It will go thru the leather like butter.
Its a good idea to sew fringes on the cuff on the outside of each mitt(opposite the thumb side) to make them easy to pull on.

So what's the reasoning for having the fur going toward the tips instead of toward the elbow?

I've seen them made both ways.Personally I want the fur to shed snow away from me after working in deep snow.Slap them together a couple times and the snow is gone.Do that with the fur going upwards and the snow goes deeper into the fur.

Exactly !

Makes sense if that's what you're using them for. I would probably use mittens like that for driving a 4 wheeler or snowmobile, with lighter gloves underneath. Take the mittens off when I'm working, and put then back on when I'm driving. In that case, it would make more sense to have the fur going from fingertip to elbow so as to not be blowing backwards against the grain while I'm driving.

I see your point about snow coming off away from you though.

NO. The same logic that Boco expressed still applies. If you bump a tree with the side of your machine and it dumps a load of snow on you.............that snow will pack down between the hairs if you have the tips pointing toward your elbow. Trust me. Thousands of years of Eskimo experience isn't wrong on this one.

Try to wipe your nose with the tips pointing up and you'll think your are having sinus surgery when those guard hairs go up your nose.

Where do you guys get patterns for them and how do you see them? By hand? Any certain type of stitch you have to use?

I'm not gonna argue with eskimos, it for my applications, rarely if ever do I get massive amounts of snow dumped on me while in the woods. It is likely it will be snowing when I'm driving around though. What happens to the snow falling from the sky as I'm driving I'd the hair points towards the fingertips? Wouldn't it get packed in there? Do these mitts get tucked into the sleeves, so snow from the upper arm doesn't get in them when you shake it off?

Did the eskimos know they could wipe their noses up their arms as well as down their arms to avoid getting nose-blasted by guard hairs?

Now your getting to why we make them with the fur flow towards the arm. The customers drive snowmachines.

Wolfwoman sells books with all the info you need!

Both ways have advantages depending on use apparently. Fur will be the warmest when fluffed up full of trapped air. We make hats with fur flow up and gravity causes the fur to stay pretty tall and traps more air. If you are walking around with your arms down with mitts then the fur flow is up just like a hat and should keep the fur trapping the most air and be at their warmest.

Now think of what happens when fur would get wet and the fur flow was toward gravity.

Lots of commercial patterns for fur mittens. Missouri River. Eagles View. To name 2

Google fur mitten patterns and you will find more than enough options.

Some folks even make their own patterns from a worn out pair of mittens they already have.

Why don't you make sinew like Tom Orr on Mountain Men. Do it old school.

Because artificial sinew is cheap and probably more durable. IMO you watch way too many reality T.V. shows.

The longhair ruff keeps the snow from getting in the mitt at the cuff.
Mitts with the fur going up look stupid.
Same reason fur coats don't have the fur going up.

I’ve built a few pairs and always have fur pointed towards fingertips. Just makes sense to me. My hands are pointing down way more often than up. Thought about making some of those handlebar ones in which case I’d want the fur pointed aft.

On a snowmachine you want the fur fluffed up by the wind to keep warm and trap air in the underfur.You definitely don't want the fur flattened down by the wind when riding-it will lose its insulative value when you need it most.

Wind blowing through fur does not trap air.

Then again maybe this is why animals always walk backward into the wind.

Predators hunt cover in the wind.That is where their prey are holed up keeping out of the wind also.

Yeah but its artificial. Not worth talking about, sounds like he is making a show piece better to go old school. get more wilderness cred that way.

Be tough to get the fur through the devils club walking backward to keep warm.

I really don't have a preference as to which way the fur flows on gloves. To warm down here to care!

I'd say on a coat type item you would want fur to flow down so that it repels water/snow. I'd say I would agree with that logic on gloves as well before i agreed about -30 deg wind blowing through fur keeping you warmer! I'd think that would make you colder quicker? Kind of like opening your windows in the winter after taking a shower?

I do think which way you flow fur on a hat will make or break it's appearance!

No wind can go thru beaver underfur.It has barbs and locks together.Thats why its waterproof.Flattening it out makes it less insulative,just like house insulation.I trap all winter long in 30 40 below on a snowmachine.I have wore fur mitts for 60 years with the fur going towards the fingers,cause its the warmest.On the snowmachine the wind blowing on the guard hairs makes the fur fluff up and its more insulative.

Sure takes a long time to dry the fur on one of those waterproof beaver I pull out of the river.

Just rub in the snow,They dry right up,all the water is on the surface unless they been underwater for a couple weeks.I make beaver mitts for icefishermen,they can plunge the mitts right into the water and only the guard hair gets wet.They are always amazed at that property of beaver fur.

I'm trying to visualize this. A beaver's skin stays dry under water because the fur traps air in it. The beaver moves predominantly in a forward direction. Water would flow over the beaver in the direction of the fur flow. This will flatten out the fur and make the beaver less insulated.

An animal has the ability to raise its guard hair to support the underfur,dead fur does not have that ability.That is why you get goosebumps when you get cold,it is your body trying to hold up your nonexistent underfur.

The only way this makes any sense to me is if your trying to say that you loose air pockets due to compression of fur as you travel if fur is laid in such a way that flow of fur goes with wind instead of against it. In which your trying to say you putting air in the fur buy turning it around. Which baffles me because the air your talking about is cold enough to freeze skin on contact.

Lol

Where is wolf woman? We need some clarification!

I put all my fur on sideways!!

Fur mittens are going to be warm regardless,For me as a maker and wearer in extreme cold they perform better with the fur going towards the fingers.

Every time I see a beaver come out of the water its guard hairs are wet and laying down. Doesn't seem to be keeping underfur up at that angle. Seems more like the underfur is supporting the guard hairs.

Hes not cold.
Do you know why beaver beetles don't drown?

Darn right he's not cold, because he has his fur on right.

Lol

To late for popcorn! Power dun went out

That's why when it gets cold beaver do the backstroke.