HOW TO MAKE A SHEEPSKIN COAT
(Page 2 of 4)
November/December 1973
By the Mother Earth News editors
MAKING THE COAT
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The easiest sheepskin coat to make is one with the wool on the outside. The beauty of this method is that you don't have to worry about straight seams or patches because the fleece will cover everything. Also, you don't have to spend much time on coat style because the wool will obscure most of the garment's lines.
Start by selecting four hides and a pattern. Lay out the skins, wool side down, and trace the various sections of the garment onto the leather side of the sheepskins. Use a ballpoint pen or chalk, depending on the leather's color.
Next cut out and assemble the pieces you've marked, being careful to slice only through the leather and not to cut away any of the wool. If you're sewing the skins by hand or with a furrier's machine, you can butt the edges of the sections together and you won't need to allow for seams. You must leave enough extra material for seams, however, if you use a regular sewing machine.
Most patterns instruct you to sew the back of a coat to the front at the shoulders, then stitch up the side seams and, finally, put in the sleeves. Sheepskin is too bulky for this procedure. Instead, sew the back to the front at the shoulders and then put in the sleeves. Stitch up the side seams and the seam under the sleeve last of all.
If you're going to sew a coat by hand, either get a sewing awl which carries its own thread or, at least, an awl with which to punch holes. You'll regret attempting to push a needle through a sheepskin. Use heavy nylon or waxed cotton thread. The waxed cotton sticks to the wool and creates some problems, but it may be more readily available to you. You can even slick up your own thread with a cake of beeswax.
When I make coats with the wool on the outside, I put pockets on by slitting the front of each garment at the appropriate places and sewing a bag pocket to the inside of the slit.
You can use any number of methods for fastening the coat... zippers, clips, buttons or pegs and ties, to name a few. If possible I make a coat that is shirt style and doesn't overlap in front. That way, I can use a zipper to close the garment. It's easy to put a zipper on with the aid of a furrier's machine.
A FURRIER'S MACHINE SAVES TIME AND FINGERTIPS
If you plan to make more than two or three coats, or if you want to put those long winter evenings to use in an income producing venture, I would recommend that you look for a furrier's machine. It's simpler to operate than a regular sewing machine and anybody should be able to master one.
This particular piece of equipment is not as easy to find as other sewing or stitching machines, but it is available if you look for it. One of the largest dealers of new furrier's machines in the U.S. is Bonis in New York City. However, I suggest that you look around used furniture stores and sewing machine shops before buying one of these stitchers new.
You can also check with shoe shop wholesalers and cleaners who are closing out their tailoring shops. I don't have any idea what a fair price for a used furrier's machine might be, but I would think it would be pretty low. I got mine free from a sewing machine dealer in Maryland. He had it in his backroom, didn't know anything about it and was glad to get it out of the warehouse. He asked only that I never bring it back to him for repair.
Furrier's machines are usually Type A (for lighter materials) or Type B (heavier materials) and occasionally Type T (very heavy materials). My machine is an Osann. I have no idea how old it is, but it works like a dream.It is a Type A, yet it will sew the heaviest of sheepskins (although at times it doth protest a bit). You need to know what type of machine you have in order to buy needles, and you'll probably find a letter on top of the needle carrier which will tell you. Needles are designated by numbers, with the larger numbers being the smaller needles. I use a size 10.
I should warn you that the furrier's machine-like most mechanical stitching equipment-will pull the material which is in contact with the presser wheel through faster than the other piece of material wants to advance. If you remember to place more tension on the piece that is in contact with the presser wheel, however, you'll be all right. I recommend that you experiment by sewing together pieces of scrap sheepskin that are of equal length until you're able to get them to "come out even".
