HOW TO MAKE A SHEEPSKIN COAT
(Page 3 of 4)
November/December 1973
By the Mother Earth News editors
ANOTHER COAT STYLE
RELATED CONTENT
When I make coats where the wool will be on the inside, I start the same way as before... with four skins (shearlings) and a pattern. You have to remember, of course, to make the coat larger than if the wool was on the outside or if you were using cloth. I use a ratio of 6 to 7. That is, if the pattern calls for a 42-inch chest, I allow 49 inches. And be warned in advance that the fleece makes the sleeves especially tight: You'll have to cut them out considerably larger than you would for an ordinary coat. All this varying of measurements will depend on the particular skins and wool length with which you're working, as you can imagine, so you'll have to do some experimenting to get your garment to fit just right.
I sew my adjusted sections of coat together on the furrier's machine. Then I cut one-inch strips of leather that are the same color as the leather of the sheepskins, glue them over the seams and sew them down with a Singer (Model 29-4) shoe patch machine.
You can also use a regular heavy duty sewing machine to make a sheepskin coat with the wool on the inside. Allow for seams when you cut out the sections of material, trim the wool off the edges with a pair of scissors and then stitch the pieces together as if they were cloth. You might also want to sew strips over the seams for more strength.
There are several ways to finish a coat. You can leave the edges raw... or allow some extra skin, fold the edges to the outside and glue them (giving the garment a fur-trimmed look). You can also nip away a one-inch-wide border of fleece from around each section of the coat… then fold the edges in and stitch them to give the garment a finished leather edging. In any case, you'll have teh equivalent of a $200 coat when you're finished.
When I put together a "wool in" garment, I cut out pieces of skin for patch pockets, trim the fleece forming a groove on the inside of the coat where the seam will be, glue the pocket in place and stitch it down. Some of these coats get closed with snaps (simple and quick) or, if they're of a wraparound style, buttons or ties and belts.
If you buy natural skins for a "fleece inside" coat, you may want to dye the leather (outer) sides of the hides. Most dyes are for finished leathers and will penetrate the sheepskin more than is desirable, so you have to look for dyes that won't seep into the wool. If you can only find penetrating dyes, wet (with a water-soaked sponge) the area of the skin that you plan to tint. Then, while the skin is still damp, apply the dye with another sponge or dye applicator (I use a piece of sheepskin that has the wool clipped very short). The water in the leather will stop the dye's penetration.
CARING FOR THE COAT
