How man hides for leggins.

[fort fireman]

I was curious. How may average sized deer would I need to have enough material for some leggins. I'm 6' 2" and average build. I was figuring 1 deer per leg. Would like to try my hand at tanning my own hide but the proccuring of the material(hunting) has not gone as planned. Seeing alot of deer ,but no good opportunities. Thanks for the info Andy

 

[John Wasmuth]

About one hide per leg by your build. Also depends if you want a lot of fringe or not.

 

[fort fireman]

I was going for an eastern longhunter look with maybe a 3 or 4 inch side flap.

 

[davemcg]

One hide per leg is what I use I'm 6' 200# +/-
I go for the hip high style so you should be fine, Eastern are shorter right? You might try calling a few taxidermists and see if you could buy green deer hides from them, I bought four of them here in Denver paid $8 each for them. They're probably heavily salted, just soak 'em in a trashcan full of water for a few days to rinse the salt out and rehydrate them.

Another thing a buddy of mine does is he gets in with local butcher shops that do game processing, they call him when they get an animal in and he goes and skins it, gets the hide for free! He works at home and can adjust his schedule.

Good luck to ya!

 

[John Wasmuth]

Hmmm, well, as cool as fringe looks, it gets hung up and tangled on everything, but if you have to have it, then have it. You'll need to measure your thighs a couple inches down from the groin and add 2 inches, then measure your ankles and add 2 inches. This will give you enough room for them to fit proper, least from the way I been makin em for many years past, and I make a lot of em. Fold the hides over and trim the "Butt"end of the hide so it will not bunch up under your crotch. Try to align the edges so they are equal on both sides and using your hand, from index finger to small finger as a guide, mark a light line from hip to ankle with chalk, a pencile will work but mark them lightly as if it is a light colored hide it will be a pain to get rid of the mark if pencile. I usually make a cross mark about every four inches and this will be where I will place my ties. Once I have marked both sides so they are equal in number of marks to ties I will use the tip of a fillet knife to punch my holes. Make them about a 1/2 inch apart, starting about 1 inch from the outside leg top, and use the scrap from the crotch trim to make ties out of. I then tie all the holes off. Now there are a couple different ways to make the ties for attaching to the belt, I like to use the same skins that I make the leggings out of for the ties, usually ankle trims. On the top outside tie I will take the ankle trim and cut it long enough so that I can knot it on the closing tie and have enough to knot it on the belt. Do this on both sides. You can then cut your fringe along the outsides of the leggings. A pair of bandage siccors works the best but any will do. Do not make them uniform in shape or length, but try to not make them more than 1/4 inch wide.

If you are in need of some hides to tan email me.
Good luck with your project.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The purpose of fringe was to provide camoflage, and to provide short "Strings" that could be cut off and used to tie up small game or items. If you have ever made a trap of sticks, or a lean-to for an overnight shelter, you will appreciate those fring "strings" even more. The shiny side of the hide is worn on the inside. The rough side is out. This elimiates the sun shining off the slick side of the leather to give you away in the woods. To be more effective, the fring on a coat or shirt should be placed across the shoulders, chest, upper arms, and back so that they hang down and break up the broad area of same color that is a " give-away" to enemy scouts and spotters. It also works well to cover your identity from Deer when you are hunting them, and trying to get close.

Prey species don't have binocular vision, and therefore have very limited depth perception. It doesn't take much difference in color that breaks up a large "splotch" of color for them to NOT recognize it as being a human. The fring strings should not all be cut to the same length, either.

If you don't learn to walk on game trails, only, and instead want to hump through the tall brush, any buckskin jacket or shirt, or pants, is going to see fringe catching on the brush. However, Indians, and long hunters learned to move quietly, and to follow game trails to accomplish that goal. They learned to push their way past bramble, rather than try to bull their way over it. That is the one part of the movie, " The Last of the Mohigans" that I thought was portrayed properly by the director.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Well Paul I have to some what disagree on part of your reply. Traditionally tanned "Bucked Skin" had the epidermis removed after the bucking process and there were no slick sides as both sides were grained out. I also think that what part of tera firma one hunts on also plays a part in fringing clothing articles. Here in the Texas Hill Country where we live the under brush is so dense that in order to properly follow a game trail, especially if that person is 6'2", and our deer average about 36 inches at the shoulder, one is on their hands and knees for a very very long time. However such is not the case in other locations. I've seen articles of clothing from the colonial period that had some fringing, and others that didnt, so perhaps its an individual thing.

Either way, fringe or not, you are correct about learning how to move in the natural world, in these modern times making noise and motion will scare game. In the old world making noise and motion could lead to a rather untimely death, be one white or red. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Actually, I don't disagree with what you refer to as buckskin. I apologize for my loose use of the term. However, I have seen plenty of shirts, and some coats made with the skin side out, like biker jackets are made, and they do " shine " in more ways than one. I almost bought my wife a leather dress made in white leather in a Sioux pattern, for her wedding dress, but she changed her mind at the last moment. It was made with the epidermis left on, and on the outside. She did look good in it, tho'.

Thanks for taking me to task. Others here need to know this stuff, too. You dun good! :thumbsup:

 

[John Wasmuth]

Yes sir, they do shine at that! I have had many people ask me "why oh why Micanopy is the skins so high"? And this can be learned in my reply, "Ave ya ever bucked one down laddy? Ya come around and see hows its done, its work my dear boy from night until sun. So soon you will see why yer purse strings r undone".
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

 

[blacksmithman64]

I'm 6'2 and 200 and got a pair of eastern leggins with fringe out of a single 13 foot braintanned hide.( I didn't have any scrap left over, thats fer sure!)So you could get a pair out of a single large hide with some careful cutting. :thumbsup: I'm wearin' 'em in my avatar! :haha:

 

[fort fireman]

I appreciate all the info. I wasn't planning on doing any fringe. I was thinking just a 3-4 inch side flap. That seems to be the most prevelent in the area of NC , with the exception of some cherokee leggins. Some of them had short fringe but side flap seem to be the way to go.Ithink I'm going to talk to a game processer this week and see if I can get a couple hides. I talked to his partner last year but the owner never called me back. I know he just threw them in the dumpster which seems to be a cryin shame. Maybe I can atleast put a couple to good use. On a different note about the fringe. I have heard that it may have served another purpose. As you head further south you will to start to see more fringe on leggins and such. Some think it might be due to the presence of more venomous snake. When snakes are shedding there skins they strike at movement more than the heat they pick up in their pits. If the fringe is moving faster than the leg its attached to the snake may miss, thus saving the wearer from a really bad day. As you head west fringe really starts to become more aboundant and longer. Just another possible explenation. May be true , may not. Noone may ever really know. Maybe they just liked it cause it was pretty :grin: Who knows, makes sense to me. Andy

 

[wulf]

I have worn skin clothes for 25 years and had the
smooth side in,rough out..and fringe..I think it
was for looks..It is very loud and especially on
the shooting bag.Most all things done were for
looks. Hunting and fighting were far different...
Now that is my opinion based on personal experience and not connected to any facts NDNs did
I don't think anybody really knows why they did
what they did,,'cept NDNs. And they wont tell.

 

[shunka]

I can relate that the Northern plains Tribes, particularly Lakota enjoyed both long and short fringe on their garments. This can be seen from both garments in preserved collections in various museums and from paintings made at the time. When asked about the purpose of the fringe (especially on the arms) , Elders I have spoken with, who got it from their grandparents (thus placing it in the late 1800's) have said
"Because it looks soooo good!" .
Go to a Powow and watch a Traditional Dance (rather than Fancy Dance) and you'll see what they mean...

My Lovely Spousal Unit (Little Smiling Rotweiler) reminded me that the Ladies especially liked loooong fringe with elk teeth or dentailia shells on their white braintan dresses and loong black hair cuz it looks sooooo good when dancing traditional!)
yhs
shunka

 

[2158]

hey fort fireman, i made a template from a pair of old bluejeans. i cut them up in the style i liked then cut apart the seams. layed the template on the leather or canvas. made a few adjustments, than sewed the leather. perfect fit.
i used a tapered leg jean. and held the leather in place with contact cement, while i puched holes and sewed together.,mike