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That moment when you let go and plunge your hands

That moment when you let go and plunge your hands into a bucket of brain. 😀 Brain-tanning is so named because yes we mix the hide with animal brain to soften it, and this gets us amazingly soft + supple textiles.

Brain is composed of a lot of fat, and it contains lecithin, the universal emulsifier. This winning combination is what makes animal brain the best (imo) ingredient for smoke-tanned buckskins. It creates a textile that is light as a feather yet stretchy and plush all at once.

Any emulsified fat can replace brain in the tanning process. Egg yolks and bear grease are two favourites but mixing soap with any fat or oil will emulsify it and turn it into a hide tanning agent.

This Sunday coming up is Hide Tanning Storylines! We will be diving deep into smoke-tanning + brain-tanning. 🦌🐐🐑 We will learn its history and origins + move into methodology and to help create and support at-home hide tanning setups. If you are feeling the stir of springtime, making hide tanning happen right in your backyard is one way to stay grounded and connected as we collectively hold fast during this pandemic.

Online ~ Sunday Feb 28 @ 2pm PDT ~ link ⬆️

These hides were meant to be tended to by a sweet

These hides were meant to be tended to by a sweet group of tanners, but when one of those heavy coastal snow storms rolled in we had to abandon plans for our outdoor, covid-safe gathering. There is a precious window of time in which a hide is fully ‘bucked,’ ready to be scraped of the grain layer of skin. If the tanner isn’t also ready, that hide chooses to head back to the earth.

So, I scraped hides. And being at their whim, sinking into that commitment, it transported me into their realm for a minute.

This winter is stirring up wounds like no other. It’s not only the scarcity + injustice aggravated by the pandemic. It’s the trying to heal in isolation. That is a wound all its own.

I racked these hides into frames to dry, to wait until they can be worked by their tanners. They gave me a glimmer moment ~ the opposite of a trigger that grounds us into “safe + social” thx @somaticwitch ~ and I came home feeling connected to a bigger healing than my own.

Half a year ago, we were revelling in sun and blac

Half a year ago, we were revelling in sun and blackberries on Galiano Island, Penelakut Nation territory, and making buckskin. This is @demi.kelly hand-softening a fallow deer skin, wearing an incredible rubber boots-cutoffs-sunhat combo 👌. I love frame-softening but on a hot summer day it’s simply the best to stand two metres apart from your friends and shoot the shit while stretching a hide, as the sun beams down.

Hide Tanning Storylines Pt 2: smoke-tanning + brain-tanning is coming up at the end of the month! This is a video class on how to build your own hide tanning setup and make soft buckskin and fur rug textiles at home. Sliding scale + recorded for everyone to download. Link 👆
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PS These days, Demi has the most creative winter tanning setup I’ve ever seen, follow her IG to see that brilliance in action!
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#hidetanning #braintanning #outdooreducation #environmentaleducation #ecoconscious #deer #deerhunting #beautifulbc #landbased #landbasedskills

Our first session in #hidetanningimmersion is up!

Our first session in #hidetanningimmersion is up! Thank you @ambsandy for sharing your teachings with us this weekend.

Amber led us into the program with fishskin tanning, both oil-tan and bark-tan. This lil project pictured is barktanned sockeye leather. Or to be exact: Red Rose tea tan 😁. The tea plant, Camellia, is rich in tannins which give tea that astringent, puckering feel to our tastebuds. All plants have tannins, but certain ones have more affinity for hide tanning and Camellia is one of those. I love leaning into urban ecosystems and finding those hidden connective relationships.

I was saving the finishing touches on this leather for Amber's class. I always learn so much from hide tanners! 🙏

My favourite trick to soften a hide: cabling. Onc

My favourite trick to soften a hide: cabling. Once a hide is 90%-ish dry, I take it out of its frame and start hand softening.

A frame helps stretch a hide open, but we end up doing two-dimensional softening with a frame alone. Take the hide out and rub it vigorously on a cable, and then we’ve got multi-dimensional softening that gets the skin fibres moving in all directions.

I’m offering the long-awaited follow up to Hide Tanning Storylines this month ~ Part 2: Smoke-tanning (brain-tanning).

This live video + download covers history, methodology, and contemporary contexts of hide tanning ~ with a close-up on this specific method.

Smoke-tanning is how we make the textile buckskin for soft self made clothing + bedrolls and camping mats to withstand the elements.

Sunday February 28, 2021 ~ 2-4pm PDT online ~ sliding scale + free to Indigenous folks. Link 👆. See you there! 💅
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#hidetanning #bushcraft #survivalskills #community #storytelling #naturalcraft #outdooreducation #environmentaleducation #deer #deerhunting #buckskin #braintan #smoketan #braintanning #deertannjng #diy #womanownedbusiness #history #folklore #pagan #animism #folkcraft

This time last year was one of the most special hi

This time last year was one of the most special hide camps I’ve ever been part of.

@cassandra.van.dyck + @emmapholmes each travelled out with their tiny new babies, and joined two other soon-to-be mamas and doting adhoc grannies ~ all by coincidence.

Sometimes, things just come together. When they do, it’s precious in the moment and in memory always, no matter how things change. This was one of my last classes before covid and before that beautiful farm was sold. Grateful for the time we made to be together and to introduce Maggie and Rew to hide tanning!

~ * Sheepskin drop * ~ These sweet sheepskins ar

~ * Sheepskin drop * ~

These sweet sheepskins are the first batch of my winter hide tanning offerings. They are from Manitoba and Montana, hand-tanned with care.

Scroll through -> and head to the online shop (link in bio) to find the one that catches your eye!

1) 𝕄𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨
- Icelandic + super plush lambskin

2) 𝔾𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕣
- Icelandic ultra woolly + huuge

3) 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥
- Suffolk + fuzzy forest brown

4) ℝ𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣
- Icelandic + ultra woolly

5) ℙ𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕖
- Romney + super soft

The first 4 are mineral tanned; number 5 is barktanned. For more info on the methods check out the Crowsnest website ☺️.
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📸 by @corybellhouse, @livthepeeve, and @fermefiolafarm 🙏
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#sheepskinrug #mineraltanning #barktanning #hidetanning #sheepskin #bushcraft #handmade #sheep #sheepskin

🐑 ~ Sheepskin drop ~ 🐑 I’ve been tanning

🐑 ~ Sheepskin drop ~ 🐑

I’ve been tanning away this winter in between online skills offerings and grad school (!). I’m going to post pics of new sheepskins available for sale + shipping next week.

The sheepskins are a mix of Icelandics, like this one here, and Romneys, which all have fleeces of brown and chestnut.

📸 by Christel @fermefiolafarm. Check out Christel’s beautiful farm in Treaty 1 territory, where some of these hides were tanned. Thanks for your hospitality in lending your space and tending fire!
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#sheepskin #handmade #naturalhidetanning #hidetanning #bushcraft #oldways #sheepskintanning #sheepofinstagram #homedecor #cozyhome

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