Rabbit Fur

[Burly Brute]

And not just leather. I have seen, what I believe to be good quality linen used to good effect.

Regards

Chas

So when they glue it, do they just have the fur completely removed, or is it a layer of skin to which they glue to the other leather/linen?

[Joshua]

I've got one rabbit sporran in the works, and my first sporran, a very primitive fur-faced hunter sporran, is rabbit. It is a pain in the *** to stitch through because of how fine the hair is, I've found a pair of hair-clippers quite useful to shave the pelt to stitch it to a firmer leather backing.

I bought my pelts from Tandy.

Here's my first one, completed...



And wearing it:


Full-sized pics are in the gallery.

[sydnie7]

So when they glue it, do they just have the fur completely removed, or is it a layer of skin to which they glue to the other leather/linen?

If I understand your question. . .

fur-on-rabbit skin (skin side down)
glue
leather/linen

in that order/relationship.

I had a vintage (30s) rabbit-skin coat that belonged to my paternal grandmother. In the mid-70s I actually wore it a few times on "cold" California college days (this was in the SF Bay area, where it does get cold). We are talking knee-length dark brown rabbit, sewn in strips about 4 in wide IIRC and lined with heavy brown satin. It weighed a lot! Never opened up the lining to see if or what might have been used as a backing, sorry. And the coat is long gone these many years.

[Thomas H]

That is cool ,Great job, makes me want to make one, tooo

[Burly Brute]

This is good info! Do you guys know if there is a difference amongst the rabbits/hares of the different parts of the country/world?

[luath]

I can certainly tell you that when I ordered my rabbit skin sporran from these folk - who I think it's fair to say are pretty well regarded - it was made from a Texas jack rabbit pelt that they ordered in specially.

Bigger and furrier than Scottish rabbits, apparently.

[Joshua]

This is good info! Do you guys know if there is a difference amongst the rabbits/hares of the different parts of the country/world?

Mine are from Mexico. Seems like a majority of the world's hides and leathers come from there, at least the ones stocked at Tandy.

[Burly Brute]

Mine are from Mexico. Seems like a majority of the world's hides and leathers come from there, at least the ones stocked at Tandy.

What if one wants to gather their own? Any special things to know? lol Just never entertained the thoughts of using rabbit for more than food.

[Chas]

In my part of the world, we used to have men called warrenners, who's job it was to tend the rabbit warrens. Actually it was a job for young boys and old men - before working age and after.

The idea is you find an existing rabbit warren and dig a large ditch around it. Let us say a 30' diameter and about 4-5' deep. The rabbits in the warren will not dig down and out, but will stay in and on their little island. The outer edges of the ditch have a woven fence so that the rabbits can't jump out.

The rabbits then would be tended by the warrenners and every so often one would be removed. From wild they become semi-domesticated in no time at all.

The rabbit is a very versatile animal. All parts of it can be used. The meat for eating, the skins as fur or as leather for clothing, the hair (once removed) for felt for hats, the bones ground up to enrich the soil or boiled down as a glue, the entrails fed to the chickens.

As fur it was often used double layered with the hairy sides inwards towards each other. Boiled up pine resin (also in abundance in this area) would be painted onto the outer layer of fur to make a waterproof layer. The combination of waterproofing and heat insulation kept many a person alive during the coldest winter.

The hair was shipped down to London where it was used as the main constituent of bowler hats (also invented in Norfolk, by the Coke family of Holkham Hall).

Warrenning gets its name from William de Warren who came across with William the Conqueror and was given land in Norfolk.

The last warrenner retired in the 60's and that was only because the hat industry had so declined as to make it unprofitable. From 1066 up to 1960 - an unbroken line keeping the farmstead fed.

Regards

Chas

[Burly Brute]

In my part of the world, we used to have men called warrenners, who's job it was to tend the rabbit warrens. Actually it was a job for young boys and old men - before working age and after.

The idea is you find an existing rabbit warren and dig a large ditch around it. Let us say a 30' diameter and about 4-5' deep. The rabbits in the warren will not dig down and out, but will stay in and on their little island. The outer edges of the ditch have a woven fence so that the rabbits can't jump out.

The rabbits then would be tended by the warrenners and every so often one would be removed. From wild they become semi-domesticated in no time at all.

The rabbit is a very versatile animal. All parts of it can be used. The meat for eating, the skins as fur or as leather for clothing, the hair (once removed) for felt for hats, the bones ground up to enrich the soil or boiled down as a glue, the entrails fed to the chickens.

As fur it was often used double layered with the hairy sides inwards towards each other. Boiled up pine resin (also in abundance in this area) would be painted onto the outer layer of fur to make a waterproof layer. The combination of waterproofing and heat insulation kept many a person alive during the coldest winter.

The hair was shipped down to London where it was used as the main constituent of bowler hats (also invented in Norfolk, by the Coke family of Holkham Hall).

Warrenning gets its name from William de Warren who came across with William the Conqueror and was given land in Norfolk.

The last warrenner retired in the 60's and that was only because the hat industry had so declined as to make it unprofitable. From 1066 up to 1960 - an unbroken line keeping the farmstead fed.

Regards

Chas

That is so cool! And I guess the rabbit makes up for its size in abundance lol