Buckskin Shirt
Sew a type of shirt worn by outdoorsmen on Missouri's frontier.
Materials:
Buckskin shirt hide
Optional yoke
Finished shirt with decoration
Review general instructions on leatherworking and gather items listed under basic materials.
Procedure:
- Obtain three medium to large deer hides.
- Hold one hide against the front of the individual who will wear the shirt. Hold so the hind legs of the hide hang and the forelegs lay over each shoulder.
- Draw lines A and Al across the top of the shoulder. Cut along both lines. The position of A and Al and the width of B will depend on the desired shirt length and size of the wearer. The shirt should hang at least to mid-thigh. Be careful that cuts A and Al are symmetrical and B is centered on the hide. (To assure symmetry, it may be desirable to fold the hide in half lengthwise and cut both A and Al at the same time.)
- Place second hide on back of individual who will wear the shirt. Position as for first hide, mark and cut lines A and Al. Before cutting, adjust length so hides one and two are the same.
- Lay hides right sides together with A and Al aligned. Roll the seam edges one full turn and whipstitch by running the stitch over the rolled edge.
- Turn right side out and put on wearer.
- Mark C and Cl on both the front and back hides. Position C and Cl to allow for ample arm movement. Again, the marks should be symmetrical. Remove shirt and lay out as illustrated, wrong side out.
- For sleeves, cut from third hide two equal rectangles with width C to C and length determined by measuring from cap of shoulder to wrist of wearer. Before sewing sleeves, see fringing note on next page.
- Lay sleeve on top of the body, right side out. Align between B and roll edges of body and sleeve together and whipstitch. Repeat with second sleeve on opposite side of body.
- Open sleeves so the right sides of front and back are together. Shirt should be laying inside out at this point. Roll sleeve edges together and whipstitch.
- Roll edges of shirt body together and whipstitch. Seam should run from sleeve to waist. Turn completed shirt right side out.
Note: Fringing may be added to seams where sleeves join body and along sleeve seams, if desired. To attach fringing, use strips of leather that are the same length as the seam and 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) wide. Roll these strips into the seams before whipstitching. Position the pieces so they will hang on the outside of the shirt when right side is out. Cut strips into fringe after sewing. A yoke may be added in front or back by sewing a rectangular or triangular leather piece to the edge of the neck opening. As with other seams, roll together on wrong sides before whipstitching. The yokes were often heavily beaded or quilled.
