Leather chopper mitts

[Stay Sharp]

First and foremost this IS NOT a sale thread nor a promotion. I AM NOT selling leather chopper mitts here. This thread IS NOT a sale or advertising thread. I AM NOT AND WILL NOT be selling leather chopper mitts here. I like to make much of my hunting gear. It extends the season for me and I get to use exactly what I want and can customize it to my needs. The joy is in the doing. I make these for my use and for family and have gifted them or donated them to bowhunting orgs for them to use as prizes. I AM NOT selling leather chopper mitts. dont ask. If you wish to make your own, use this as a resource.

These are some of the steps I use to make them from elk or deer or beaver skins I have. I will dye them or use them in their natural color.

Then stretched and dried.

Sewing the thumbs.

assembling the parts.

Polartech fleece for the liners. (I like removable liners rather than sewn in liners)

Beaver (My brother trapped)

 

[Stay Sharp]

Sometimes I decorate them

The right mit will have a bowhunter at full draw. Here is the image lightly penciled onto the deer skin.

I follow that up with a fine tip sharpie permanent marker and after staining the leather.

The left hand is going to have a scene with a buck standing with some trees in the background. While it could be viewed either way the buck is looking away from the screen not towards the screen. You are looking at the back of his neck as he faces away. When the two mits are worn palms side up it will create a scene in which the bowhunter is at draw on a quartering away buck. (that’s the thought anyway. Sometimes I think to hard about this stuff.)

After the thumb is sewn to the palm I add the buckskin with the artwork to the palm.

Here are the mits before I join the two halves together.

After the two halves are sewn together and trimmed and turned right side out, I sprayed them with a heavy coat of Atsco silicone waterproofer to make sure they keep the user dry and to set the inked image in place. The waterproofer darken the leather just a bit.

The mitts need warm fleece liners. I used a double layer of blizzard fleece and grey fur.

The finished WTA mitts.

 

[Stay Sharp]

Them my wife took interest and had specific wants.
wanted her own pair of deer skin leather chopper mitts but she was not partial to bears or brown leather so I told her to pick out exactly what she wanted for her pair. She wanted bright blue leather and white fur and butterflies with white trim. The liner would be the same black blizzard fleece I have been using on other projects.

Dying a tanned leather deer hide is a crap shoot in terms of what the final color will be. Here is the tanned leather before dying.

I used Rit dye and white vinegar. The vinegar was added after the hide was in the dye for 5 minutes.

I presoaked the leather in hot water for 15 minutes before dying.

I soaked the leather in the dye for 30 minutes then rinsed it under hot water and then cold water.

Then I stretched the hide out on a sheet of plywood and used a box fan to dry it.

Once dry I had to find areas of the hide that were not streaky or blotchy to cut the pieces of the gloves from.

The back side of the mittens got white trim, white fur and the butterfly.

The palm side only gets white trim and the thumb sewn on. Im getting better at sewing the thumb to the palm.

The liners are a double layer of fleece and long white fur.

The finished mittens. The blue really worked out well. I thought it would end up dark but its nice and bright. I sprayed them with silicone waterproofer to keep them clean and dry.

 

[Stay Sharp]

 

[rwc101]

How much? If I order now will they arrive by Christmas?


Sorry. Somebody was going to do it.

 

[Stay Sharp]

LOL. No. No leather mitts will be sold.

 

[geetar]

Nice work!

 

[Stay Sharp]

My last primitive trad bear kill was going to be turned into hunting gear but I found the hair to fine and brittle to be durable enough for the rigors of my traveling hunts.

 

[Festus]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

 

[MNElkNut]

Beautiful work! I commend you for giving back by supporting those groups (WTA, etc).

 

[Oldgoat31]

AWESOME WORK!!!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Thanks for posting... I actually have an elk hide + a beaver pelt in my house that I have been meaning to use to make mitts for 2 years now.

Really appreciate the walk thorough!

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Those are bad ass. Nice work and thanks for posting.

 

[sluggo6850]

You do really nice work, Thanks for sharing!!! I especially like the last pair pictured of the two bucks and trees!

 

[rjthehunter]

That is awesome! I'm going to have to hang on to a couple beaver pelts and do this!

 

[jryoung]

Those are awesome, I'd love a set like that first one made from a bear hide I have.

 

[Schism]

Very nice!

 

[Jeremyc_1999]

are you tanning the hides yourself or sending them off to be tanned?

 

[MThuntr]

Very cool...Is that a template that you use?

"Get in the Choppa!!"

 

[Gut Shot]

Cool stuff OP.

Anyone who is thinking of doing this. Keep an eye out at yard sales and thrift stores for old, damaged, fur coats. Many times there is perfectly good fur in a damaged coat. Throw out the damaged stuff and use the good stuff in your projects.