Our friends at The Wandering Bull are back with another craft tutorial.
Chris from The Wandering Bull walks through how a traditional-style Crow shirt is constructed and then shows, step by step, how you can make your own deerhide shirt using a regular long-sleeve shirt as the pattern.
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What the video covers:
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A look at a finished Crow-style reproduction shirt (1880s to present style influence), including how four deer hides can be used (front, back, and two sleeves), and how older shirts often kept parts of the animal shape like legs hanging down.
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Key construction details: shoulder seams sewn, sleeves attached, and then areas left open and tied under the arms and down the sides (instead of sewn) to match earlier styles and allow more flexibility in fit.
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Using a worn but well-fitting flannel or long-sleeve shirt as your template: marking where sleeves meet the body, labeling left and right, and planning for seam allowance so the finished leather shirt still fits.
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Transferring the pattern onto four deer hides (Chris uses commercially tanned hides and explains smooth side vs suede side), tracing, working around holes in the hide, and leaving extra length if you want fringe or hanging pieces.
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Assembly basics: whip-stitching the shoulders, attaching sleeves, testing fit, then adding lace ties under the arms and along the sides with an awl.
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Finishing options and “everyday camp shirt” vs “special occasion” shirts, plus notes on decoration like beading, quillwork, fringe, man skins, and painting.
He wraps up by pointing viewers to more tutorials and materials available through The Wandering Bull (including leather, beads, quills, and pigments) and where to find them online.
