Rabbit Purse

I picked up two rabbit pelts in Utah while I was visiting family. I decided I wanted to do something with them and made a purse out of them. I've done this before with black rabbit pelts. This project has been a big improvement. XD Less glue and tape holding everything together. 

In no way am I a professional at this. Its a hobby and I'm just learning. I made mistake on this purse as well but I'm just ganna share the journey. I'm a newb with pelts and sewing projects. So forgive me if some things seem obvious. 


Other Items Used:

Plastic Studs for the strap. Yes that didn't come with the strap lol. I bought the studs separately and added them. 

Old Necklace: This isn't my favorite necklace and it was pretty old. So I reused it as part of my front piece. I sewed it into the way  I wanted it to fall. My tip, might be to sew a few places down to keep it from swinging around to much. I learned this in a field test and will be securing it a bit more then it is now. Try to be mindful of it catch onto things. 

Hiker clip/keychains: There like these fake hiker clips, used to hold water bottles or keys etc. They make easy clips so you can attach things to your bag. If your like me who likes to decorate my bags.





Construction Summary:

I like to first find pelts with a near complete body shape, imperfections are ok. These weren't high quality furs. They had nics and patches of hair missing. These were large rabbits in a gift shop. My best tip is touching the thickness of the skin/leather. You'll feel the difference. The piebald one is much thinner than the solid pelt in this picture but it wasn't to horrible. My first black pelts were much more thinner and the hair rubbed out over time. Since these were craft grade, your not going to get the cream of the crops but you can still be mindful. My other tip is don't be afraid to compare the shapes. If you can picture the shape of the bag within them without to much alteration then go for it. If its ripped or has to much of an odd shape I would look for something different. The other part I try to match the patterns or colors to each other the best I can. I got "close enough" and was happy with that lol.

Time for repair work. You want to sew up holes and possible edges that look like there splitting. Just to help prevent any future tearing. You can also repair sections that were once smaller because of tearing by putting them back together. Pull of snip off little danglers on the leather. I didn't get to much of this except on the edges. If you feel the edge of the leather is really thin or damaged I would snip it a bit. Mostly the bag part where the most weight will be present. The upper bits with the opening don't need this much attention. It's just something to consider.

These were clear in which one was going to be the front piece. I snip bits off that just aren't going to make the shape of the bag. They dangle off in odd shapes that I can't jig saw together. I sew the pelts together to make the general shape of the bag. In this case the piebald pelt was a bit shorter then the solid one. I didn't cut the other shorter but instead kept the length cause it didn't really show since its a soft bag. [I enjoy the patchy work edges on it. If not I would do a cleaner cut for your own.]

Then I go out to find some fabric so I can make the bag and pockets on the inside. My first bag had so soft fake fur on the inside, never regretted it but this time I tried another. It was on sale in the holiday section. Halloween past so it was the perfect time to snag it. You Really need to measure out and shape the fabric. Your going to need enough to make another bag within the bag and extra if you want pockets.

I like making the inside bag shorter than the pelts because I figure the weight of the items won't put stress on the pelts that way. For pockets, I would suggest adding them before you attach it to the pelts. It will save you a head ache later.

You want to sink the bag into the pelt bag and find the level where your comfortable with. I like having little flaps so I lowered it more into the pelts. You want to consider how large the hand hole is to your bag. Try to do it at the widest place possible. You don't want a small hole where you have to fight getting things in and out of it. [Or you can make them the same size and play with the idea of a reversible bag. I can reverse my bag but I don't see me using it often. So if you can make the inside presentable so you can have two bags in one combo.]

The last is a strap, I highly recommend going for something thick. My first bag I went with a soft material and it hasn't broke but you can feel the strain on it. If your lazy like me, I didn't bother hiding  wear I sewed my straps to. I just kept it neat. You wanna figure out your comfortable length is. I like my bags to cross over my chest and sit at my waist so my strap is pretty long. 

Optional Ideas: 

Fur Guard: If your a little rough with things, consider adding a back piece. The black fabric on the back of the purse is actually there for more then fashion. Since it is hip height its going to rub against my jeans. This fabric will help prevent my jeans rubbing harshly on the fur's hairs. I haven't tested this before but I'm hoping this will help in the long run. I only sew it on the sides, so this black flap is actually abled to be shoved into the bag. I can fold it back out anytime. [Or you can sew it permanently out.]

Exposed Leather:I find people don't like touching the leather part of a pelt. So I covered the flaps above the bag. I could of kept them but I figured it would be cute to have sugar skulls peeking. [Plus over time contact with your skin/hand oils might weaken it/ dirty it.]  

Closing the bag: there are a lot of options out there. I did a draw string for my first bag. I would say there are some draw backs to that type, I don't like putting hole in the pelt period so I didn't do it to this one. I'm thinking of installing a draw string to the fabric on the inside bag [not the pelt bag.] That way it can close but won't mess with the actual pelts. There are clasps, magnets, and zippers options. Cloth and crafting stores should have a lot of options. I'm cheap so draw strings work for me. XD

Needles: You want to use a medium/large kind of needle. Small ones going through the leather feel like there going to snap. I really don't want to deal with a needle flying somewhere. Also, I highly suggest a thimble because pushing it throw leather can be hard. Take breaks also cause it rubs at your fingers a bit. 

Folding fabric Edges : I think this helps to prevent your fabric from unraveling , So when your sewing try to consider folding the edges. 

Pockets: I might advice only making 1 large pocket. I made the mistake of making two large ones. My hand gets trapped in the pockets when I'm trying to go in the middle of them. So at most 1 large and 2 small/medium. [Try not to make small pockets long to the point your fingers don't reach the bottom. ] Unless you do a pocket that splits the bag in the middle. Might be fun to play with. 

Pelt Smell: You might notice a chemically smell on the fur depending where its from or hold old it is. No way an expert buuutt a few things have worked for me. I let them air out on there own for a few weeks before doing anything to them. [I was to busy to start the project and needed the fabric.]  If its strong, I would consider putting them in a dryer on "Tumble". Very important NO HEAT while in the dryer. Might add a towel you don't care about just to keep them from bagging around to much. I did this personally but I added a few dryer sheets and let them tumble for an hour. Later I found this wasn't powerful enough, so I dipped into my oil based perfume. I got a paper towel and dabbed a little on it, then brushed it against the fur. [I personally brushed against the fur grain to get underneath.] Don't pour it directly onto the fur. It was strong at the time but you hardly smell it today.  I threw them back on tumble for an hour so the fur could rub it on each other. Towel stunk and the pelts did too at the end. Took about a week or more to wear off. They hint of my perform now a days. Right amount where I don't smell the chemically smell.  I'd let them air out for a week or more before trying this method again. You don't truely know how much they absorbed at the end because theres so much perfume. So to prevent over kill, let them air out. 

Over time pelts should take on a scent that's around them. So another method I tried was trapping them in a plastic bag with a few spritz of perform / smelly lotion. You don't want to do it directly on the pelt. Instead get a paper towel/old shirt/ cloth something. You don't want to put something wet in there either so make sure its dry. This isn't a over night fix. This takes time to do. Depending on how thick you want. [The catch is, I find it needs to be a strong smell.] I think it works best with things like incense or potpourri. Trap them in a bag with cinnamon pine cones if you have too. lol I used perfume but I think incense would be faster. Since I used such a soft smell it took a lonnngg time. Incense is generally strong so I might play around with 3-5 days check them and continue till you get to where you like. I might air them out after 5 days and see how much the pelt absorbed. [I never tired incense or potpourri personally.]

If not either of these. Over time your pelts will loose the smell as they air out. The more there in contact with you or things. Just be mindful they take on strong smells. So if you store them in a smelly place they will absorb it. When I store them, I put them in plastic bags so they keep there perfume smell.