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How to Make Pelts

Animal pelts can be used in so many ways. They can be fashioned into coats and accessories and worn for warmth or to express personal style. Animal pelts are also used as rugs or wall hangings in some homes. Though the end products look nice, there is a lot of work that goes into creating an animal pelt. First you have to capture and kill an animal. Then you have to skin it, cut it and dry it. In the end, though, it's worth it if you want to be able to say that you made the animal pelt you are wearing or have hanging in your home.

Things You'll Need

A dead furry animal
Clean working surface
Soap
Fleshing knife
Wooden stretcher
Plastic
Newspaper
Scalpel or sharp knife

Instructions

- 1
  Put the dead animal on a clean working surface, such as a table, covered with plastic or newspaper and use your scalpel or sharp knife to make a cut around the animal's rear legs, underneath the hock.
- 2
  Make an incision on the backside of the rear legs. Cut upward until you reach the aperture of the animal's anal cavity, and wholly incise around the anus. Afterward, take the fur off both of the legs.
- 3
  Take the tail bone out of the animal by incising from the top of the tail to the end of it. Next take the fur or skin off of the tail by peeling it off.
- 4
  Make the same incisions to the front legs that you did to the hind legs, but start roughly 2 inches under the elbow. Heave the pelt down to the head area.
- 5
  Remove the fur around the head. Do this by incising through the cartilage of the ear, beside the skull. Pull the pelt off until you get to the eyes.
- 6
  Start peeling off the skin around the eyes, and keep the eyelids intact. There should be holes for the eyes after you have peeled off the animal's skin.
- 7
  Make an incision in the animal's mouth area. Begin by cutting through the inner lip area. Tug the pelt off and then cut it off once you reach the cartilage of the animal's nose.
- 8
  Remove all flesh and fat from the pelt by scraping it with a fleshing knife. Be careful, because a fleshing knife can make cuts and cracks in the pelt.
- 9
  Ensure that the pelt is fat and oil free by washing it thoroughly with water and soap. Rinse the pelt, squeeze the water out and then lay it out on a wooden stretcher until it dries.
- 10
  Wait 24 hours and let the other side of the pelt dry. Leave it for three to five days.
- 11
  Take the pelt off of the stretcher once it is dry, and brush it until it has a beautiful and shiny finish.

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