Things You'll Need:
- 3 large buckskins
- Water-soluble pen
- Scissors
- Leather sinew
- Leather needle
- Leather awl
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Step 1
Lay one hide against the front of the person who is going to wear it. Arrange the hide so that the front legs go over the shoulder. Adjust the length in front. Mark the shoulder line with a water-soluble pen. Cut it.
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Step 2
Place the second buckskin against the back of the model with the forelegs draped over to his front. Make sure both the front and back pieces are the same length. Mark the shoulders and cut.
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Step 3
Trim the neck edge as necessary but preserve the same length seam for both sides of the front and back shoulder seam. Whipstitch the seams together with leather sinews. You may need to punch holes with an awl to make this process easier.
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Step 4
Slip the shirt on the wearer. Mark the side seams about 8 to 10 inches below the armpit. This should allow ample arm movement, and you can move the mark up or down depending on the wearer. Make sure the mark is the same on both sides.
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Step 5
Lay the shirt wrong side out on a flat surface. Measure how long you want the sleeves. Cut two rectangular pieces from the third buckskin to make the sleeves. Each rectangular piece should be the length of the sleeve and the width of the shirt from the front side seam mark to the back side seam mark.
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Step 6
Cut the fringe from remnant pieces of the buckskin. Cut a piece the width of the fringe you want plus the length of the sleeve.
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Step 7
Whipstitch the sleeves in place. Next sew from the underarm seam to the sleeve seam. If you are adding fringe, sew it in the underarm seam at the same time. Continue stitching to the bottom of the shirt hem. Cut the fringe into pieces.
