Beavers::: Pelts for Blankets, etc

My friend Willy Firewood mentioned a beaver pelt blanket or bedspread as being a good way to use pelts...I really think that’d be nice to have.


I’ve never had anything made with pelts (or made anything myself), so I have a few questions.


Do I need to skin them any differently? . The end product will be rectangular, the standard method leaves the pelt circular, and it’s hard to make rectangles with circles, so I was wondering if a different pelting process would mean less trimmed off and lost....?

Does anyone know approximately how many pelts I should plan to send off to make a king size blanket?



Anyone have a beaver blanket they’d care to show pictures of?



Thank you,

Hexagonal.You will need beavers all the same size.-very minimal wasteage.20-25 lg med beavers will make a big blanket.
You could also make a beaver plate into a blanket.(that's all the leftover pieces sewn together and blocked out and trimmed.)

To me to get the best bang for your buck, make it like an old patch work quilt. No rime or reason to shapes, color or sizes of shapes.

That’s what I would do too.

You could let it all out (strip it into 3 or 4 inch strips), then sew into a king size plate.

Do some research on the internet to get some ideas of what your options are when it comes to a beaver fur blanket, or any fur blanket .

Google. beaver fur blanket

Or check out these web sites -

www.glacierwear.com

www.adirondackblankets.com

There are so many option out there - from full skin blankets to patchwork blankets - you need to decide what you want.

Good Luck.

Aix, I think we may live way too far south for one of those but they are pretty. I hope you can find exactly what you want and don't forget to post some pics when you get it back.

I figured the circles and squares would have gotten more bites






Hey buddy, good to hear from you.


Ya know, I was thinking...a beaver blanket would just be a humongous shake-n-bake bag, but I’d sure like to have one. The only tanned beaver pelt that I have is a beaver pelt ole Paloduro (know him?) gave me after an auction, but I’d like to go bigger.

Those full fur beaver blankets are awesome!
I have around 24 tannned so far to do this!

When fur prices are in the tank, it looks like the ones that sell these goods are the ones that have the last laugh!


Don’t get me wrong, it’s a FINE product, but....When entire beavers (here) bring $5 each? Wow. Wasn’t expecting that.


Good thing they were running the $2500 off special when I looked!


https://www.fursource.com/beaver-fu...Y0vTS3wIViP_jBx0heg-5EAQYASABEgKLVPD_BwE

Back in the late 80's I had a queen size comforter made from 5 beaver and 60 muskrats. Came out great. Prices for rats were quite a bit lower then, .75 to $1 per rat, beaver were more then, so it evened out.

Those aren't $5 dollar beavers.After dressing more like $70 dollar beavers.More for plucked and sheared/dyed.
And that is before construction.

You are right boco. Huge difference in my beavers vs those beavers. You’re right.


However, my blanket (or whatever I have made or make) will be made with my ultra premium $5 selects!

I bet it will still look great and keep you warm.All sections of prime fur is nice when worked up.

I think it will too. I’m fired up.


I’d like to have something made with mink too. By the time it’s all said and done, who knows....maybe I’ll even make something myself, start to finish.

Making stuff look good out of mink takes more skill than making something out of beaver.
My favorite fur to work with is beaver and wolf.

There is a lot to making a blanket out of furs the pelt price is a small part of it. Dressing,sewing,stretching,backing,trim,and it takes a pile of southern beaver to make one

Well, I appreciate your honesty!

I am happy to see that you are running with this idea.

It sounds like those mink are big enough to really cover some area. Maybe a beaver bedspread with a mink border?

Since you have so many beavers in your region, is there maybe a small cottage industry of furriers?

Those southern pelts keep the beavers warm, so I bet they would keep you warm. Ha.

Ohio beavers are nice, but certainly nothing like the beavers that Boco catches. If I ever get enough, I will have someone tan and sew them for a bedspread.

Wife has a mink coat that is very nice. It has a brilliant lustre. Unfortunately I did not catch them - it would have been too long of a wait.

Have fun designing!

Have had a king size full hair beaver spread made by a friend for over 20 yrs and it still looks and warms great. As the furs were not well color matched had it dyed black and it looks slick. Also inherited a queen sheared beaver spread from the 30's an I resized it into two lap throws(I have had to repair them a few times as the stitching is getting old but still look good). Have several fur spreads and throws and I recommend not satin for backing for spreads. It's like trying to keep covered with a slippery slide, always off on the floor.

I like wool duffle for backing(Hudson bay blanket),but it is pricey.

Rich Mellon from Trapping TV Canada said in an episode last year he and his wife were making a bedspread out of beavers they saved over the years. Maybe call him. http://www.trappinginc.com/contact.html

Fur Source does nothing for trappers. Will not make custom blankets or donate to any cause related to trappers interests. Research who furthers our trapping privileges and support that company. as a group we should be more concerned about who we deal with.

I appreciate the information. I won’t send business to those that won’t reinvest.


Thank you

We just had 22 beaver tanned, plucked and sheared to make a blanket. The tanning was $97 each, plucking and shearing an addition $25 each so for a grand total of $2684 for just the beavers to make the blanket. I supplied my own beaver and don't have the bill for the making of the blanket yet. This is in Canada but the costs add up fast!

You can buy a blanket at retail for less than this.

I recently made a lap throw for a customer, he sent me 8 beaver of various sizes, tho once done it looked like 6 all together. Ended up being 60x36 and made a perfect size lap blanket. It was trimmed with red fox. (Not shown in this pic because it wasn't done yet).

I will have to try this next time with the hexagon style. Sounds like it would utilize more fur.

I had one made. It's a queen bed size. It took 16 beaver and it is lined around the outside with 20 mink. Each beaver was cut into 1" strips, then each strip moved down from the last strip, a few inches, then sewn all back together, making it square. Then each square beaver was sewn to the next one. 4 across and 4 down, makes 16 total beaver. They lined the outside with 20 mink in a continuous strip all the way around the 16 beaver. They also sewed the entire blanket to a backing blanket that has a waterproof membrane inside the backing blanket. It covers to the floor, so it could fit a King bed easily, I just have it on a Queen bed. It must weigh 30 pounds because of the backing blanket. No, you cannot sleep under it. I paid $2200 for the sewing, pleating, blocking, backing blanket etc. It's appraised at $6000. All beaver and mink were caught by me in Alaska, so it's priceless to me. I had the beavers and mink tanned by Moyles, great job as usual, don't remember what I paid for the tanning, but worth it in the end.

$97 each for tanning seems high to me. I had one done about 5 years ago for $35. My buddy who has more money than god bought one from Cabelas for about $3200, very expensive but man it is nice.