The Sheepskin Tanning Program
Learn to tan sheepskins online
at your own pace
We weren’t born just to consume
We are here to create
There is a world beyond scrolling content
A world beyond brands and logos
It’s the world that’s always been here
And is always waiting for us
Hide tanning brings us back to that world
To the fullness of making something with our hands
To the sacredness of touching the more-than-human
And then it does something unexpected…
Hide tanning helps us thrive in our modern times
Ancient movement calibrates our nervous system
Working in flow state supports emotional and mental health
Interacting with a hide lights up something deep in our bones
In other words, hide tanning heals
This is the
Sheepskin Tanning Program:
An online library of over 70 how-to videos on tanning sheepskins
With voice-over step-by-step instruction from a professional tanner
A week-by-week guided walkthrough that you can do at any time, taking as long as you need
Two distinct hide tanning methods that can be done separately or together
Written resources on methodology and the science of hide tanning
Learn these two methods ⬇️
You’ll have endless creativity in your hide tanning practice:
I’m Mara and this is Fern + Roe Folk Tannery.
We tan hides and teach internationally from Vancouver Island, BC.
Every hide is tanned by hand. Every tanning ingredient comes directly from the earth.
I met hide tanning 15 years ago when I was living on a small island in the north Pacific.
I had dropped out of university, disillusioned that my environmental studies degree was more about how to perform in a board meeting than about how to tend the land.
On that island, I was involved in a deer cull - a hunting project to remove invasive deer from an ecosystem that was damaged by their presence.
It was my first experience of ecological restoration.
And it was done through hunting: through direct participation with the land.
It showed me that death is something we can steward, ethically and respectfully.
It showed me that humans can repair ecological damage and actually enhance biodiversity.
And it showed me that hide tanning helps us live our lives profoundly well.
Hide tanning doesn’t have to look like this:
✘ spending hours and hours scraping
✘ breaking your back lifting and softening
✘ getting bald patches from wool falling out
✘ not knowing when a hide is done
✘ relying on store-bought ingredients
✘ using expensive power tools
✘ measuring out complicated recipes
✘ winding up with stiff leather
It can be knowable and doable.
So that hide tanning can do for you what it does best:
get you grounded
+
be part of your local ecology
+
support how you’re meant to move and live
Look at the Program ⤸
What our Current Students Did ⤸
What You’ll Experience:
✔️ Go from feeling tentative about the tanning process to certain of each step
✔️ Receive the nourishing and strengthening of hide tanning movements in your body
✔️ Connect with the more-than-human world in a real, pragmatic relationship
✔️ Increase your resilience and self-efficacy - our ability to take on anything and thrive
Who This is For:
✔️ You’re a beginner or intermediate tanner
✔️ You know the profound meaning in animal and craft stewardship
✔️ You want to build physical strength and create something with your hands
✔️ You care for the land and want to engage in tangible reciprocity
✔️ You want guidance in a craft instead of figuring it out solo
Important Notes:
Your purchase includes lifetime access to this digital product
Tools, hides, and ingredients are not included in the digital product
You can buy tools, hides, and ingredients from Fern + Roe or bring your own
After you Join:
✔️ You get exclusive access to purchase untanned sheep skins
✔️ You can buy tools + tanning ingredients from us anytime
✔️ Opportunity to join Hide Club, our monthly community hide call
Some sheepskins made by our students ⤸
Know your Tanning Goods
Watch this clip to see what you’ll use to tan + then you’re ready!