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Bark-tanned Leather Making | July 27-28 + Aug 10
Bark-tanned Leather: the classic textile.
Leather has historically been created through the blending of plants with animal hide. The tannic acid naturally-occurring in plants (especially in bark) absorbs into hides + chemically reacts, transforming hides forever.
Modern synthetic leather can’t compare to the quality and diversity of natural leather. And you can make your own, in the course of just a few days.
Join us on the WSANEC peninsula at our hide tanning studio and farm. We provide you with a fresh goatskin or sheepskin plus a fish skin to learn to tan with different plant materials, on different hides.
Weekend 1: We’ll start our bark-tans together, scraping hides and making a tannic acid extraction (“bark-liquor”).
Weekend 2: Two weeks later, come back to the studio to find your finished leather waiting for you. In the meantime, you’ll tend to your fish skin at home in a mason jar, watching it turn into leather more and more each day.
*To pay in 3 installments instead of one, email us at hello[at]fernandroe.com
More Details Below
DETAILS
We are making full-grain leather from mammal hides (hair-off) and from fish skins. Bark-tanning is a process that takes time, so we’ll meet over the course of two weekends. You’ll take home your fish skin to tend and watch between Weekend 1 and Weekend 2. We’ll keep the mammal hides at our studio to tend for you. When you arrive back, your leather will be waiting for you to frame up + dry.
A meal is provided for the group at the end of Day 1, on Saturday July 27. We’ll be making…you guessed it, barbequed fish for the group. Take a break after hide tanning to explore the peninsula or swim in the ocean, then meet us for a shared meal. Feel free to contribute a side dish or dessert. We will make gluten-free and dairy-free side dishes.
Schedule
Saturday, July 27: 11am to 3/4pm - Wet-scraping hides + fish skins | making bark-liquor
Sunday, July 28: 11am to 3/4pm - Acidifying + bark-liquoring hides
Saturday, Aug 10: 1pm to 3/ 4pm: Drying + polishing
Venue
We are excited to host you at our studio and in the meadows of Anneth Farm, on the WSANEC peninsula! This is where we make our own tanned hides. The ocean is a few blocks away and the farm pond is safe to swim in. We are 15 minutes from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal and the Victoria International Airport.
For those coming from off island: You are invited to camp for $24 CAD/night. A shared indoor washroom with shower is available for all campers. We also have a studio loft above the horse barn for $140 CAD/night. Email us to book this.
We recommend you reserve your BC Ferries from Vancouver, BC a few weeks in advance. If arriving from the USA, you can fly directly to Victoria Airport or fly to Seattle, then take a float plane to Victoria. There is also a ferry from Port Angeles to downtown Victoria.
What to bring
Camping chair
Meals and drinks
Sunscreen and everything to keep cool
Clothes for all weather
A personal knife (we like the brand Mora)
Campers: bring everything you need for cookware, cooking, and to stay warm and dry while camping.
Once you sign up, you will receive an automatic confirmation email. A welcome email from Fern + Roe will be sent a week prior to the course with more details + the address and directions to the farm. If you don’t receive a welcome email from us, your email provider likely blocked it. Add “hello [at] fernandroe.com” to your safe list now to prevent this!
