Sewing with vintage fur

I’ve been contemplating writing about this topic for a while now, but shied away because it’s controversial. There’s a fear of prompting backlash online and having to deal with the fallout of other people’s opinions. Animal fur is a controversial topic, one which quite rightly stirs up strong emotions. I will caveat this by saying, in no uncertain terms, that I DO NOT and NEVER HAVE OR WILL support the use of new fur. Animals should not be farmed or hunted for their fur, as a developed society we have long since gone beyond the times where the use of fur was necessary for our survival.

However, vintage fur is a thing that exists. You can see it in charity shops, at car boot sales and in your granny’s closet. You might inherit fur or find it when clearing a beloved relative’s house. What to do with it then?

Some people may say to throw it away, that the use of vintage fur could inadvertently promote the desire for new fur. I totally understand this viewpoint and to those people I say, you do whatever makes you comfortable. If you don’t feel you could ethically make use of a vintage fur coat, I completely understand that decision.

You could donate it and hope that someone else can make use of it. Whilst that may be the case, fur is a controversial topic and many people would avoid buying fur, even if it was secondhand. Is donating it essentially the same as throwing it away, if ultimately charity shops will struggle to sell it?

From an environmental view point however, putting aside the animal welfare argument for a moment, fur is a natural, biodegradable material. There are no plastics in the fibres (other than those sewn into the item itself, such as polyester linings or sewing thread) and if you took an object made 100% from fur and buried it in the ground, it would decompose entirely, given enough time. This may cause some to view it as a more sustainable alternative to polyester, nylon or lycra fabrics.

There is, of course, an environmental cost to the processing of fur. The chemicals used in the tanning process can cause long lasting harm to the environment, unless regulated effectively. But again, what do you do with fur that was produced 75 years ago? That damage has already been done, throwing away the finished product doesn’t undo the harm that was done earlier in the 20th century.

The thrifty, pragmatic part of me that embraces the ‘reuse’ section of the recycling triangle, finds the thought of recycling such beautiful, high quality material abhorrent. The animal has already died, the environmental damage has already been done. Is reusing a vintage fur coat any less ethical than wearing a vintage leather handbag? How many of us have bought brand new leather shoes and not thought about the lives of the animals who died to bring us those brogues?

I don’t have the answers and I suspect this is one of those ‘you do you’ situations. I wouldn’t personally feel comfortable wearing a vintage fur coat, but I have secondhand sheepskins bought from an auction mart on my living room floor. I wouldn’t use an antique fur muffler, but I bought a 1970s leather jacket that is straight out of ‘Life on Mars’ from a charity shop last summer.

To that end, I bring you to my latest sewing project. These are the Sew DIY Patterns Quilted Slippers, in the booties version. I made them for myself, to live at my Gran’s house. I also thought it would be a good pattern for gift giving, requiring little by way of fitting, other than the person’s shoe size.

I adapted the pattern to add the fur cuff by cutting the main body pattern piece in two, around 2 inches from the top. I then cut the lining using my new pattern piece, with the main part of the foot in the shearling off cut I used for the lining and the top part of the cuff in the fur. The lining is ultimately turned to the outside, to create a cuff. This was the part I made using vintage fur. The outer fabric is a wool remnant, leftover from a previous project.

I ‘inherited’ the fur from my Gran, after she gave me a couple of bin bags of old clothes to drop at the charity shop. I could see the vintage fur stoles sitting at the top of one of the bags and I couldn’t bring myself to donate them. They were in poor condition, moth eaten and falling to pieces, and I knew the charity shop would put them straight in the recycle bin, destined for shredding. It seemed such a waste for such beautiful, high quality fabric and the life of the poor animal. I pulled them out and stashed them in my fabric cupboard. There was only a small amount of usable fabric, so the cuff was the perfect use for it.

The soles were made from two leather remnants, leftovers from a sample book I rescued from an interior designer. There wasn’t a big enough piece to make a whole sole, so I zigzagged two pieces together, butting their edges against each other. I wanted a leather sole to keep myself from slipping, the wool would have been dangerous by itself I suspect.

Overall, I’m really happy with how these turned out. They’re comfortable and warm and I’ll get a lot of use out of them when I’m round my Gran’s. They’re a bit bodged in places, sewing through leather and wool was a struggle for my machine, but they’re good enough for wearing. Wool especially, is very forgiving.

I completely understand that sewing with vintage fur is not for everyone. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy secondhand fur, but if it’s the difference between using it or the landfill, I’ll use it every time.