What can I say about Jerry?

Like plenty of Oklahomans, Jerry drives a truck.

He drives a truck because that would be the only way he could haul a deer and he wouldn’t be here asking us to make a custom vest out of a deer hide unless he could haul deer.

So here is Jerry with his truck and his deer hide. And here we are to turn it into something special!

Behind the Seams: Making of the Deer Hide Vest

When Jerry walked into our shop he had this beautiful tanned hide rolled up and neatly tied with little black bows, I could tell it had been preserved, waiting for the right moment. He said that he hadn’t been able to convince anyone to take on this project yet but he had a good feeling about us. Determined to prove him right, we sat down at the cutting table and started scheming. We knew that the final garment would be a vest but that was about all we knew, the details and construction were all up to us! The actual hide itself had a few limitations; the size and shape but also the uneven thickness of the material from edge to edge due to its’ very organic nature. The uniqueness of this piece is evident in its source and it had to be handled carefully, cut in just the right way.

Though we are not newcomers to custom garments, working with this quirky delicate medium prompted us to call in our favorite resident leather expert from Blackburn Goods (Blackburn Goods) right here in Tulsa for consultation and construction.

After drafting up a few samples on paper using the dimensions from an old fleece vest (a favorite of his he brought along), we moved into building a sample in soft white cotton muslin and called Jerry in and for a quick visit to get the fit just right before diving into the leather.

Jerry’s favorite fleece vest used for taking and measurements and planning the new vest’s dimensions.

Together, we decided on a few aesthetic details like rounding the corners and add side splits to dress the vest up! After ensuring the perfect fit in sample fabric it was time to start constructing the final piece!

As the pieces began to take shape we knew we needed to supplement with some local leather and decided to add both decorative and functional panels to the sides so we could stay true to the fit of the sample and paper pattern while maintaining the same style and look throughout.