They made it. Finally! These are hog hides (and one buckskin) from last fall, 2011 (when I took them into a tannery in Milwaukee, WI). They’ve all been tanned and dyed to specific colors…
Clockwise from top: Buckskin dyed brown, Hog hide–natural, hog hide–tan, hog hide–brown, hog–black. Can’t wait to make book covers with these, but have deadlines that need to be finished first. Eyes on the prize!
BTW, anybody know how to soften hides? The hog skins are really stiff. It’s not a real problem (I dampen the hide before using it for binding, so it’ll be soft to work with), but it would be nice to know how to do it in case I need them softer when they’re dry….
