Sheepskin Leather Rug-Making
in-person | hands-on | alchemic craft
You receive a fresh hide salvaged from waste streams, learn to tan it yourself, and take home your transformed creation at the end: a soft + supple traditional leather sheepskin rug. Made through the alchemy of plants x salvaged animal hide, this is the ancient, ethical, + sustainable craft of hide tanning.
Our natural tanning method is Bark-tanning, also known as veg-tanning. Bark-tanning is the original method that created belts, bags, shoes, and everything we make with chrome-tanned leather today. We will use traditional techniques to harness nontoxic plant tannins + mix these with sheep skins gleaned from small scale local farms. Your leather sheepskin rug is a durable textile that can be taken camping, used as a bedroll or picnic blanket, and washed in a regular laundry machine. With proper care, it is a material that will last a lifetime.
Dates: July 27-28 + Aug 10
Schedule: 11am to 2-3pm each day
Location: W̱SÁNEĆ Peninsula, Vancouver Island
OPTION 1: July 27-28 + Aug 10: $425 CAD
OPTION 2: July 27 + July 28 only: $395 CAD
Click “learn more” to register in 1 or 3 payments. You’ll be asked to create an account first.
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Details
The Process
Bark-tanned leather involves both hide work and plant work.
WEEKEND 1: July 27-27
🐑 First we take sheepskins that have been preserved in salt + wash them thoroughly to prepare for tanning. On Day 1, the hides are acidified (“pickled”) using vinegar.
🌱 Then we make a strong tea from the bark of Oak + Acacia trees. In hide tanning, we call this making a bark-liquor. Plants are full of a water-soluble constituent called tannin.
The tannins will react with the hide’s proteins + do all the tranformative work of turning the hide to leather while we take a break.
WEEKEND 2: Aug 10 (one day)
🧥 We return to find our sheepskins thoroughly tanned: they are now leather. We add the finishing touches of racking them into frames, drying, and oiling them. You take home your beautiful, durable leather creation today.
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If you choose Option 2 (one weekend only) you will tend + finish your hide on your own. Brings a 10-gallon tote to Weekend 1 to take your hide home in. It is recommended to have some hide tanning experience for this option. A softening frame is also best, but not required.
Staying on the land
You are welcome to stay at Anneth Farm during the hide tanning course (affectionately known as a “hide camp”).
We have unlimited camping spots available in a secluded meadow + The Loft guest suite above the horse barn.
Spending down time with your new tanning cohort makes the weekend take on a whole different dimension. It’s a true retreating out of time and into an immersion of nature, community, and ancestral reverance.
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A handbuilt suite in the old hay loft of the farm barn. Watch the horses, goats, and sheep from your balcony.
Amenities:
- kitchenette
- double bed + pull-out sofa
- dining area
- composting toilet
- clawfoot bathtub
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For $24 CAD/night per person, stay in the meadow along with other participants of the hide course.
Amenities:
- electrical outlet for charging phones
- water
- indoor bathroom with sink, toilet, and shower
- indoor fridge + food storage
