Sable
This vintage sable fur is material I’ve used on many handmade items. The fur is vintage and has a lovely antique charm.
Backstory
A few years ago I bought two antique fur stoles at a neighbor’s garage sale. My neighbor said that they belonged to her grandmother and that they were mink. I had the idea to sew them into a coat or something, but nothing ever came of it.
Recently, I decided to open an Etsy store to sell rabbit fur purses and other handmade items. It was then that I remembered the stoles and decided to make cute purses out of them.
The first thing I did was take apart the stoles, separating the fur from the cotton stuffing and satin lining.
By looking at them, even at purchase, I could tell they were different types of fur. I imagined one was mink, and the other something else. Upon ripping open the seams, I found out the truth.
One was stamped with Blue Fox, and the other with Sable. Both were stamped by their respective dyeing company.
Most fur has a direction of grain; the way the fur naturally lays. Fur feels softest when brushed with the grain, and resistance is felt against it. Sable is unique from other furs, because it lacks this grain. It feels soft brushed from any direction. This makes sable fur easier to sew with and produces less waste of material. There’s also less time and energy spent matching fur direction.
Because of this fur’s fineness, it has been a favorite material of nobility from ancient Greece to medieval times. Below is a portrait of Marie Antoinette by Elisabeth Vigee le Brun. The queen is shown wearing a red dress trimmed with sable and matching hat.
Sable is a wild, non endangered animal living mostly in Russia.
Fur Ethics
Let me go ahead and say that I do not agree with hunting or farming animals for fur. I do believe it is ok as a by product from food production, when it would otherwise be considered waste.
My goal is to upcycle these furs into something useful. Fur is luxurious and working with it as a material feels like being part of something special and sacred.
There’s a really good website on how fur is a “green” and sustainable material put on by the Fur Council of Canada. Here is the link, if you are interested:
The purses I made with the blue fox fur can be viewed and purchased at my etsy store:
Sewing with Sable Fur
This sable fur stole is much narrower than the fox fur I used to make purses. I could sew the pieces together to make more purses, or perhaps line the collar of a sweater.
Any ideas about what to do with this sable fur are welcome in the comments!
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