The Tin Stove Tannery's Notebook

Tail Hair Ornament

I found an old toe bone out in the woods. It had a wonderful gold brown color from sitting in the leaves for so long. I cut one end off, cleaned out what was left of the greasy marrow and drilled a hole through the other end. It got a good hot sudsy bath to remove the rest of the old gunk inside. I did some simple line carving and made two small dots of silver solder to glue on the sides.



Then I took a mink tail (reject from the garment industry) and stitched two lengths of buckskin lacing to the end. It has to be really secure. Two of the ends I drew up through the toe bone and out either side. This is how it is tied in your hair. The other two ends I gave cast brass bells and blue glass beads. That is all there is to it. It makes a lovely soft jingle whenever you move with it on.



This photo actually shows the second version of this ornament. I had to replace the first tail because it was loosing its fur through natural wear and tear.

A quick note on tails;

Tails are prone to tearing. The skin is naturally very thin here. A lot of times, the tail is not properly cared for. They are hard to flesh out because they are thin and the fur is so thick. Afterwards, the tanning agents do not always penetrate properly. This makes them fragile.

This is no reason to shy away from using tails in projects.

A good tail should not tear when you give the body end a gentle tug. These are the best. However, an inferior tail can still be used provided you give it a little extra support. A thin cord, piece of ribbon or scrap of leather lacing can be put inside the tail to reinforce it. Hunt through the fur until you find where the tail was split. Most usually are through common practice. Put the cord inside and either glue it or carefully run a few stitches with a good thread along the entire length of the tail. A few wraps with the thread around the top will help.

If the fur is falling out, there is nothing that can be done except to get rid of the loose bits and use the good portions for something else.