Part 4: Finishing

The sewing is done! All I have left are the closures and trimming off the bottom. The sewing was actually done Thursday--which was a very Good Thing as temps here have been below zero for the past couple of days and this is the only coat Dave has. He wore it to take me to the hospital yesterday morning and then out for lunch and errands. He got many compliments on it, and a checker at Safeway tried very hard to convince me to make and sell them online. (Insert ROFLMAO emoji here.) 

The hospital trip was to make sure I hadn't broken my hand below my right index finger while wrestling with firewood the day before. Looks like I probably just dislocated and relocated the finger. It was all swollen and sore yesterday, but it's much better today. Dave made me get it x-rayed as he was unaware of my medical certification and unwilling to accept my diagnosis without additional input.

But back to the coat... Now it's time to do the closures. I use the word "closures" instead of buttons because I am not going to use buttons. I am going to take two pieces of elk antler crown (the place where the antlers detach from the head when they are shed) and drill holes in them through which to run strips of hide. The crowns will be sewn onto one side of the coat and the strips will tie around antler tips sewn onto the other side. I can do three if I need to, but I'm guessing two will be enough.

When the closures are done, I will do the hem. Well not really a "hem" as I won't be folding it under and sewing the bottom edge: I'll just be cutting it straight. Right now there's a tail hanging off the back, and the curved edges of the natural hide make up the bottom edge. Dave has decided that he would like a straight edge--and he definitely doesn't want a tail--so I will have him stand while wearing the coat, and I will measure up the same distance from the floor all the way around and cut along the resulting line. 

The hardest part will be drilling the crowns and antler tips to attach them to the coat: not because of the drilling but because my drill press is in the garage and it's -17 degrees right now!