Patching Holes in Buckskin by Barry Hardin - a Crazy Crow Trading Post Article

Rate This Article

Patching Holes in Buckskin by Barry Hardin

Regarding Patching Holes in Buckskin, this is a technique used for the quarter size hole in the above photograph.

Craft Focus Article from Crazy Crow Trading Post

Patching Holes in Buckskin by Barry Hardin

Regarding Patching Holes in Buckskin, this is a technique used for the quarter size hole in the above photograph.

Craft Focus Article from Crazy Crow Trading Post

As for a hole such as this in a dress, shirt leggings or other article, the way to do it is to cut a patch the exact size and shape as the hole, then sew the patch in using a baseball stitch. This way the patch leather will be neatly inserted in the hole without overlapping it. In the above photo, I used a whipstitch, and that, along with the white thread, make the stitching obvious. So in subsequent patches, I’ve always used the baseball stitch. You can even sew the patch to the dress with stitching on the underside, going only through the edges of the hide. That way no stitching shows on the front.

Patching Holes in Buckskin: Step by Step

To start, see if you have a piece of leather on that dress that you can cut off to make the patch so the leather will match.
Turn the dress inside out, place the patch material under the hole so that the texture of the patch surface matches the outside/front texture of the dress.
Now use a pencil (no pen) to trace the outline of the hole onto the patch leather.
I recommend also making a mark (short line) running from the edge of the dress hole and onto the patch.
Since the hole probably isn’t perfectly round, those marks will allow you to align the patch perfectly in position with the hole when you get ready to sew.

Crazy Crow Articles

Current Crow Calls Sale

July – August

SAVE 10%-25% on popular powwow, rendezvous, historic reenactor, bead & leather crafter supplies. It’s official, Summer is here, and so is the heart of Powwow, Rendezvous & Historic Reenactment seasons. 4th of July Celebrations is here, and just blink and Labor Day will be here. This sale offers many popular items for Native American, Rendezvous & Historic Reenactment outfits. Sale items include our Missouri River Brand Serape Blankets, a big DVD sale, Missouri River Patterns, 18th Century Linen Hunting Shirts, select Damascus Knives, Buckskin Splits, Bone & Horn Hairpipe, Plastic Crow Beads, Leather Pouches & Bags, and much more!

LEARN MORE