By Robert Miller, Sea Fur Sewing · Sitka, Alaska
It started with a conversation while I was out fishing near Sitka. We got to talking, and somewhere along the way I started telling them about sewing fur. If you’ve ever gotten me going about fishing or fur sewing, you know I can talk about either one for a while. That day I got to talk about both.
I told them how much I enjoy sitting down at my sewing machine and turning pieces of sea otter fur into something somebody can use for years. I talked about what it means to me to do that work here in Sitka, where I’m from. I’m Tlingit, and working with fur is one way I carry forward what was handed down to me. It’s also something I just plain love to do. I can spend a whole afternoon matching fur on the cutting table and still want to see how the next piece is going to look.
What they told me later
When they got back in touch, they told me that hearing me talk about what I do had made them feel good. That stayed with me. I’d been talking about a part of my life I love, and they’d gone home still thinking about it. It warmed my heart that they could hear in my voice how much the work means to me and that they took the time to tell me so.
Then they asked me to make two large sea otter fur blankets and two baby blankets. I was pretty tickled. Four blankets is a big order for my little shop, and when I thought about the work ahead of me, I could picture the person who’d asked me to do it. I could remember our conversation out there on the water. That made the whole thing feel personal from the start.
How I make the blankets
A big blanket starts with me spreading the fur across my cutting table. I look at the color, run my hand over it and turn the pieces to see how the light catches them. Two pieces can look like a good match until I put them side by side and see the fur running in different directions. I move them around until I’m happy with how they fit together. I can spend a good while doing that before I make a single cut.
Then I cut and sew the pieces together one seam at a time. I turn the fur over as I go, free any hairs caught in the stitching and run my hand across the seam. I want it to feel as good as it looks. Once the fur is together, I fit the backing and finish the edges. My favorite part is spreading the whole thing out and seeing how all those little decisions at the cutting table came together.
I give the two baby blankets that same attention. When I think about those little ones, I picture somebody holding a baby with one of the blankets across their lap. Years from now they might take it out and remember just how small that child was. I like thinking that something I made here in Sitka could be part of a memory like that.
A thank-you to the person who made this happen
I hope you recognize yourself in this story. You told me I made you feel good about what I do. Well, you did the same for me. You listened to me talk about a part of my life I care deeply about, and you made a point of telling me it meant something to you. I’ll remember that as long as I remember the order.
Thank you for asking me to make all four of these blankets. I hope they get used and loved for a long time. And when you run your hand across one of them, I hope it takes you back to that conversation on the water. I know making them will take me right back there.
If you’d like to see the kinds of blankets I make here in Sitka, you can take a look at my handmade sea otter fur blankets and sea otter fur baby blankets.
