My Grandma's fur was made into teddy bears for the grandchildren! My sis found a lady at a craft show who did them. She used the beautiful lining for the paws and feet.

I LOVE that idea of the teddies! I have a fur coat also and now live in a warm climate and either way, I wouldn't dare wear it in public. However, even in places like Arizona, you get some chilly nights no? I've been thinking of having a "throw" made out of my full length coat. The coat by itself probably won't be enough to make a big throw but I think you could add a border of some beautiful and good quality velvet, some bullion fringe and it could be lovely. Use the same velvet for the bottom or some good quality faux lamb maybe. Very decadent.

Yeah, my friend in Scottsdale says it gets very cold in the winter. I have a cape with fur collr and cuffs and have no qualms about wearing it. Too bad if other people don't approve of fur, I do.

But that's not what you asked, is it. If you're not going to use it, then having throw pillows or (yum) a throw made from it sounds like a wonderful idea. I'd go for it. What a fun thing to cuddle up in on a chilly night.

My grandmother used to make teddy bears out of them as well. She taught me to do the same. The only trick is in the cutting of the fur (you want to cut the hide, not the fur, so it has to be done carefully with small scissors) but otherwise it's easy hand sewing. I used to make bunnies as well. The lining is great for their ears :)

But personally...I'd wear it :oP

I was just at a craft show and I saw the most beautiful christmas stockings made with brocade satin and then they had black fur cuffs.. They were just gorgeous....

OOOOOOOOh I love the idea of Xmas stockings.

Rabbit_house, what a wonderful idea! Thank you so very much for posting that! It makes me sad to think that people want to drape themselves in that which belongs on an animal's back, but that's the very best use of an old fur that I could possibly imagine.

auntjen,

I can't tell you how many people I know that have inherited old fur coats from their mothers or Aunt Betty and haven't the slightest idea what do with them! They wouldn't dream of wearing them, and storing them takes up so much space. I just think this program is amazing.

I do have a different fur coat that I will wear if only out on the patio in January or February at night. Phoenix or Scottsdale cold is not even close to real Midwest cold. A full length blue fox coat is really too hot for temps above freezing. When it's been 10 or 20 below zero in IL or WI, I was never cold in my fur. I wore them a lot when I had a safe place to hang them once inside. If there is not a secure place I would not wear a fur coat for fear of someone stealing it.
The one I want to make into a throw is also blue fox which is really white with gray tips. Very long fur. Maybe I can take off the sleeves and use them to make cylinder pillows. Then use the rest of the coat as the throw. This coat was a great one - below the hip it zipped off to make a fur jacket. It was done so well you would not know where the zipper was. I bought it for myself when I was 20 years old from Blums Vogue Chicago.

Thanks everyone.

Oh that one would make one gorgeous throw. I love the idea of the cylinder pillows too. I grew up in Phx and do recall women wearing mink coats- I thought they were lovely and thought my Mom should go out and buy one- not realizing the cost! I think she always wanted one.
My stepmom had her old black mink made into teddy bears and they are beautiful.( she also had one made out of a fake fur and gave that one to my DD.

I respect everyones right to their position regarding the fur issue and do not wish to debate, that said, those beautiful pelts, in my humble opinion, diserve respect, so I enjoy my gifts of old furs daily in my home. When it's cold, there is nothing cosyier than snugling in bed under fur. I respectfully admire and appreciate their warmth and beauty. I am grateful to have been given the fabulous old fur to protect from sprayers of paint. I love animals, and I respect pelts already taken. They do make fabulous heirloom teddy bears and other type pets, doll clothes, pillows, bed spreads, artwork, trim, chair covers, warm back rests, steeringwheel covers, seatbelt covers, tote bags, hand muffs, etc. only limited by imagination...

oh rabbit house, that is the saddest and most appropriate re-purposing (literally) I've ever seen...reminds me of a horrendous "experiment" I saw once where baby rhesus monkeys, ripped away from their mommies, were found to prefer a soft warm structure to cuddle on to actual food. What a fascinating finding, they opined. I've never forgotten it, and it's been *decades*. How a researcher could do something like that to a baby anything is so beyond me...

I have a fur stole my mother left me and I'm going to give it to these folks.

You can also donate your old furs to various animal rights organizations which then give them to homeless people and also send them overseas to refugees in war zones like Afghanistan and Bosnia, where people are literally freezing to death in tent camps. I sent my late MIL's mink coat (which was a size 4 even if I did wear mink, which I don't as I only wear the skins of food animals; I think it's wrong not to use everything but the oink/moo/squawk) to someone I know who was serving in Iraq and asked him to give it to someone who looked like she needed it - contrary to popular belief it gets very cold there in the winter. He said he gave it to a woman to use as a blanket for her children, who were still living in their half-bombed-out house because they had nowhere else to go. So very sad.

How funny...on Thanksgiving my father decided to have my sister and I sort through more of my mother's things (she passed 8 years ago) and we came across the persian lamb coat I wanted (need to get some repairs made) and a mink bolero jacket that must have been my grandmother's or aunts. It's short with 3/4 length sleeves and a high Queen Anne collar. So 60s. Definitely not wearable unless I will be in a JFK era movie. I thought I'd have it made into cuffs or coat collars for my sister and I. Does anyone know about the wearable things that can be made from older fur?

flyleft,

That's terrific! I know the critters will thank you. And johnmari, I've not heard about programs to distribute coats, that sounds great as well.

I have often considered covering a footstool with an old coat. Love the stockings idea!

I use mine for a christmas tree skirt.

johnmari, that's unfortunately great to know about too. I have a persian lamb coat (I bought it vintage, for myself, have to admit it) that wouldn't really be a mommy-fur for the average orphaned wild animal...maybe I'll send it to one of those organizations...looks like HSUS does the orphaned wildlife thing -- do you happen to know what organization(s) send the coats overseas? I'll be trying to look it up...

flyleft - while I disagree with a great deal of their positions and activities, PETA is probably the best-known organization sending fur coats to refugees. PETA's overseas donations Donations are tax deductible.

If you prefer to keep your emphasis local, there are many other, smaller organizations (especially churches) running coat drives that will take any coat, too, and virtually any homeless shelter will take whatever they can get for warm clothing.

Sue I inherited a lovely mink swing coat with the same problems as your coat. If the pelts are strong, so the fur is basically good (you can tell by brushing your hand over it to se eif there are any hard spots) it's easy for a furrier to remake it. My swing coat was cut down to deemphasise the swing, and the sleeves, which had fur inside of them as well because of their huge openings, were unfolded, steamed and then cuffs were made of the extra fur from the body and the sleves are now nice puffy sleeves on a fitted coat. You'd never now it was a Jackie O era coat :)

Igloochic,
The blond mink bolero is really too small to make into another wearable clothing item unless I was looking for a fur halter. ;) It's really short, it doesn't even reach my waist. And it's relatively fitted, not a lot of body width to it. I could probably get a few fur collars (the type where one end tucks through and you wear it over the coat) out of it. My sister mentioned maybe a hat.

thanks, johnmari. I'll see if HSUS can take them both; if not, I'll follow those leads.

when the heat broke last winter ,the house was in the thirties inside and zero outside , i was so cold but i desided to crawl under a full length mink and a fox in bed and i was naked and it felt like summer under the covers. my bed is now covered in fur collars,coats scraps,stoles, and will never be removed .

i have old fox fur stoles about 20 of them and there so soft that i clip 8 or 9 together strip my clothes off and put them over me for hours and now im thinking i should of been a girl that way i dont feel so sqemish, or good gosh i love the feel and do it daily.

that link should be http://coatsforcubs.com/.

I am in the process of making teddy bears from a Persian Lamb coat that my cousin inherited, but does not wear. When I'd disassmbled the coat, I saw that the fur was made up of small pieces serged together. This seemed odd compared to mink and other skins sewn together in parallel stripes. I looked up the source for Persian Lamb, and found that the distinctive curly texture is characteristic of fetal or newborn lambs. The harvesting of these tiny skins is a horror story. I'm glad my winter coat is, and always has been, wool.