The Last Dance Ranch

It was such a pleasure host these artisans from the costume design crew of Little House on the Prairie for an intensive 2 day sheepskin tanning course. I think we all felt a little wilted from the heat, but they were troopers!
That’s it for sheepskin classes for the summer. You’ll find me next weekend at the cultural pavilion Íslendingadagurinn, stop in Sunday and Monday to say hello.

Hide softening at +48C with the humidex…
I frame softened this hide last fall, but I thought it could be softer. Smoking 1 side allows you to “save” the softness that you’ve already created, but you can soak it again and soften it more. I’ll smoke it after it’s completely dry. Thanks to for the staker, hide tanning pals have literally got your back.

The naturally tanned sheepskin rug class wrapped up yesterday, I’d say we made beautiful use of hides from , and , 3 Manitoba farm friends that share my passion for reducing agricultural waste to make beautiful things. Thank you for the use of the site, it literally saved our hides in this week’s unpredictable weather.

The rain didn’t stop us from enjoying session 2 of hide tanning
In fact I think everyone cared even less about getting soaked completely. New “techniques” were developed. These two - teamwork makes the dream work, look at them go 😁

Sheepskin class at the farm is a wrap, what fun we had! All work approved by Marigold, of course. Next up, sheepskin tanning at St. Norbert Market beginning Sunday.

Prepping 9 hides for the first bark tanned sheepskin rug workshop at the farm on Sunday. Looking forward to meeting a new group of hide tanners!
Did you know over 5,000 sheep hides are discarded every year in Manitoba? We can change that waste hide by hide as we learn new skills.
Both workshops are sold out, send me a dm if you are interested and missed out, there may be time to add another.

✨ Is it magic, or just a really good shearer? The sheep are happier, and I’m relieved that event is out of the way for 2026. Thanks , you’re the best ✨