Happy Monday,,, oh wait,,, Monday’s are not happy days, are they, hehe. Well do the best you can, your not alone. Today I wanted to talk about leather fringe. Just what is leather fringe made of? how is leather fringe made? What animal is leather fringe made from? How is leather fringe attached to leather jackets? Well let old Bill here tell you all about it!
Leather fringe is very popular with western leather jackets and coats. They also are found on leather fringe chaps, leather fringe vest, leather fringe halter tops and even leather bikini outfits. Leather fringe is purely for looks and decoration, nothing more. They serve no practical function at all, unless you want to argue that catching the eye of a hot cowgirl at the local western bar is practical!
Some people love them, others hate them. Most agree that leather fringe is pretty and adds a nice touch to a leather jacket. They do require a little more care and upkeep. If your the type that just wants to throw on a leather jacket and hit the road, going out in all kinds of weather and maybe pushing your jacket to the limit, then leather fringe is not for you. But for others they can make them feel better.
Now this picture is a roll of leather fringe. Leather fringe is not put on one strand at a time. What they do is measure a piece of split leather and cut it into a rectangle. Then they feed it into a machine that cuts one long side into thin strips, leaving the other side uncut so you have a long leather strip with fringes hanging down.
They then cut this to the right length, and sew it into the leather jacket or whatever it is going on. On leather jackets they often sew a leather braid strip on the top, so you have a beautiful leather braid pattern with leather fringe coming out the side of it. If not the leather fabric is overlapped over the leather fringe strip and sewn over it, so you have three leather layers where the leather braid is.
This is a popular woman’s brown leather suede fringe vest. Which brings us to the question, just what is leather fringe made from, what animal and what type of hide? Well leather fringe can be made from any animal that they use for any other leather product. Cowhide, pigskin, buffalo, goat, sheep and lamb are all used to make leather fringes.
Some places buy the leather fringe in big rolls from a wholesale company, so sometimes they don’t even know what animal it came from. Since it is just for looks it does not matter much what strength it is. But it must be quality treated to stay soft and not dry out and crack. Most all leather fringe is made from split leather, not the top grain.
Leather suede fringe is popular, as it’s very soft with that fuzzy side to it, or both sides can be fuzzy. Leather fringe can be dyed and colored any color you want, adding a nice splash of color to a black leather jacket. Leather fringe can be very long or very short, it all depends on what it’s going on and how long you want it.
As for how to care for a fringe leather jacket, you should always hang it up, don’t lay it down or just throw it in a pile. By hanging it up you let the fringes hang down straight and keep their shape. Treat the fringes just like you do the leather jacket, with regards to cleaning, treating and conditioning. Click here to find out about that.
Keep the fringe leather jacket away from heat, as if it dries out it will curl and be a mess. Think of leather fringe as your hair, you don’t want the frizzes or bedhead! So if you like the looks of fringe, then by all means get whatever type of leather apparel you want with leather fringe attached. Normally they cost a bit more than a plain leather jacket or apparel.
As long as it’s a quality name brand, the leather fringe should be quality and attached right. Take good care of it, keep it clean and dry, hang it up when not in use, put conditioner in the fringe when you do the same to the leather itself, and it will last for a long time.