The Art of Repairing Antlers

I just finished a set of figures and the last thing I do is check for any odd holes or tears in the garments or figures themselves.  Sometimes the tiny rips occur when I'm making the parts and sometimes I'll be careless with scissors.  Everyone was damage free, except for the Rocky Mountain Elk shown here.  Elk have very large antlers and I make mine using the same materials and process as for fingers (see my YouTube video, or previous post).  The difference is that an elk antler is a five inch long, 1/4 inch diameter finger - very difficult to turn right side out.  I nearly always blow out a seam, and this guy's antlers were typical.

Unlike fingers, I don't wire the antlers, again very difficult to do.  They are stuffed very tightly with fiberfill, which surprisingly allows them to be flexible and hold their shape.  The downside is that any holes are stretched open and fiberfill puffs out.  There is no clean way to sew the holes shut.  Instead of trying to be neat, I sew the seams with a strong overhand stitch which would be visible if left alone.



Years ago, I was watching New Yankee Workshop with Norm Abrams and he described something that has stuck with me for years.  He was constructing a piece of furniture that required many boards be joined 'just so.'  Instead of trying to be perfect and hide the joins, he said, "Celebrate the joint" and called attention to the joins by carving grooves along them.  They became a design feature.  So, instead of worrying about tiny repairs, I "celebrate the seam!"  In this case, I add beads on top.

I attached some 11/0 seed beads in a ivory color similar to the fabric used in the antlers.  The additional stitching helps to strengthen the area around the rips and adds interesting texture.  There were 5 tiny rips, so now the antlers have 5 clusters of beads on them - two in front, three in back. In these photos the beads stand out, but the rest of the figure has a lot going on visually, and the eye is not drawn to them right away. 

Thankfully, I don't make antlers very often, so I don't have to use this technique very much.  Mule deer have much shorter antlers and they rarely blow out when turned.  I make Desert Bighorn sheep horns using the finger technique, but they are so wide at the base there are never problems.  Could you use this repair technique for cloth fingers?  Sure, but I never do.  I prefer to have clean hands, so I always make extras in case something bad happens.

See you next week!