Theresa using an adapted draw knife to degrain the hide
Theresa using an adapted draw knife to degrain the hide
a large range of hand made fat tanned leather work on display
Finished hides and happy participants
Close up of stretching hides over posts
Stretching hides over posts in the sun
Building a hide smoker
Theresa using an adapted draw knife to degrain the hide
Theresa using an adapted draw knife to degrain the hide
a display of a range of hand made hand stitched leather items including trousers, shirts and tops

Deer Skin Tanning with Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper

Price range: £70.00 through £350.00

Join Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper to learn the ancient skill of Brain Tanning Deer Skin over 3 information-packed days using natural, non-toxic, and easily available materials.

Before the advent of modern tanning agents, humans turned raw skin into usable leather products with very basic techniques and materials. Learn to produce incredibly soft, strong, and durable leather from raw animal skin using one of humankind’s earliest tanning technologies! Utilizing materials readily available in the surrounding environment, we will walk through the steps of this transformation. Come learn the progression of this process from raw skin to beautiful, usable, finished leather! 

Dates: Friday 30th July – Sunday 1st August 2027

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Working with the world renowned leather crafter Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper, this course will cover all you need to know to learn the ancient skill of Tanning Deer Skin over 3 information-packed days using natural, non-toxic, and easily available materials!

Before the advent of modern tanning agents, humans turned raw skin into usable leather products with very basic techniques and materials. Learn to produce incredibly soft, strong, and durable leather from raw animal skin using one of humankind’s earliest tanning technologies! Utilizing materials readily available in the surrounding environment, we will walk through the steps of this transformation. Come learn the progression of this process from raw skin to beautiful, usable, finished leather! 

Dates: Friday 30th July – Sunday 1st August 2027

Timings: 10 am – ± 5.00pm

Location: South London Woods – CR3.

Cost: £350 – Deposit: £70 (Non refundable) Full Payment due 10 weeks before course starts.

Course Numbers: Maximum of 12.

N.B. This course needs a minimum of 6 people to run. We will inform participants by the end of May 2027 if we have not reached these numbers & a full refund, including deposits will be given.

Included:
Three days of expert tuition from Dr Theresa Emmerich Kamper
All course materials 
Optional camping (tent, tarp or hammock) in our private woodland.
Hosting by Lizzy Maskey of Pippin & Gile.

Not Included:
Off-site Accommodation
Food

Buying for someone else? We can send out a gift certificate for this course. Because this course is so unique the voucher will be for a specific course and therefore come with the same refund terms as the course. As for a gift voucher you’ll receive a PDF voucher by email to print at home or forward to the lucky recipient — a simple, sustainable way to give the gift of skill and connection. Or you can upgrade to our gift pack, including a card, a bookmark and a voucher for a more tactile gifting experience.

More about the course:

Before the advent of modern tanning agents, humans turned raw skin into usable leather products with very basic techniques and materials. Learn to produce incredibly soft, strong, and durable leather from raw animal skin using one of humankind’s earliest tanning technologies! Utilizing materials readily available in the surrounding environment, we will walk through the steps of this transformation. Come learn the progression of this process from raw skin to beautiful, usable, finished leather! 

 

This class will focus on tanning Deer Skin with a variation of fat tanning using lecithin as the dressing agent. Whilst not for the squeamish, the end product is well worth the work! The class will cover desalinating preserved skins, de-fleshing, de-hairing, de-graining, and softening the skins, as well as smoking them so they can be easily washed.

In addition to enthusiastic instruction, Theresa provides comfortable, easy-to-use tools and detailed handouts covering the whole tanning process, as well as ethnographic anecdotes and a list of helpful literature for those who wish to further their knowledge of tanning! So, please join us for a course sure to contain plenty of memorable moments, lots of practical information, and, if you put in the work**, one that will see you heading home with a beautiful, unique, and usable traditionally tanned skin!

* Using brains or egg yolks as alternative dressing agents will be covered.

** Please be aware that a reasonable amount of fitness is required for this course. I will provide instruction on proper technique and timing with the skins, but you will need to be on your feet and active for 6 to 8 hours per day. 

Any serious injuries must be discussed with before booking the course.

About Theresa Emmerich Kammper

I’m excited to be running this course – a bit about me:

 

I’m an avid practitioner of traditional living skills and various forms of primitive technology. My interest stemmed in part from growing up in the Rocky Mountains of the USA, where backpacking, hunting, and fishing are deeply ingrained in the culture. This passion led me to the academic field of Experimental Archaeology, where I earned a PhD from the University of Exeter in the UK.

My work has been featured in both documentaries and popular TV shows, including Alone Season 8 and Surviving the Stone Age. I’ve been tanning skins using traditional methods for over 30 years. Learning to tan was a natural offshoot of my desire to use as much of an animal as possible, and it had the added bonus of producing a beautiful end product.

In my instruction, I share a wide range of information—from the intricate details of skin morphology to helpful tips for dealing with the numerous and frustrating problems often encountered when first learning to tan.

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