Persian Lamb Repair

[FDFoodFairy]

Hi all,

newbie here. And glad to find this site. I was given a Persian Lamb coat w/mink trim. It needs repair on the left back shoulder (torn hole) & a long tear on the right shoulder (I put quarters for size reference, & the tear spans the length between the two quarters, around 14 inches. Someone tried to “repair” it at some point, obviously poorly.

otherwise, the coat is in great condition.

I’m assuming it would cost me a lot to get it repaired (any ballpark guesses?). But I am handy with sewing & thought I could see in some seam binding or something to the skin to help strengthen & run some invisible stitches to close the tears.

Would that sound like a plan or should I just bite the bullet & take it to a furrier repair? (Chicagoland area….gonna be pricey).

thanks in advance any help

FD

 

[bycinbyhand]

Gosh... that looks pretty extensive a repair. Someone skilled - a furrier - will need to get in there and patch with a mesh patch behind the tear. Mesh so there's some 'play' to the patch. That fur is probably fairly dry and it could, if not handled well, just rip more.

I had a sheared lamb restored about 10 years ago. Excellent furrier here in NM and they charged me just under $125 for what I thought was a small repair. It was but they needed to do what I described above, taking apart part of the lining to get to it, etc. You'd now have to go under the lining to see it as it's very clean atop. I was really pleased with their work and because the coat was mine to love and wear, I did it.

Maybe consult with your preferred furrier for a quote and then decide?

 

[MagsRags]

I agree with Cin - vintage furs can be heartbreakers. In the olden days, special storage for furs during the offseason was a thing. Without that kind of storage, the underlying pelts tend to dry out over the years, and once they get brittle, the original seaming starts to tear, and any repairs one tries to make also tear through the skin. I've been there, in the days when I lived through Chicago winters.

 

[Jonathan]

Persian lamb is also one of the worst, perhaps rabbit is the only one that is worse than Persian lamb. The skin is so fragile that once it dries out - it's done. You can tempoorarily fix it by taping it on the back of the skin with gorilla tape (duct tape),,, but that is just to give you a few more wearings. If it was an historically important fur, you could glue vellum (sheepskin condom) to the back, but that's a museum conservation solution that would stabilize it for exhibition, but not wear.