Glossary
A small trade dictionary
Techniques
Tipar, clin, cutting
Tools
The knife and the furrier's machine
Fur
15 terms- Astrakhan (Karakul)
- Karakul lamb fur with tight, glossy curls, light and flat.
- Bundiță
- A sleeveless waistcoat with a leather ground and fur-bordered edges, usually embroidered down the fronts and along the hem. Worn over a shirt or a jumper.
- Căciulă
- A fur or cloth cap, lower than the cușmă. The band holds the shape and the crown settles over it, while the lining often comes out of the pieces left over from cutting.
- Chelituri (bald patches)
- The bald or thinned places on a hide, and the areas that were not salted in time, where the fur later falls out. They are looked for before cutting, along with cracks; what fails that check does not go into the cut.
- Cojoc (sheepskin coat)
- A coat in tanned sheep or lamb skin with the fleece kept on. It is worn both fleece in and fleece out, depending on the design.
- Cușmă
- The tall Romanian fur cap, cut from three clini with the hair running upward on every one. It is worn in several ways, among them pointed, as in the images of the Romanian soldier of the First World War.
- Fox
- A long, fluffy fur, very warm, often used for collars and trims.
- Guard hair
- The long, glossy hairs covering the underfur that give the fur its sheen.
- Mink
- A dense, glossy, lightweight fur with fine underfur and short, silky guard hair.
- Pieptar
- A man's sleeveless waistcoat, leather outside and fur inside, worn over a shirt.
- Sable
- The fur of the Siberian marten, fine and velvety, among the most prized.
- Shepherd's cloak (sarică)
- A shepherd's sheepskin cloak with the long wool left facing out.
- Underfur
- The fine, dense layer of short fibres at the base of the fur that holds warmth.
- Vânat (game furs)
- The workshop's term for thin-hide furs such as fox, hare and mink. They are sewn on a different machine from thick materials, precisely because the hide is so thin.
- Yearling lambskin
- Lambskin from weaning to about a year old, with the hair already grown, longer and straighter than the astrakhan curl.
Leather
13 terms- Aniline
- Leather dyed only with transparent dyes, leaving the natural grain visible.
- Bend (crupon)
- The back section of the hide, the firmest and most uniform, favoured for durable pieces.
- Box-calf
- Chrome-tanned calf leather, smooth and glossy, used for fine footwear.
- Chimir
- A wide leather belt worn tight at the waist, with pockets on the inside. It is one of the things people asked for at events, and one of the challenges the workshop's leatherwork grew out of.
- Chrome tanning
- Tanning with chromium salts; the leather stays soft, supple and more water-resistant than vegetable-tanned leather.
- Full-grain
- Leather with the top grain layer intact and unsanded, the strongest and most durable.
- Grain
- The natural outer layer of the hide, with its characteristic pore pattern.
- Nappa
- Soft, fine, smooth-surfaced leather made from full lamb or calf hides.
- Patina
- The sheen and shading leather develops naturally through use and ageing.
- Suede
- Leather buffed on the underside to a soft, matte, velvety surface.
- Tanning
- The process that stops raw hide from rotting and turns it into durable, supple leather; in workshop speech, a synonym for tăbăcire.
- Top-grain
- Leather with the grain lightly sanded to even the surface and hide blemishes.
- Vegetable tanning
- Tanning with tannins from tree bark; the leather develops a patina over time.
Techniques
13 terms- Calapod (the block)
- The wooden block a cap is pulled onto once the stiffening canvas is in, so it takes its exact roundness and size; it is brushed again afterwards. Used for caps and hats; garments are not built on a block but on a pattern and to measurements.
- Căptușeală (lining)
- The underside of the piece. It is cut slightly smaller than the face, and the fur is tucked inside the seam; left sticking out, the seam looks bad. On caps, the lining often comes from the pieces left over after cutting.
- Clin (gore)
- One cut section of a piece made up from several. A cușmă is made from three clini, with the hair running upward on each; the clini are laid side by side and checked against each other before they are sewn.
- Glazing
- A workshop operation: the hair is lightly dampened, then passed under heat and pressure so the guard hair realigns and the fur regains its sheen. It is not a coating applied over the fur.
- Hidden stitch
- A seam worked on the inside so the thread is invisible on the face.
- Înădit (piecing)
- Joining on an added piece so the cut comes out. It is avoided, because the added piece no longer matches in curl, in hair or in shade, and the person buying it looks closely. In the old days, when material was scarce, it was accepted.
- Pânză tare (stiffening canvas)
- The stiffening canvas that goes into a cap before it is pulled onto the calapod. It is what gives the piece its stance: without it, the cap does not hold its shape.
- Recutting
- Cutting and reassembling a piece into a different size or design.
- Redyeing
- Refreshing or changing the colour of faded fur or leather.
- Relining
- Replacing the worn inner lining with a new one.
- Restyling
- Updating the cut of an old piece while keeping the original material.
- Tipar (pattern)
- The pattern you mark out and cut from. The rule given to beginners is to mark out from the pattern and to the measurement first, and only then to cut.
- Turning the fur
- Remaking a piece with the fur moved to the outer side.
Services
7 terms- Assessment / quote
- Examining the piece in the workshop and estimating the work before starting.
- Bespoke (made to order)
- A piece built from scratch to the client's measurements and wishes.
- Blănărie (furriery)
- The trade of working fur: choosing the hides, cutting with a knife and never with scissors, sewing on the furrier's machine and finishing. One of the workshop's qualifications.
- Cojocărie (sheepskin work)
- The trade of the cojoc: sheep or lamb skin made up into coats worn with the fleece on one face. It is the trade everything started from; the maistru entered it in 1986.
- Cold storage
- Keeping furs over summer in a cold, humidity-controlled, moth-free environment. It is a trade term: our workshop has no cold chamber and does not offer this service.
- Maintenance
- Cleaning, conditioning and small repairs that extend a piece's life.
- Marochinărie (leather goods)
- The making of small leather objects: belts, chimire, bags, cases. It asks for a different hand than a garment, with finished edges, close stitching and leather that holds its shape.
The words, as objects
