Saddle Pads

early attempt, back in the hot-glue-and-say-prayers days of tackmaking

Anyone who has ever asked me will tell you...I hate making saddle pads. Hate is a strong word, but it is an accurate one. I do okay with cross-stitch.

this little darling is for sale, any offers?

  ...but I don't have the best relationship with my sewing machine....

It took ALL MY PATIENCE to make these two silly things

I didn't make the saddle, just the derp bridle and pad

   So imagine my delight when I find a seller who makes LOVELY, ASTOUNDING saddle pads in brilliant colors and patterns, that I can actually justify afford.

CANDY.

Of course my new etchie, Spider, had to have a spiderweb pad!

The web is metallic threads...SO HANDSOME

The first pad I bought from them, looks SUPER CUTE with my favorite Western

Had to try the cutback even though Thor doesn't need it...LOVE.

She uses this awesome fleece that feels super realistic, and thoroughly stitches them.

      So go check out merryjeansdreams on ebay! The pads are a great price and super nice (and I am a notoriously picky person). I know that I will be back for more, so go buy yours before I get there first! She has a ton of Halloween stuff up right now, and lots of other great patterns, as well as some very pretty models, too!

My current collection of merryjeansdreams pads...

Old and New...ish.

I had the opportunity this past week to visit a local museum. There were saddles in the basement! There wasn't much lighting, and the only camera I had was my cellphone, but I tried to get what reference photos I could. This saddle was small, but it had a really deep seat. The stirrups were missing. It didn't have any info on it, but it did have a rifle case.

There was also a tree...

And several sidesaddles from the 1800s!

 

I may go back sometime and take my real camera.

The other thing that I did is visit an antique store. There was some tack there, too. Mostly stuff that was beyond hope of repair. I found a white mechanical hackamore that looked pretty gnarly, and a presentation halter with silver. But what I took home was a humble-looking dirty leather halter.

 Which turned into a nice, clean, fairly decent and barely-used-looking leather halter!

Overall, it was a pretty good day!

Bosal Progress

    The colorful bosals are nearing completion.

    I just need to add reins, browbands, and possibly decorations. I will probably keep most of them, since my first set accidentally turned out in mostly Classic scale and I need Traditional-sized tack. There may be a few for sale later, though. I really, really need to go through my tack pile!
   
    I have decided to sell a few of my cross-stitch pads. They are lined in soft fabric. They're a little thick, but I've curved them so that they fit better under saddles. I can't vouch for live show-ability as I don't show (and I'm just learning to make these), but I definitely think they photograph well. The saddle isn't finished yet, and is not for sale.

#1: $30

#2: $25

#3: $35

                   If you're interested in any of these pads, or in commissioning me for one in your dream color, just message me here or at my Facebook page.

Embroidered Saddle Pads

They're a ton of work, but I really like the end result! I tried out a new stitch and it looks a lot more like a woven blanket-style pad than just straight up cross-stitch.

I tried it again in blue, for a Classic-sized pad.

So cute! If only they didn't take me so long to make!

Colorful Bosals

I really had intended to get more stuff done this week, but we had a snowstorm and I got slightly distracted playing outside. Also shuffling through snow up and down the hill every day for chores is kinda time consuming and exhausting! But I did enough things to completely cover my desk in various projects...

So much going on here. Most of it has nothing to do with tack...

But I finally settled down and decided to make a few of the colorful bosals that were so much fun a few months ago. I had sort of forgotten the best way to tie them, so they didn't turn out as nice...but at least I made them Traditional scale this time! I got five of them started.

I know that most real-life bosals aren't so brightly colored, but I did see some for sale somewhere that were, and it stuck with me. I suppose I'd need to find a reference if I were to live show them, but I don't intend to do so. I just think they're fun!

Ranger Saddles

Two posts in one day! How exciting!
Today I finally made myself sit down and start working on actual tack. My cosplay blog has been getting all the love lately as I'm trying to get a few projects ready for a convention in March...but tack must also be made!

As it happens, I have had five Ranger saddles (aka Scrap Leather Saddles) in my project box for quite a while. They were pretty close to finished...

 

But still required a lot of time-consuming gluing

 

Aside from cinches, I got the two black ones finished. 

I'm using a different saddle horn than I used to, but it's a bit faster and tidier than the method I had before. I've started to simply make a small hole in a strip of leather, and use a black bead as the horn, pushing one end through the hole. It looks odd but it's effective, and cuts down the time and frustration.

These saddles will be for sale as soon as they are completed.