I keep forgetting to post pictures of some of our recent leather projects. These are for our own use (and good practice for the intention of later selling some things).
DH wanted to make some hair-on spur straps. We lined these with pig skin. We actually managed the stitching with my regular machine, but it isn't as nice looking as I would like. In the future, we need to get a stitching pony and sew things like this by hand properly. They might be a little on the thin side, but the pig skin inside gives them strength. He bought the buckles in the US on eBay specifically for this project.
For myself, I did some drawing, using some Tandy patterns to start but making a lot of changes. My goal was a floral strap with our brand/logo in the middle. They ended up pretty nice, in my opinion, although they are far from perfect. I have learned the following lessons while making these spur straps:
Do not expect leather designs made while the drawer has a concussion to work out right. I had mirrored the ENTIRE strap when I made the pair, including ending up with a backwards logo. I had to redraw and redo that strap.- There is a reason most leather designs leave a plain border around the outside (not carving all the way to the edges). Things get a little messy when you try to work all the way out and it is much harder to burnish the edges properly. Would be fine if I had laced the edges, but laced edges and buckles don't always go well together.
- Use heavier leather for spur straps. These are nice, but a little thin. We had to add a second layer under the tips to use the metal ends that came with the buckles.
- This project is also when I have finally gotten a better feel for how dry the leather needs to have been allowed to get before tooling.
Next we made a simple set of slobber straps. Once again, we should have used heavier leather, but this is what we had on hand and DH wanted to ride with a hair mecate instead of regular reins on the bit of his mare. Next time I make some of these, I am going to make a style that is easier to remove from the bit or switch the bit it is on without taking the mecate out. Getting the mecate through the holes isn't easy and I worry that it will increase the wear or potentially break the hairs on the mecate. Horse hair mecates are NOT cheap.
These are without any fancy tooling. The mark you can see is our new larger makers mark for leather projects. It says "4 BARS RR DENMARK" with our logo in the middle.
It did go very well riding with them, but DH found the horse hair a little annoying at this time of year. The weather is warm enough for riding without gloves, which he prefers, but the prickly hairs are uncomfortable with bare hands. As far as I can learn from reading, the prickliness is part of the advantage of riding with a horsehair mecate. The hairs will "tickle" the horse's neck, making it easier to train neck reining. I've been riding Ria in the bosal when I can for the same reason--there is a horsehair mecate on the bosal. We're not feeling quite ready to try a bosal on Quintas.
The final project is also something started when I had the concussion. I originally intended this business card case to be closed with a magnetic snap, but the snap can't fit! I didn't realize it until after I cut it out. So that got put aside for a while until I realized that a leather button would be an excellent way to close it. So I set to work learning to tie an appropriate knot. So with that worked out, I finished the whole thing. I think it came out really nice.
It is made for hanging on a belt. I think that will make it comfortable to have with, easy to access, and at the same time keep the cards from getting messed up very easily.
The edging on this one is a mexican round or basketweave lacing. It's the first time I've used that lacing style on a project and I like it!
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