JC Javelle

Aww don't make me blush because I love my hubby . I went to Tandy's this morning and one of the lovely ladies suggested using kydex, which would be useful as the main body of the rest. I wasn't sure how to mold the kydex since it would have to be heated, but I really like the silicone idea, that would make an easy mold to start with! Thank you Doug! Jessica

If you are sewing through more than one layer, you might consider using multiple strands and sewing the wire in short intervals. I asked my husband, whom is a machinist and welder, what he thought wouldn't kink, and he suggested MIG welding wire (strongest, anti-kinking wire he can think of, supposed to be pretty too). I am trying to look up sizes, but most manufacturers have from .045" to .023". I am trying to see if I can find it any smaller than .023" which is about a 23 gauge. But so far I am having no luck. Jessica Additional note: Aluminum wire is likely to soft and will break, so hands up between low allow steel and carbon steel wire. Stainless steel is also available but is much less flexible than carbon steel. One day next week I will ask for a short piece from my husband when his shop is open so I can play with it and see if it may be a good idea or not. Jessica

How do you shape leather that is several layers thick? Lots of seamless skiving? My husbands new competition rifle has a cheek rest, but for him it is not tall enough to put him comfortably "eye level" with the scope. I am going to try making one out of leather. A solid, layered block would be simple enough, but my husband asked if it could be molded to his face, so he has a specific niche that he can push into every time he shoots; one that doesn't require any adjustment, insuring a level of repeat accuracy that doesn't come with using a smooth flat piece and plenty of room for adjustment. My question would be, how do I do it? My first idea was to mold the first layer to his cheek, and then skive the next few layers to fill in the gaps between the top layer and the flat lower layers. Or do I play hit and miss, keep skiving and adding layers until it is comfortable to him, and then lay over a top cover piece? Let me know if I am going in the right direction, or redirect me if you have better approaches. Picture of the rifle in question below; the black block on the rear of the stock is the cheek rest that came with the rifle when he bought it. Thank you for any and all relative and useful input. Jessica

A shoulder holster with the magazines as a counter weight? I thought about doing a carry kit like this until my firearms instructor spooked me out of carrying under my arm with a cross over like that. Look forward to seeing your finished project though. The lower end of the straps look like they could be made adjustable with some tweaking, which is neat.

I have seen some thiiiiiinnnn wire. And I mean thin as hair. I've considered using it as accent stitching before. I think I have seen it done but I honestly cannot remember where, or if it is just my imagination.

Does anyone have a design, template, or source for a backpack and/or purse holster I may see? I did a quick google search and I was not satisfied by what I saw, so I am hoping someone here would have something more interesting. I am trying to understand how they are built, if it is just a standard bag with a specific styled gun holster sewn into one of the pockets, or something else. Thank you, Jessica

Thank you.

I do not believe the leather I am using is stirrup leather, although when I bought the strips, they were hanging next to pre cut stirrup leather strips. I passed, as I do not have the tools to cut the much wider stirrup leather strips. I assume the leather I bought is not prestretched, and I know it will stretch if I use them over a long time. These stirrup leathers are not long term, just a project I wanted to work on until I can order professionally made ones. Like I said, these are for me, I can't/won't use them in a show, and I think the buckles I picked out maybe to large under the jockeys, so I probably can't even use them in my riding lessons. It is just a project to work on. There is no how to on making stirrup leathers that I can find, so I am winging it. They won't be used to mount, and if used for any length of time, it will be at walking and trotting paces on a TWH in a sandy, fenced arena with a few other riders. I mainly want to see if I made them the right length for my leg (I'm 5'11" with no butt or thigh, so in a saddle, I have a really long leg). The leathers on the saddle I use in my lessons, I am on the second to last hole, with maybe 3 inches of leather hanging loose under my leg, so it never makes it to the retainer on the flap. I realize now the ones I am working on probably aren't strong enough for overly exertive or extensive use, so I will probably wear them flesh side out, if I finish them (if I can't match the dye to my saddle, I probably won't any time soon). I still have to buy actual stirrups as well. I do a bit of bareback riding, I take lessons bareback with a vaulting surcingle, I like riding in my saddle without stirrups, and when I do ride with stirrups, I usually lose my left stirrup (my weaker leg) at least once a lesson (working on that). I have good balance and a decent seat, so I am somewhat prepared for the occasion if these leathers do happen to break on me. The leather is good, and pretty thick (thicker than most of the professional made stirrup leathers available in the barn). I always wear a helmet. And I take your warnings to heart. I still want to know if stamping the leathers will weaken them? Thank you. =)

That is odd to me, as the only English discipline that I have witnessed riding with rough side out are saddle seat (gaited) riders. I hadn't planned on taking a swivel knife to the leathers, just stamping a short pattern down them. Thank you though.

I am making my own stirrup leathers for my dressage saddle, and since these are for me, I had thought about tooling them. They started 1" wide, a little less after beveling and smoothing the edges. As narrow as they are, would tooling them cause any issues with sturdiness and strength of the tooled area? Wisdom much appreciated.

Ah, I understand! I will try this tomorrow and see how it goes. Thank you!

Bill, just so I have this straight, dye both pieces, and oil one of them 4 times to see how it changes?

Tandy's helped me find a local guy who repairs English saddles in my area. He looked over the saddle today and said everything was fine, gave me a price range to fix the cloth protecting the gullet, replace one of the stirrup bars, and redo some of the stitching. I asked about the cracking, which is in the leather where the flaps bend. He said it was fine, nothing I could do about it. He checked the billets as well, and they are in good condition. I even had him check the tree. The saddle is in good shape besides the cosmetic damage (scratches in the leather, etc). There was some mold on one of the billet straps when I first got the saddle, but the ladies at my Tandys told me how to take care of it and it hasn't shown up again yet. The saddle is a dressage saddle, so it has a long, straight flap. I believe the cracks are just from the leather of the underside saddle flap being curled. The flap is not molded, just curled in from sitting up, and the cracks show up when you straighten the flap. It used to sit on the back of a chair or something similarly narrow, which would allow the flaps to curl in (and is also where the damage to the protective cloth under the gullet came from).

Well thankfully I have a lot of scraps from the piece of leather I used for the bridle. I had considered the possibility of over oiling the saddle, but it doesn't feel oily yet. I've been watching it, and it just keeps absorbing the oil I put into it (I've only oiled it three, maybe four times now), and I know I have put quite a bit of oil into it. The saddle flaps are very supple but have some cracks (just from bending over the years), and the seat, while never glossy before, is starting to get a dull shine to it. It definitely does not have that protective gloss coating anymore (like seen on new leather products, I remember having to rub it out of my riding boots). I do plan on using this saddle through the winter (so I may stop using my instructors children abused equipment). But I will get pictures for now and in a couple of weeks so as to watch the color. I won't add oil either to see how the saddle and color settles. Thank you for the recommendations, BillB. I looked at the color dye chart, and it seems dark brown is the closest, but I am unsure. I put my black riding boots next to it, and the saddle looks like a brown black rather than a blue black. But again, I will wait to see how the saddle settles before dying. Pictures will come soon.

Hello! I recently bought a saddle and it is good leather, very supple. According to the maker, the saddle is 34 years old and havana brown. I have been pouring oil into it and it is a dark dark brown now, on its way to black (it just keeps absorbing the stuff!). I am also working on a bridle, my first. I would like for my bridle to match my saddle, but how do I match the colors? The bridle will be soaked in warm oil after it is dyed, but I don't know how dark a dye I should use. I don't know if a dozen or so soakings of oil will catch it up to 30 plus years of use and care. I would like to use the saddle for showing next year, so all my tack has to match (bridle, saddle, stirrup leathers, girth, etc). Now I don't want to just use a black dye on the bridle as I am sure it will be a noticeable difference in my tack. So where do you guys recommend I start? The saddle looks like a dull dark brown to black brown now. The bridle is being made out of thick cowhide leather strips (the stuff used to make guitar straps, belts, etc). As always, your knowledge and expertise is greatly appreciated! Jessica

What are line 24 snaps? And a weight that thick, really? Honestly, I was expecting maybe a 7/8 weight leather, but I will check out a 10/12 if you think so.

Okay, so the barn I take riding lessons at hosts its own open shows, and there is one the Friday before Halloween. My instructor, barn owner, and myself were at Cracker Barrel for lunch. We were browsing through the store, and they had a whole bunch of Halloween stuff out, including some super cute and overly glittery masquerade set ups (mask complete with sequins and feathers, matching hats complete with veils, etc). Now, the horse oriented women we are, we start going off about how cute that red hat would look great on that mare, and the green one on the gelding, and the violet one on that stallion, and so on. Well, we start talking about Halloween get ups between riders and their horses and having a competition or what you will call it at the show.... so on and so forth. Now, with my recent fascination with leather... why would I spend some 20 bucks on a cheap mask with the fake diamonds falling off when I can make my own? And why not make a mask for the horse I ride as well? I believe they are called Shaffrons (correct me if I am wrong, pictures aren't mine), and this is what they look like: It's horse armor! I think it's a cool idea. How I am going to get Champ to sit still while I wet mold this to his face....? I dunno yet. I'll tackle that when I get there. He is usually patient with me. Now... here's where I ask for the boards input. What weight do you suggest the leather to be? And presumably, I would attach this to his bridle, so any suggestions there would be appreciated as well. First idea that comes to mind is maybe having some straps that buckle around the bridle (similar to how the throat latch and chin strap are buckled), but I am not sure how well that would work either. So suggestions! Please! If I think I have the courage to, I would like to do a matching breastplate (a piece that attaches to the front of the saddle by d-rings and straps across the chest, and down between the front legs to attach to the girth by a d-ring) as well. So suggestions for leather weight for a breastplate, please. A masquerade mask for me, a Shaffron, and (maybe) a breastplate. I'm not big on tooling, but I might work something simple out for this project. And two months for this idea to come to fruit. It feels like a mountain of work I don't understand in front of me, but I am excited by the prospect! Thank you! Jessica PS a long winded post, cookies to who reads it all!

I used an exacto/art knife to cut the filigree on my leather holster. Not sure what else I would do it with, but it worked well for me. I struggled with slipping, but I worked around it using my granite edge as a stopper. I have seen some art knives in hobby stores that looked like they could be useful as well. Best to just browse through a general hobby store and see what they have and what seems most comfortable to you to use.

I have two western saddle patterns now, both off of leathercraftlibrary. I was just wondering if anyone has seen patterns for English saddles? Maybe even Aussie saddles? I am about to launch into a bing/google/yahoo search, but if anyone has something to input, let me know. I'm searching just to satisfy my curiosty (and increase my collection, if you can call 2 a collection). Thank you, Jessica

I can't remember if the new wonder womans costume is made of leather or not. I remember there being an interesting debate (more like a brutal hack and slash) from fans when her original costume (the one set for the upcoming movie) was found impractical. They made improvements (like exchanging the high heels for flat boots). That might be something worth looking more into.

Thank you. I'd find a way to reinforce it if I were to make one for heavy duty use, just to make the suede more secure.

I am not sure. I think my Ruger is slightly to big for it, because when molding, it pulled the stitches. It may stretch out with frequent use. Because it came in a kit, I would assume (though I probably shouldn't) the main body of leather is durable for it, but after cutting and lining with the suede.... If I did it again, I might find a piece of leather to line the inside of the suede so it doesn't rip. And find a bigger kit or pattern to work with. With frequent use, I think the suede that stretches over the trigger guard may tear first. But I won't find out; this is meant to be just a decorative piece, an experiment. I never intended to use this to carry because I feel it is to small, and maybe to weak, for the gun.

More pictures. Apparently my pictures are to large to post multiples in one post.. sorry! Last one.

Hahahaha I finished it! And I finally got pictures up. This is a minimal holster kit #44454-00 from Tandy's. I cut out my pattern (a hibiscus flower) and laid a pale cream suede under the leather, which I was told is called filigree if I remember correctly. This is my first leather project. I used a dark cocoa brown dye (it came out darker than I planned, sadly), black thread, and black lace. I wet molded the leather after I cut out my pattern, and once it was dry, I cut my piece of suede to fit, and cemented it down. The suede is not sewn into place, except for at the side edges where the holster pieces are sewn together with wax thread. The lacing on the outside edges is a goofed up double loop stitch, which I am calling a single loop stitch (because I somehow missed going under the "x" in the lace, and only went under one piece). Well, this is my first attempt. I recognize my mistakes, and hopefully I do much better with my second holster (which I am planning out the pattern soon). Thanks for looking! I'm really proud of this piece despite my mistakes.