Icutcows2

Hello Gianni, I understand your measurements and there are a couple of things to consider when making your chaps. First how are the legs going to fasten, with buckles or zippers, or snaps, etc. When you've decided how they will fasten then take into consideration your leather, how thick is it. If it's heavier you may want to allow a little extra as it will not "give" as much as a lighter weight leather. After that I make a paper pattern of the leg out of brown kraft paper. I get this in rolls at the local hardware supple store, I'm not sure what you have available. Depending on the style of chaps you are making the next step will vary on how to lay out your measurements. Rather than have a message that is a mile (kilometer) long if you can let me know the type you are planning on making I can explain the steps I use for that type and it won't take you all day to read it. Hope I can be of some help, Cody

I must have it's unknown twin in my shop right now although the one I have does not have any markings on it. It came in for repair and I'm sure it was made south of the border. I've seen several that look like yours that were not marked either, to my knowledge these were made in Mexico as well. I have not seen one with the marking that yours has so I can't be certain of it's origin. Cody

I just saw your post. I met Jeff 3 or 4 times, he was working for Keith Ferrel at Ferrel's Old West Saddlery just outside of New Castle,IN. I think the actual address was Greensboro, IN. He was making a limited edition Roy Rogers holster set that Ferrel's was selling that came in a framed and numbered case with Roy's signature. I know he also did some saddle work for them as well and lived on the premise. I have a cousin who worked part time in the shop as well. AS far as knowing who all he made saddles for I didn't really have any conversations with with on that. We talked about some of the older makers and shops, how we did things and we showed me how tempermental an old Union can be. I know he passed away but I'm not sure which year. It's been about 10 years since I've been in that area although I have family in that part of Indiana and my cousin still stills down the road from where the shop was. I don't know if the shop is still in business or not but if your interested I can try and rest my relative any see what more info he has on Jeff. Have a great day, Cody Young

Are you looking for an experienced leatherworker ? This individual has over 25 years experience in making and designing saddles,chaps,and a wide variety of tack and personal items as well. Is willing to relocate. He has taught leather instruction classes in the US as well as over seas. He has been awarded numerous awards for several different types of saddles,tack,chaps, and belts. He is looking for a full time postion and would also be interested is talking with someone who is looking to expand their business since he has a complete shop which includes a clicker & dies, 20" strap cutter, foot presses, splitter, Adler sewing machine,2 Singer flat bed sewing machines,Artisan sewing machine, Union Lock Stitch sewing machine,Bar Tacker sewing machine,Cinderella wire stapler, punch presses, large inventory of hand tools by Horse Shoe Brand, Barry King, and others. Extensive collection of tooling and stampimg tools by Barry King,Wayne Jueske,Gore Tool, Bob Beard, etc. Patterns for saddles, chaps,halters,headstalls, and too many to list. Some inventory of finished products. Has competed in cutting,team roping,saddle bronc riding, reining,western pleasure,and bull riding so he has a working knowledge of how to produce products that are functional as well as eye appealling. Anyone interested in this individual can contact me for further information. References both personal and professionally will be provided upon request. This could be in once in a life time opportunity to add a person of this quality to your organization.

Hello Mike: I've made a lot of chaps and taught the chap making class at Sheridan for several years, I'm sure there are a lot of good chap makers out there but I'll give you the places I get most of my leather from. The Hide House in California is where I get the majority of mine from, there number is 800-453-2847 and web site is www.hidehouse.com. They have a cowside leather that is 3-3.5 oz and comes in over 40 colors. The weight is nice for most chaps and I use it a lot for rodeo chaps and the weight works well. They also have heavier leather if you need it but colors are not as many. Goliger Leather is another source and the have a nice moccasin grain chap leather that works well for chinks and work works, it's a little heavier. Sheridan leather always has some really nice stuff and are VERY helpful with suggestions. I use some others occiasionaly but those are the 3 main ones I use. If you have any more questions just drop me a line, be glad to help. Cody Young Cody's Custom Saddlery Codyscustomsaddlery.com Facebook: Cody's Custom Saddlery

Here's some chaps made from the Butterball Cowsides.

Avery, Don't hesitate if you need pics or calling, it's no bother at all. I've been looking into relocating so maybe I'll end up close enough to do a workshop. I know it made sound hard to believe but teaching the classes at the different shows I learned so much. A lot of times I just figured out a way to do something and went with it. When I started teaching some of the methods were hard to explain or hard for others to do so learning other ways to do things ended up improving my work and making things simpler to do. So it's certainly true, you do learn a lot from teaching others. Im on my phone but when I get on the computer I'll post a picture of some chaps made from the Butterball leather. Cody

Thank you both Joel and Dwight. I got my pinking punch from Bob Douglas Tools, they were great about showing me the pattern it would make. The size was very important for me since it had to fit the size spots I wanted to use. And yes setting all the spots was a little hair pulling until I started doing all the bleed knots on the fringe, that turned into about twice as long a job as I thought it would be, but it did get easier after I made a tool out of a stubby screw driver to cut the right size of slit for the fringe. I've got a very good Bleed Knot tool from Jeremiah Watt but it would cut too big of a slit. Once again thanks guys. Cody

Hi Avery, I've used the Butterball a lot especially for Cutters, batwings and shotguns. It's lighter weight and buttery soft. I have also used it for chinks that were just going to be used for riding. You can get a good fit that is a little forgiving with it. I taught the chap class at Sheridan several times and also Reno and Rome. I did use some of the Butterball in the class a few times and everyone that worked with it liked it. If you need any pictures to help explain anything just let me know, I'm making some pretty much most of the time so it's no problem to take a picture. I am self taught so I think I've made about every mistake imaginable so I also figured out how to fix them. You can also call anytime you would need to, sometimes writing things are more difficult to understand than talking. But I'll clue you, I'm from Texas so I sound funny, or at least that's what they tell me here. Good luck with the chaps ! Cody

Here's some twisted fringe ones.

Hi Avery, The leather I used for those chinks was glovetan cowsides from The Hide House. It was cream color and is a 5 oz that is a soft temper. I know these don't really look like you could go build fence in them but the leather is soft but yet pretty tuff. The fringe is the same cream color glovetan on the top and purple cowside leather again from The Hide House as the 2nd layer. The purple is a 3-3 1/2 oz weight. I use this a lot for all types of chaps and chinks and a lot for rodeo chaps. It comes in over 40 colors so there is all kinds of possibilities. When I did the fringe I cut the leather from my pattern but added 1 1/8" to overlap on to the body of the chink for the purple. This would allow for pinking the edge, my pinking punch is 5/16". After pinking from the top of the pinked scalloped it will overlap about 1 1/16"on the body of the chink. Next I cut the cream and added 7/8" for the overlap, then pinked the edge which left 3/4" from the top of the scallop to overlap on the body. I offset the purple so the middle of each purple scallop was between each cream scallop. I put a bead of barge cement on the grain side below the scallops of the purple and on the flesh side of the cream to help hold things in place. Also on the flesh side I used some masking tape in a few places to add in holding things together. After both fringe pieces are glued together, and make sure you don't get glue below a line where the body of the chink is so it doesn't show when completed. I then put the spots on the cream scallops. This actually bonds the cream to the purple. Do all the spots on each scallop of the cream, the prongs on the spots will go through both layers and is bent inward to hold the spot onto the leather. I have a Standard Spot Setter so that speeds up the process, but it still takes a while. The spots I used were 3/16" Sunburst. When all the spots are on then the two pieces of fringe material are put together very well. Then put some glue on the egde of the body of the chink and on the flesh side of the purple, again make sure you don't put glue below the line marked as the edge of the body. Put the two layers of fringe material onto the body of the chink. Again if you need some added holding use some masking tape in a few places to help hold things together. It will peel off pretty easy. I then sewed both fringe pieces onto the body of the chink. Everything is gonna stay put now. Next I put the spots on each scallop of the purple. After those were all on now it's time to cut the fringe. I cut both layers at the same time. This insures each sting of purple and cream are the same width. I have a wooden straight edge I made that has one end cut at a very sharp angle, it's pretty close to the angle that I cut each string but this will change as you get towards the bottom of the leg. After all the strings were cut I did a bleed knot on each string, I started off using a knife but it was hard to get the cuts the right length so I got a stubby straight screw driver and sharpened the edge. I could then just tap the head of the screw driver with a small mallet and get slits the correct length every time. Needless to say doing all those bleed knots was a slow process but it's not something you see every day. I was beginning to think I had lost my mind by the time I got both legs done. Hope this helps explain things, and I it's fairly easy to understand. If there's any part I confused you on just ask away. I have 3 flat bed sewing machines I do chaps and chinks on, I normally use size 69 thread with about 9-10 stitches per inch. The tooled pieces I sewed on my Adler cylinder arm machine with size 138 thread. Since the tooled pieces on top of the glovetan leather is a little on the thicker side it was just easier to sew it on the Adler. I did cut a couple of pieces about 4 inches long and practiced putting the two fringe pieces together before I actually cut the leather for those chinks, just wanted to work out any bugs before I messed up on the real thing. If you need any pictures of anything just let me know. Also you can look on my web site for ideas as well. It's Codyscustomsaddlery.com I have a facebook page too thats Cody's Custom Saddlery. The web site is pretty new and still has pages to be added to it but I know there are some chaps and chinks on it. The facebook page has them as well. Good luck and let me know if I can help any more. Cody

Avery, thank you so much for the compliments. Just wanted to reply real quick and let you know I can answer your questions later today, got an early appointment so I'm rushing this morning. I'll have plenty of time this evening. Cody Thanks, everyone for your responces. When you stay in the shop all the time it's hard to know how your doing sometimes.

Thought I'd post these chinks to see what kind of feed back everyone miht have. Thanks for any and all comments

Here's a photo of a inside chap pocket Bob that I often do. Hope this helps. Cody

Hello Bob, I put pockets in quite often and normally do it one of two ways. #1, a pocket addonto the top of the leg with a flap or #2, an inside pocket. The inside ones are done by cutting a slot into the leg and the pocket being put through the slot. The pocket is made before hand the back piece of the pocket is cut long enough and has a shape to the top so after it is place through the slot it is sewn to the chap leg. The front piece is folded down after placing through the slot and sewn to the leg. When you cut out your pocket pieces determine how deep you want them and add enough at the top above the point where you stop sewing the pocket together to go through the slot and sew to the leg. It works really well and is fairly easy to do. I'm trying to figure out how to include a picture for you. I'm new on here and this computer stuff gets me sometimes.

When I first made a pattern I used cloth to wrap around a person to figure it out since I didn't know where to get any pre-designed patterens. I drew a center line sort of to act like a crease on a pair of pants, then used a marker to draw the lines on where the zipper line would lie, the shape of the top and bottom. I then connected to dots so to speak and cut it out and put it back on the person. With a couple of minor adjustments it worked out fine and I used that to develop future ones. Since I make a lot of styles and sizes now I have many in small-medium-large, and so on. As far as getting a pattern I'd surf the internet. I haven't looked for any for a long time. Western Horseman magazine had and add for a while about patterns for chaps, vests, and other show clothes from a place in California. I'll try to see if I can find the name of the place since I same all the magazines. Depending on size of the person and the type of leather you decide to use that will determine if you cut the fringe in body or add it on. Split hides aren't usually large enough to cut the fringe in body with the leg and need to be added. Top grain sides will allow you to do it depending on the size of person you are making them for. Hide House has the top grain sides I use most often and they call it Cowside Leather. It's a 3-3 1/2 oz and comes in over 40 colors. They are normally very large and are very good quality. Sheridan Leather is another good source for some great leather depending on your location. One large side will do both legs normally on a youth,small, or most medium sized patterns depending on the style and height. Hope this helps some and ask all the questions you can think of. I'll help all I can. I'm new on here and still trying to figure out how to do and find things on here, a computer wiz I'm certainly not. I did post some pictures you can look at in the gallery of some chaps. There might be a better place to put them but I haven't figured that out yet. It only took me 2 weeks to get signing up on here right!

I did some research on your machine as I wasn't that familiar with it. From what I found you should be able to sew show chaps with no rpoblems, especially when using lighter weight leather as is the case most of the time for these. Leather in weights from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 oz is the most common especially for ladies since you can get a nice fit with a little bit of stretch or at least forgiveness to the fit. Does your machine have the potted motor ? Which means it's a direct drive and doesn't have a belt to run the machine. If so that's a plus as it will have a little more power since there is no belt to slip if it gets into some tuffer material. Either way it should do the job. Also the ones I found had reverse so if yours has that also that's a big plus. A size 16-17 needle with size 69 thread is what I use most of the time. It comes in a lot of colors and is strong enough to last and not break while sewing as I found happened when I tried some lighter thread, had an odd color to match. I'm no sewing machine expert but the first one I ever got was a treddle machine that I traded a belt for. It had been in a barn for who know's how long and to say the least was pretty dirty. I took it all apart to clean it so I figured out how a sewing works, at least a simple one which is the basis for most of them with some variations. As far as sewing the zippers in it shouldn't be a big deal either, at the most I'm only sewing through two layers of leather at some of the stress points like at the top inside of the leg and the cuffs at the bottom. I use only brass teeth zippers, they hold up great and I have found the aluminum teeth would wear and catch some over a period of time. I also rubb parrafin on the teeth to help them slide better when new. I'm sure there are other products for this but I always have the parrafin wax on hand since I use it for finishing edges. Hope this helps some, and if you have any more questions just ask away. I think over the years I'm made just about every mistake imaginable so I learn how to fix most of them. Happy sewing!! Cody

I'm new to this site but have been making chaps along with everything else for over 25 years. I also have shown western pleasure horses so I'm familiar with doing show chaps. The Hide & Leather House has what is called "Plonge", it's light weight,comes in several colors and works really well for show chaps.It's smoooth on the grain side and ruff on the flesh side so you can do either smooth out or ruff out chaps. They also have "Garment Splits" that are ruff out on both sides and come in a lot of colors. The garment splits are less in price. Their web site is, www,hidehouse.com. Home sewingmachines can do the job with some breath holding at times. There is whats called "leather needles" for them which do help. I have an older model Singer 111W155 which works great and can use up to size 207 thread and will sew belts,spur straps,etc. as well as any chaps or chinks. I also have an Artisan 797 that works great and has reverse so that's a big plus. I also have a roller foot Singer 111W155 that I use a lot on rodeo chaps because of all the cut outs and sewing letters for logo's on. The other two machines will do this but the roller foot just makes it a little easier. There are several other machines out there that will wwork just fine for chaps, these are just what I have along with heavier duty stitcher as well. I taught the chap class at Sheridan for several years and took all 3 machines so students could get a feel for what worked for them. If you have any more questions I'll try to help what I can. Cody