MillieB

Very nice work!

Thank you all for the kind comments. My daughter wants a pair and I told her not only no, but hell no. Maybe in a few years when I've forgotten the misery these caused! As for the belt @alpha2 I made that one just over a year ago... time for a replacement I guess! This bunch of mine are hard on things!!! @alpha2 I just saw that you are from Fort Collins... I did my bachelors degree there! Fun town!

This was my first attempt at woolly chaps of any sort. One of the hardest projects I've tackled. The light colored chap hide is Mellowtan, and the brown fringe overlay is Oil Tan. The "woolly" hide is a Karakul pelt from a friend who raises exotic sheep from New Zealand and Australia. Tooling is my first try at oak leaf and acorn, so there's lots of room for improvement. Hand sewn, except for the fringe overlay, and the last picture shows the arrangement I finally figured out to make sewing these even possible. The fine undercoat wool kept clinging to the waxed thread, and, well, you all probably know what a mess that was. After much frustration (and swearing), I finally figured out that clothespins and a whole bunch of masking tape made the sewing job bearable.

Wow! I'm pretty sure I need one of those! Sewing chaps is awkward and sometimes downright hard to get a good reach in a lot of places. Here's my current set-up...

So beautiful!

Hahaha! The shoes! My poor husband was heading off to do some mechanic work, and I make him hold chaps for a photo! You don't often catch that man without his Beck boots on!

Martin, the leather is called "Roughman" in brown. I wasn't sure about it at first, as the pull-up seemed to be too much, but it was a delight to work with and oiled up nicely after the torture it endured getting sewn. I need to work on my "flower centers" a bit. The location is fixed because they function to hold straps on the inside of the chap legs, but I still struggle getting the flower design to work well around the concho, and sometimes just say to hell with it and punch the hole. Sheilajeanne, the colors that are available in mohair now are so beautiful! My daughter is going to get started in cinch making and I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

Thanks for the kind words! Seems I'm the only one who doesn't care for the color

That is so beautiful, and your stitching is amazing!

Sheilajeanne, the pink and purple thing is a hay bag. We were gathering everything into the garage to take my daughter to State Horse Show! We do have some colored western cinches, though. Forest Green and Burgundy, they are very pretty!

Until last year, I did all my work at the kitchen table with a rolling cart to store everything I used regularly. My husband suggested I take a spot in the garage, so here it is. I'm still arranging and most everything is in the drawers or totes. The rolling cart holds projects in progress, patterns, sharpening supplies, hardware, etc. My Tippmann is behind the rolling workbench covered by the black and white scarf. Machine sewing supplies are in a tote on the cobblers bench. When I machine sew, I roll one workbench aside and slide out the machine. Here's my view of the workspace It's clean because I'm relaxing after the Christmas rush, and my husband just installed these hanging areas for my projects (and a few other random things) This is my happy place!

Thanks!

@YinTx Thank you! I've been trying to draw more patterns, but it's so hard for me, so I was really pleased with how this one turned out. Yes on the hand sewing! I'm finding that I like to hand sew unless I'm in a rush. And the bonus is that it holds up so much better on gear that is used in the dirt, sweat, brush, etc. Those are 3/4" El Paso blued conchos.

Welcome!! (From a fellow Utahn!)

These are the chinks I made for my husband. I'm including a pic of the yoke before it was stitched on because the other photos are not very good, and this is my favorite of the tooling patterns I've drawn so far. Everything is hand-sewn on these. The chap leather looks almost black in one picture because I had just oiled it after scratching the crap out of it while hand-sewing.

It's been a long time since I posted anything, but I'm enjoying the brief "lull" after Christmas, so I thought I'd share a bit! This is a pair of shotgun chaps I made in trade for sand for my round pen! This was my first real attempt at hand sewing. The zipper is machine-sewn, but everything else is hand sewn. The reason for the zig-zag on the brand is to keep the edges from rolling and to keep it from catching on a rope, brush, or other obstacle. So far the owner is loving them and they're holding up great to daily use. (I'm not particularly fond of the color of the chap leather, but it has mellowed out with a couple months of use.)

Beautiful! I really like the dove!

Hahaha! Thank you! I'm happy with how they turned out, especially since it's been so long since I've touched a leather tool. My girl wanted wildflowers, and pattern design is not my favorite thing... I can't even doodle, let alone draw, so I picked a few different flowers from other patterns and tried to make them all fit together. This was kind of a "mission" for me though... I was in a car accident 5 years ago, and I will never be the same. I didn't think I'd ever do leatherwork again, but I had to try. I don't have very good control over my left hand and arm, it's shaky, I can't tell how hard I grip things, and it goes numb, so I've had to compensate for that in different ways. Mostly going very slowly with the tooling. So, thanks again for the kind words! This was a huge victory for me!

Hello! I'm just getting back to leatherwork after an 8-year break, and I'm enjoying it so much! I've been reading a lot on this forum and appreciate all of the info I've gleaned from you! Here are some chinks that I made for my 10-year-old cowgirl for Christmas, and a set of reins out of harness leather (something I've not done before). I'm excited to try new things as I get back into this!