Mulesaw

We need someone who is a lot more artistic than me to make a set of outlines of the discs that need to be sawed. If the inside of the individual laminations was sawed out, the completed heads wouldn't be terribly heavy. Brgds Jonas

If you took some 1/2" plywood, and laminated a horse head. The laminations should be placed like the head of the horse was split vertically lengthwise. (Terrible description) Each layer is simply glued and tacked to the next layer. Finally you make two ears from some leather and screw them on the top. Sawing out the laminations would probably require a scrollsaw or a small band saw. The first build will probably take a long time since you have to make patterns for all the laminations, but the next ones should be copy-paste and fairly fast to do. This is the best picture I can find to explain what I mean. Your horse head will need to be bigger and more detailed, with an open mouth etc, but the same basic idea. It will be clear to people what it is, but it won't be so detailed that it will take the focus from the head gear that you have on display. I am at sea right now, other wise I would be tempted to make an experiment myself 🙂 Brgds Jonas

Hi Jim, Thanks for the nice comment, and also an interesting suggestion. In theory it shouldn't matter much to me - but in reality, I think it is very interesting. I think I'll try to ask my customer next time I see her, if she knows anything about the former owner. But I kind of doubt it. Otherwise I think she would have said something when we discussed the job. Brgds Jonas

Thanks for the very nice comment 🙂

If installed properly they can take a lot of beating. You need a special tool to install them. It is like a tapered punch that goes into a tapered hole. At least for very big ones. You could also use some small D-rings for the paracord. On your picture #2, the black stitch on the left (closest to the edge of your bag) - every 2" (give or take), you mount a D-ring. The D-ring can be mounted using either a thin strip of your leather or a strip of webbing. You can get D-rings in many sizes and colours, I would think that a 5/8" D-ring in brass would look good. Something sort of like on this picture:

Hi Tove, Thanks for the nice words 🙂 That sounds like some very plausible causes you mention, I think that the situation in Denmark is pretty similar as in Germany, with very few people being able to invest 6-10.000 Euro on a bespoke saddle. Mys customer is petite, so though she is an adult, she has specialized in training dressage ponies, so I think it was a 16" or 16.5" saddle, And the range of people willing and able to make a huge investment on a special saddle for a pony /pony rider is even smaller than for a full size dressage horse. So it makes sense that it was one of the causes you suggest. One of our good friends had a bespoke saddle made for her horse, maybe 15 years ago. The horse had a bit of a crooked back as far as I remember, not much, but enough that a standard saddle hurt the horse. So she had someone from Kieffer coming up to her and measure her and her horse, and she ended up with a saddle that fit perfectly. I would love to be able to do that kind of work, but I haven't got the knowledge to do a proper fitting on a horse, so I just have to stick with doing repairs (but that is also a nice job) Brgds Jonas

Thanks for the very nice words Chuck. It is so frustrating, that I haven't got the answer to why the wear is only on one side. It is really puzzling. I had thought about the "one way" idea too, but it just doesn't make any sense when it is a regular dressage saddle. Equestrian vaulting would fit that category, but that is a completely different type of saddle. And also I am puzzled, why the original owner didn't notice that the saddle got so worn in one side and not in the other side - and in time did something about it. Take care Brgds Jonas

@Tove09Tilda Hi Tove Sorry to hear that the internship wasn't a success. I think that @BlackDragon has a pretty good point in that you can follow your passion without it being your career. So I really hope that you'll find a job where there is: Nice colleagues, A friendly and supportive environment, Enough interesting tasks to make you feel occupied. Best regards Jonas

Not a chance on that one 😄We are in the southern part of Norway, and it is bitterly cold here at the moment. Plus there is some incredibly bad weather in the North Sea at the moment, so we have been told to just stay put in the harbour until the sea calms down a bit and we can deliver supplies to the platforms again. On your triple stitched halters, the edges looked fantastic. Did you only use beeswax and heated edge irons on those, or also hide glue? It sound like a very interesting experiment to use hide glue, but I think that I would be afraid that it would be sort of delicate and not handle rain too well?

The stitching on the 5th attempt looks a lot more consistent than on the earlier ones, so there is a fine progress! Also the distance from the stitching to the edges is very nice and consistent on the last one. So like @DieselTech says: keep up the good work 👍, Brgds Jonas

In Denmark, it is not uncommon to get a "retirement job", I don't know if that is a thing in Canada? It could be janitorial for a small business, maybe 10 hours a week, not enough to get exhausted by, but it gives a little bit of steady income and more importantly a continued connection with the rest of the world. It is just nice to have a new story to tell at home, or have someone that you can tell if you did something interesting in the weekend etc. If retirement is scary, that might be a way of slowing down. Off course it depends on if you can find a place that has a similar opening that you would like, but I have often thought about that it is a fine way of doing it. Brgds Jonas

@Scoutmom Thanks, 🙂 @TomE Thanks for the very nice words 🙂 I also really would have liked to see the corresponding boots, but my customer bought the saddle second hand, so she was as puzzled as I. There was just ordinary light wear on the left side of the saddle, not even close to being worn through. I did do a bit of thinking about the shape, off course it had to cover the worn part, and after a couple of initial ideas, I ended up deciding that this shape at a quick glance could look a bit like something that was original to the saddle. And since you can't see a saddle from both sides really well when it is on a horse, I don't think anyone will ever notice. A thing that I am really happy about is that I actually timed myself doing it, and this Monday another customer asked me about a similar repair, but on a Prestige Versailles jumping saddle. So it felt really good to be able to give a ballpark figure on the time/price of such a repair job. (I just signed on yesterday, so I told her that she'd have to wait until I get back home again) I guess that repair will be a little less complicated since there isn't a lower reinforcement piece on that saddle. I'll just have to get my hands on some brown leather that matches the existing colour. All in all, a job like that almost feels like cheating: Getting paid to do something that I genuinely like to do, and being able to sit inside and have a cup of tea while doing it, all while I have two large dogs snoring away on the floor next to me. Brgds Jonas

This time at home, one of my customers asked if I could repair the saddle flap of an Equipe saddle, where the outer layer of leather had been worn through. She had bought the saddle second hand since it fit both her and her horse perfectly, so she is not the one who has managed to wear the saddle flap to this extent. Actually I am kind of puzzled as to why it was only worn through on the right hand side of the saddle, but the left side had just a bit of normal wear, so either the previous owner must have had used her right leg more, or perhaps have used some abrasive things on her right leg, like an unprotected zipper? For once I have managed to take pictures through the process, to help giving an idea of how I did the repair job. In total the job took 8 hours, so it is not a super fast job, but I never expected it to be. The value of the saddle still makes it worth making a repair like this, and difficult work holding/handling and hand sewing is the main reason for the time consumption. If I had a cylinder arm walking foot sewing machine, I might have been able to pull it off a bit faster, but I am only guessing. A saddle is fairly awkward to move around, and It only takes one slip to make the stitch line look bad and making matters worse, so I think that I would probably still go with hand sewing in this case. 1) outer layer of thin leather on the saddle flap is worn through. 2) A pleasing curve shape was cut on some paper. The inspiration for the curve came from the sides of the seat, and I wanted the ends to correspond to the angles of the lower reinforcement piece. 3)The curve is lowered to show the corresponding ends of the lower reinforcement piece. 4) A piece of thin leather (approx 2 mm thick) is cut out in the correct shape. It is deliberately made so that the lower part leaves a 3/8" gap towards the lower part of the saddle flap. (This is similar to how the original worn piece was made, to give a nice smooth transition for the lower reinforcement piece) 5) The repair piece is skived along all edges. approximately 5/8" wide. 6) The stitching for the lower part of the saddle flap is cut plus the lower part of the decorative stitches. The lower reinforcement piece is carefully removed and put aside to be used again. The worn piece of the saddle is cut of, following a curve matching the repair piece. Leaving approximately 5/8" overlap. 7) The repair piece is glued on using contact cement and hand sewn along the upper part. The decorative stitching is continued as well. (I sew over the first and last 3 original stitches to lock them in place) 8 ) The lower reinforcement piece is sewn in place again. Hand sewing since I don't have a sewing machine that could do it easily and allow me to maneuver the saddle easily around. I tried my best to use the existing holes in the heavy part of the flap. 9) The completed repair job.

Welcome to the forum. Lots of inspiration to be found, no matter what you like 🙂 You mention that you would like to do leather work as a side hustle, I get that you don't like to deal to much with the public or run a business, but.. Unless you can use all the leather items that you create yourself or gift it off to families, you will end up having stuff all over. (Based on experience from my other hobby which is woodworking/cabinetmaking). A solution could be in doing leather repairs. I have a small company with my son, where I do the leather work part. I am not a trained saddle maker, but I can do most repair jobs on saddles except for restocking them with wool. A lot of people are daunted by the thought of sewing leather, and while it might be more fun to craft something new, there is also a satisfaction in repairing something so it works well again. An advantage (to me) is that repair jobs are very seldom exactly like, so I don't risk making 25 of the same thing in a row, but, one week I can repair a saddle flap, and the next week a stitching in a computer bag or a set of chaps etc. It is just a side hustle, but it is a really nice feeling to be able to immerse myself in a good leather repair project and being paid for sewing and sitting and listening to a podcast or the gentle snoring of our dog at the same time. Most of my customers know of me from word of mouth, as I don't do any advertising. Equestrians often need a lot of leather work to be repaired, people with vintage motorcycles (1950'ies and older) are also possible sources of potential customers, for saddle bags, seat repairs etc. I don't repair leather items exclusively, also horse blankets and replacement of zippers in riding boots etc. I do like to create new things as well, but selling new leather products is difficult in my area, so that is one of the reasons for the repair business. Brgds Jonas

Great job, very consistent sewing along the edge! Amann Serafil is my main thread for all sewing machine jobs, for hand sewing I use Amann Serabraid. I once checked Amanns homepage, they make an incredible range of various threads, from anti flammable to UV (sunlight) resistant. Brgds Jonas