Head Gear for a Show Jumper

[TomE]

Padded bridle and reins for a special gelding from our breeding program.  Hermann Oak bridle leather, stamped steel bridle buckles from Weaver, and lots of nylon thread.  Hand sewn.

[ArkieNewbie]

WOW! That is classy! Very well done!

[carlpbates]

that is very nice ,

[TomE]

5 hours ago, ArkieNewbie said:

WOW! That is classy! Very well done!

Thank you!

3 hours ago, carlpbates said:

that is very nice ,

Thanks very much!

[bruce johnson]

Fine looking work!

[Klara]

Great work (as always). It looks amazing. I would say "completely professional", but I have the feeling that most professional work nowadays doesn't look so good....

[TomE]

7 hours ago, bruce johnson said:

Fine looking work!

Thanks, Bruce.  Staying focused to build my skills.

 

5 hours ago, Klara said:

Great work (as always). It looks amazing. I would say "completely professional", but I have the feeling that most professional work nowadays doesn't look so good....

Thank you, Klara.  I guess a lot of the fancy tack is made in Pakistan or India.  They are better at running their sewing machines on small straps than I am, so I am a bit slower in production. 

[PastorBob]

That does look great.  And great photos as well.  Love seeing what others are making!  Keep sharing! 

[Goldshot Ron]

Tom,

The bridle looks great.  All hand sewn is impressive.  Are you using a pricking iron or awl?  

[TomE]

11 hours ago, PastorBob said:

That does look great.  And great photos as well.  Love seeing what others are making!  Keep sharing! 

Thanks, Bob.  I traded a friend a mandolin strap for 3 photography light stands that help with photographing black leather.  Too windy this week to hang the bridle outside in the sunshine - it would be a motion picture.

5 hours ago, Goldshot Ron said:

Tom,

The bridle looks great.  All hand sewn is impressive.  Are you using a pricking iron or awl?  

Thank you, Ron.  I use a pricking iron to mark holes and sew with an  awl.  I made a jig out of skirting leather to hold the swells tipped at an angle when marking holes so the iron doesn't slip off the curved edge of the swell.  When awling the holes are made straight through, perpendicular to the back of the swell.  I haven't figured out how to drive a sewing machine along that curved edge.

[Goldshot Ron]

Very inventive Tom.  I bought a stirrup plate for my machine to try to sew the rounded throatlatches, but I haven't tried it yet to see if it works.  Continue with your good work.

[rktaylor]

Pure craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing. 

Randy

[TomE]

14 hours ago, Goldshot Ron said:

Very inventive Tom.  I bought a stirrup plate for my machine to try to sew the rounded throatlatches, but I haven't tried it yet to see if it works.  Continue with your good work.

I tack a strip of leather to the exposed filler of a rolled throatlatch when sewing to keep it flat on the needle plate.  I trim the filler after sewing then shape the round.  There are some pictures in the file I linked to this post.   

 

10 hours ago, rktaylor said:

Pure craftsmanship. Thanks for sharing. 

Randy

Thank you.  Lots of buckles and loops to sew.