Help any ideas how to patch

[rastanley]

[rastanley]

I’m not a saddle maker. I’ve been asked to see if I can patch these knee pads and the cantle of the saddle. 
I was thinking of putting leather underneath and doing some type of hand stitch ? It’s just a work saddle and the saddler is no longer about. 
any tips or ideas? 
also does anyone know the stitch done on the knee pad? 

[Mulesaw]

@rastanley

I can't remember the name of the stitch on the knee pad, but I am pretty sure that Al Stohlman shows it in his book "hand sewing leather", maybe it is blind stitching? To me it looks like it has been done from the inside (before the saddle was assembled). Both edges are butted against each other, and you use a curved awl to make a stitching hole from one flesh side - through the middle of the butted assembly - and back up on the other flesh side again. Then you sew it with a regular saddle makers stitch. I could be wrong though, but it is my best guess.

You could try to see if you could recreate that on the knee pads and then sew it "on top" of the leather in front of the knee pads. If you have to make any doubling it would be best if it is a place where the knees or legs don't touch, in order to not get a blister from a protruding edge.

The cantle might be a bit more difficult since you wouldn't want to have a protruding edge where the butt of the rider rubs up and down during riding.

A suggestion is to make something like when you wrap a steering wheel in leather. 
You first make a regular saddle stitch along the crack, maybe 1/4" below. on both sides. 
Then you lace those saddle stitches together in a crossing zig zag pattern with a thread. 
You just need to find some sturdy thread that can take a bit of rubbing without breaking. I'd go with some braided stuff.

Good luck.

Brgds Jonas

Here's a picture I found that gives the general idea, except the picture only makes a single zig zag, not a crossing zig zag.

[Goldshot Ron]

I do not say this to be a "smart arse", but is the condition of the saddle worth your time and effort?  It is easy to fall into the trap of the challenge. 

Not with the saddle here for me to look at, but from your photos, I would consider recovering the knee pads and tucking the new leather under the existing leather of the seat and front jockey.  To repair the cantle: you either replace the whole seat cover or scab in leather to go over the cantle.  Either way will require a lot of stitching.  If the cantle is wood, you might be able to replace the triangular part of the seat and pull the edge over the back side of the cantle.  Scallop the back edge of this new piece of leatheer, and tack it to the back of the cantle.  This technique is used on western saddles and creates a vintage appearance.

Good luck