Patching the seat of an English saddle

[Kathy]

A customer has an English saddle (type unknown) on which one of the seams where the seat joins the side has started to widen (stretch apart). Is a patch possible on this area? If so, how would the patch be attached?

Thanks.

Kathy

[Kevin]

If its a piece of junk they don't care about, you can glue a patch on there, but you have to rough up the seat flap for the patch to stick. Then later down the road when they want a new seat, the seat flap is ruined and they have to replace that too. I usually tell them to get a seat saver or get a new seat. Most patches are going to look worse than the hole and if the leather is oily it won't stick anyway. Hope that makes sense, its four in the morning and one of my fine neighbors has been "sharing" their Christmas music since three. Kevin

[buckaroogal]

if the tear is such that it is not too gapping you can baseball stitch it together and it will keep it from running on. I offer it to my customers when they don't want to pay for a total seat replacement. attached is a photo of what it would look like.