A year ago, or so, I went with my sister to a horse convention where they had booths of tack. She was looking for a bridle, and they were fairly spendy. I figured that I could make one for her much cheaper.
She gave me a couple of old bridles, and they have languished in my sewing room, waiting for me to measure and make her a new one.
I started out buying some leather strapping, probably a year before I actually made it up. I’m nothing if not speedy. 😉
You also need a few other things to make it easier.
I took apart one of the bridles and measured everything, taking note that I definitely did not have enough hardware to make them. I cut out the main pieces, and then realized I needed to double up most of the areas and stitch them down.
This was going to take a lot longer than I originally anticipated.
I did not have enough length of the original strapping to double up all the areas, so off to Tandy Leather I went. This was fairly thick, so I opted to buy a thinner leather for the underside in those areas that needed it. I got a pale colored leather and figured I could dye it. Unfortunately it had a finish, so that didn’t go quite as planned. It is on the underside, so the splotchiness of it isn’t a big deal. It is going to get full of horse sweat anyways.
I wanted to make it fancy, so I used a stamp I purchased for a cosplay on the leather across the front and on the sides. You have to wet the leather, then stamp it and allow to dry.
I also purchased two buckle sets for each side. I orginally was going to use the concho in the center on the bottom sides for where you put the bit. The posts were not long enough, though, so that was plan B.
Once I had the two sides cut out and the top stamped, I glued the thinner leather to the heavy leather, smoothed any edges that needed it, and then waited for the glue to dry. I made sure I had all the hardware in place, as some of it needed to be there when glued down.
Once dry I used my 4-hole punch and punched all the sewing holes. I took the pieces to a volleyball tournament, and sat in my hotel room, watched the streamed games and sewed up the pieces with two needles and dark brown wax thread.
Once the pieces were sewed up I burnished the edges, dyed the edges and the pale colored leather with a dark brown stain, and then put on a finishing sheen. I buffed that when they were dry.
I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt. Getting the right hardware is always a challenge, and a spendy bit. The buckles tend to be as expensive as the leather.
Now to get it shipped off to my sister in a timely manner! She has probably waited long enough…
