Little Projects

Olivia   July 1, 2016   19 Comments on Little Projects

Sheepskin

I bought a sheepskin seat saver for my endurance saddle. It was a little too small so I ended up cutting the elastic in the middle, adding a 4-5″ strip of elastic, and sewing it back together. It totally worked and I got the sheepskin onto the saddle. I can only hope my stitching holds up to the friction of riding.

IMG_7480

Stirrup Turners

I was inspired by Liz’s post on making her own stirrup turners to finally make my own. I actually bought the Cashel Stirrup turners’s last year before my Quicksilver ride, but never ended up using them as they weren’t wide enough for my  stirrup bars. I then lost them and recently found them when cleaning out the old trailer to sell it. So I decided to repurpose the parts in making my own stirrup turners.

I didn’t have the tubular webbing that Liz used, but I did have a nylon lined stirrup leather that I had been using as a jumping neck strap. So I cut a strip of the leather, widened the stirrup holes with a drill, stuck the bolt through the hole, added the pipe, put the whole thing through the fender and then put the bolt through the next hole and screwed on the nut with an electric screwdriver.

stirrupturners

I tried these on a really brief ride and they work great at turning the stirrups. I think they might rub mi ankle though so I am going to see if I can add some sheepskin. I also need to tape them in place as the cut stirrup leather is significantly narrower than my fenders so my stirrup bars are now too wide and slide across the turners. I hope it works though.

Stall Signs and Fly Bonnets

If you won a prize in my contest, don’t worry: I am actually working on them. It’s just a slow process as I have a few of other personal projects going on right now (like the sheepskin and fixing Nilla’s endurance bonnet. I did get one ear bonnet finished and mailed out. No pics though as I don’t want to ruin the surprise. I have started some stall signs as well. Here’s a sneak preview of one of them in progress (not finished).

stallsign

 

19 thoughts on “Little Projects”

  1. Teresa

    I love how handy you are. I still have my sewing machine from 30 years ago that I use to repair blankets and stuff. I recently adjusted both horses’ fly sheets but it’s nothing compared to what you do!

    2. Carly

      Same, same, same. But then I remember that I’m incapable of doing anything crafty and just admire other people’s work instead.

  4. Appydoesdressage

    I really like your DIY posts. I learned to sew by repairing Apps (many destroyed) blankets and it has done me well but you are much more creative than I am.

    1. Olivia Post author

      I don’t think my sewing machine could handle horse blankets. Thankfully ours haven’t destroyed any yet.

  8. KateRose

    You are so flippin handy! I have no patience and terrible hand-eye coordination (which might improve with patience haha)

  10. Liz

    Dude..great call on the sheepskin! I bet it holds up just fine. If not, super easy fix!

    And FWIW, the tubular webbing, if you wanted to go that route, is sold by the foot at REI and other climbing-type stores. It’s literally like $0.18-0.41/foot. I went that route with a dowel cut to the proper length and inserted into the webbing because I didn’t want a bolt head or nut jabbing my ankle (because I’m kind of a wussy baby about that kind of thing lol!).

    1. Olivia Post author

      My concern with that was sewing the tubular webbing. I’d rather not have the integrity of my stirrups depend on my sewing ability.

  11. Paola

    It’s pretty awesome that you fix and make things on your own! They’re all looking so good! Someday I hope to have the time to do that. Maybe during the long Swedish winter I will!

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