Posted by dravon in Pipeline Update | Comments Off on Pipeline Update: “Nottingham Saddle Cover” pattern in development
Pipeline Update: “Nottingham Saddle Cover” pattern in development
Been a while! Life has been quite busy, including moving in some new directions which means much less type for blogging. While I’ve been blogging since 2004, I was still a bit taken off guard by just how much time it demanded. Apparently when I was doing all those post mortems (project reviews) along with pictures, I didn’t have much else to do and so it didn’t quite register just how time consuming it was. Ugh. Trying to grow two businesses at the same time is darn hard, plus all the other stuff I’ve got going on. My educational blogging took a serious back seat, but I’m alive and I wanted to send some updates on just what I’ve been up to.
It took a while after the move to a different part of the state, but I’ve found a new horse back riding instructor who’s helping me go in new directions and isn’t in the least afraid to say “You’re going too slow!!” I’ve also got a sewing assistant who comes over once a week to help ensure that I’m getting stuff done. Best investment EVAHHHH! Because of her, one of the many projects off the “to do done when I can” pile and now in the active pipeline is this one:
Create a “Medieval” Saddle Cover Pattern
A friend of mine brought the above pictured item over to me and asked if I could re-create it for her. Being ever so speedy (not), I got right on that. I did make a muslin replica of it and then returned the original to her. The one pictured here is a stage prop from what I was told was Erol Flynn’s 1938 “Adventures of Robin Hood” but I couldn’t see it in the movie. Doesn’t mean it’s not there, just that I didn’t see it when I watched the movie. I have dubbed it “The Nottingham Saddle Cover“. It’s a saddle cover for a standard western saddle, allowing the rider to “transform” their modern saddle into a “medieval” saddle. In a perfect world, everyone can afford the real thing, but in a not so perfect world I think a saddle cover is a nice compromise. It’s also perfect for those like me who don’t have their own horse and therefore have no personal tack, but still want their livery or equestrian garb to work with their heraldry or whatever. Just to be clear, this piece is not intended as a historically accurate anything – it is a theatrical item.
The gold velvet original one has no straps or anything to hold it on, other than the rider’s weight. My prototype also had no straps. The original saddle base was lined with heavy denim only, while I chose a combination of leather and a very heavy stabilizer with a cheap lightweight denim that I had in my stash. I was concerned about a number of things including:
- fitting over a standard western saddle
- seat sliding around under the rider
- ability to use the stirrups safely/without impediment
- experimenting with false pommel/cantle materials
Once the prototype was assembled, it was time to give a test. I did not have a western saddle at home to make sure it even came close to fitting, so considering that, I was beyond happy with it for a prototype.
Overall, it fit very well though it did have a couple of cosmetic issues which I’ve already marked down to fix. I’ll be adding a strap which can be tied under the fenders to keep the drape in position. Without a rider, it floated above the saddle but with a rider it snugged down pretty well. With the seat assembly tied into place, it would be perfect. Without the ties, I had to keep snugging it down and that’s a distraction I don’t want. The front drape had a tendency to wrap around my leg as I rode into the wind, but I imagine having a drape with any sort of weight to it would help ameliorate this. My drape is about as light as it gets since I did nothing with it.
I also used leather on the underside of the seat, allowing the saddle cover to find a good grip on the saddle underneath – especially when I sat in it. Perfect! No matter what I did, even riding the poles or barrels at a gallop, that cover did not move any more than the saddle underneath it did. YAY!! Also, because the pommel was a stiff interfacing it was still soft enough that if I had to I could grab onto the horn without issue. The fabric and interfacing crumpled, and then with a bit of attention returned to an acceptable shape. Safety confirmed.
I was also happy to see that the length of the drape surrounding the cover seat was just perfect for typical adult stirrup lengths. I seriously wore the wrong shirt to test the cover in because the back of the shirt hooked over the cantle and made it really hard to tell what it was doing in the pictures. My instructor had a broken saddle that she gave me so that I can fix the fit so that the pommel and the cantle are more likely to go up straight like I want them to in order to emulate the look of medieval saddles.
I’m now in the redrafting phase and will make a second prototype which I expect will be just as ugly but serviceable for the duration of the test. Once I’ve finalized the pattern, I’ll be sending that off to be digitized while I make the pretty-pretty for the pattern cover and as my “you are a goddess for loaning me the original and having the patience beyond a Saint while I took a few years to make this for you” gift.
I’ve gotten some GREAT feedback on both the Saddle Blanket Drape as well the Caparison patterns. I’m glad you guys are liking those. Hopefully, this can be added to the collection in the next few months. *fingers crossed*
Until next time,
Happy Sewing!
– Dravon
