Studio Update: January - Side Saddle Set

Somewhere in the process of ordering the cantering mule by Sue Kern, I decided she would be ridden sidesaddle in all her english classes. I'm not sure where the idea came from, but it probably stems from my need to do everything extensively out of the ordinary. Sidesaddle mule it is. 

I started plugging away at the Pelham bridle right after finishing that Portuguese bridle I put together with Grace, because amazingly I wasn't tired of double reins and black lace yet. 

This project was made more stressful, however, by the fact that it had to be specially fitted for her. This meant I could only use a body mold for so many things before I had to build it on her!

However, I was able to sneak some measurements and do most of the dirty work on her original mold. 

Browband has since been fixed and moved lower, I promise

In the end it turned out fine!

Trying to tame four spider reins wasn't all that easy,

But they, too, eventually came together to create a really nice end result! 

Looks like my girl might pull off side saddle after all! 

However, next was the saddle, which I admit I put off for a week after finishing the bridle. I did not want to try and make new pattern pieces and fit a type of saddle I had never made before.

I decided to wing it and just dive in head first.

Still not entirely sure what I was doing, I whipped out some of the new sheepskin hide I bought and created some panels. As you can tell by the bumps in that panel, it took some getting used to. 

That lumpy monster panel was ditched and created a new, never fear

But it turned out just fine in the the end. 

I was worried about adding a sandwich bag, as many reference pictures of people in competition seemed to not have them. My personal preference won over, however, so on it went. 

And I'm happy I did!

The finished product is much better than I honestly expected. I'm hoping to sculpt a doll which will end up covering half of it anyway, but it feels good to know that underneath it at least looks accurate!

Unashamedly proud of myself on this one.