What Do Wednesday: DIY

Very simple post today, with a simple question. 

I know quite a few of you that have used your crafty talents and actually made or modified some things for your horses. Amanda dyed her saddle (Carley dyed some things too). Emma made a hackamore (wicked cool btw) and Olivia makes a ton of stuff, most notably, bonnets!

I too have some crafty talents, and besides painting I really love to sew, especially  by hand. Machines are just too much to deal with and I can hand sew stuff while watching TV or listening to a book on tape in my BED. Its amazing. 

We all know matching everything is of upmost importance and is absolutely necessary, so my labor is definitely worth it.

Jk, but it is cute and I loved how it looked in the ring this weekend. Plus, I am now in a place with SIXTY boarders, so having all my stuff look unique and have my colors on it helps me 

1) keep track of it  

2) hopefully keep people from stealing my shit

The first thing I ever made/modified was a bonnet for Yankee. He has wee little ears and all the bonnets you can buy are way too big for him. I was broke and had no money for a custom, so I made a pattern for his ears with fabric, ripped the seams out of the ears on the black bonnet and then re-sewed by hand to his exact ears. Later, as in this year, I added the teal for B, but I sometimes throw it on Yanks when the flies are really bad. He looks dashing in it still!

I did the same thing for my Secret Santa bonnet I got last year (:D) in the ears, and then this year I added a string of red rhinestones to match his leasers XC colors. This was more difficult and I admittedly did a pretty shitty job, last second, so I will be redoing it, but it looked cute for one show

Mahm these rhinestones are not straight, this is unacceptable

Also, I added teal piping to B's fenwick bonnet (aka magical hat) by hand, after the trial and error with Yankee's back bonnet. With Yankee's I learned what stitch works best and how thick to cut the fabric. Most recently, I've been dabbling in adding color to my boring and plain Back on Track pads.

B was not intersted in photos, but sniffing the new arena and the dirt that is about to be replaced

This project has been a BITCH, since BOT pads are super thick. It probably takes me about 2 hours or longer per pad to sew, by hand. I generally do this on nights I have "free" (aka putting off homework), sitting in front of netflix watching shows I've already seen. 

After finding the piping fabric (walmart) and big ole needles that could handle the thickness (Michael's) and thread (wax thread or doubled up embroidery floss) I played around with a good stitch and where the fabric was easiest to pierce. I did my dressage pad first, and I'm still not 100% sold on the color combo. The stitches would be easy to rip out if I ever change my mind, but I definitely prefer the black and teal best. I chose black thread, because our colors are technically black and teal, and liked the contrast, even though it was on a white pad. 

After I figured that out, I did my black jumper pad, which was actually easier to sew than the white for some reason. I was able to do in one night and my fingers weren't too sore afterwards! After the success of that, I did one for my leaser in her XC colors!

I spy helper dog

Helper dog not included

THEN, because I am moving soon and already moved the horses, I have been going through my giant pile of crap that I have accumulated over the years, deciding what to throw out, what to keep and what to try and sell. One of my most favorite pads I tried to sell once, but it never sold, and I didn't have the heart to throw it out because it was almost brand-new and my parents bought it as a gift for me a couple years ago when I still evented... Problem was, the spine pressed down on B's withers too much since he is an actual shark, and it cause him pain when I used it. 

Then I thought, I BET I can sew in a wither relief. I grabbed the box cutter and never looked back. It sliced through the thick pad with no issue and after winging the measurement, I knew there was no turning back. After I cut it, I applied some glue I bought for fabric specifically, to the frayed ends. The intent was to keep all the padding and frayed shit together so that when I sewed the piping on everything would stay thicksolidtight.

After using the boxcutter

I then hand stitched (ALSO A BITCH) the opening with the scraps of fabric I had left to keep the glued edges from rubbing on the withers. You might not see the fabric while tacked up, but its really there just as protection for the skin. It took me almost an hour to do this small area, simply because that pad is SO thick. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but works for schooling.

After glueing and sewing

There are others things I have done in the past too, like sew up my own blankets, make stall signs, bumper pads for my trailer, & make my own polos and halter tube sets. Additionally, I wouldn't call this crafty, just genius, but I also use a pantyliner on the inside of my helmet to gather sweat and makeup so it doesn't ruin the helmet. Lastly, I am still working on making a cooler for winter. Its going to take ages, and all I have right now is the wool cutout.

Stained, painted and glued; The "Yankee" is now red

Did this using pool worm floaties and silver duct tape

So what I want to know is if any of you have special or fun DIY projects you've done for the barn or for your horse, and explain the process a little! please tell me, what do!?