2017 wasn't necessarily productive, but it was exciting.
I think by now we've all figured out that I am not a particularly faithful blogger. We can't all be good at everything, right? Big, exciting things have been happening over here, though, so I think it's time for another State of the Studio address.
Here's round three of the NMTM winners! Hopefully we'll make it through the remaining thirty or so of the finished projects.
Safety first! The next post in the Essential Skills series deals with some common safety issues in tack making.
Yesterday's Essential Skills post covered dyeing, and there's SO MUCH to say about it. I almost included the following, but decided that a separate post was warranted. So here it is - the postscript.
Most tack makers have a similar progression: we begin with whatever we can scavenge and make, moving on to better materials as our skills outgrow cobbled together supplies. One of the natural parts of this progression is realizing that you cannot rely on found leather. There comes a point when you decide that you need to take the jump and buy natural leather. Unless you intend to only make light oil western pleasure saddles forever, you'll need some dye to go along with it.
