And Success! (Kinda)

Yesterday's bit of tack work really bummed me out. So I threw it away and started over.

I am so much happier with the results!

I took my time and it really paid off. I am finally figuring out when the leather is too thick and when it is too thin. I think I found my perfect happy medium with this noseband! Woo Hoo!

Also, I have been working with the pounce wheel and am finally figuring it out. First of all, you don't need to put all of your weight and then some onto it. I don't know why I thought I had to be so strong? I lightened up and it helped out a ton! Also, I realized that I was holding it at an angle, which I think was contributing to my non-straight lines. As you can see, much better!

And (wait for it....) KEEPERS! I think my first attempt at a keeper turned out great! I think it might be too thick, but I am still pretty happy with it. It really does improve the overall look for the bridle.

And even though it isn't that neat, I have finally figured out how to bend my buckles without breaking them! Overall, I am very please with my new noseband :).

Failure

With every success comes failure. At least that is the way it is looking around here...

Once I got my halters figured out and under control, bridles are now proving to be a problem. I started my first one yesterday. My pounce wheel does not like me. I can't figure out how to practice with it without just ruining a bunch of leather lace. But, I definitely need some practice. Then, even though I KNOW where the buckles go on a bridle, somehow when I was attaching the headstall to my noseband, it got twisted around! So now my stitching is messy and my noseband buckle goes the wrong way. I haven't decided if I want to give up and start over or just go with it and use this bridle for practice. Either way, hopefully I will have a nice, correctly finished one soon!