Sewing a Special Slipcover

I know I've been gone for quite some time and there are many things that have happened.  I'll get you all caught up on them intermittently as we go forward, rather than try to go back and post them in chronological order. Life keeps marching on!

My sewing machines are the things that haven't been running much in the past few months.  My  time & creativity has been put to use on other types of projects. But it was time to get my hands back on fabric and get some balance going again.  And, even more importantly, the project needed to be for ME!

I was checking out one of my favorite horse tack shop's consignment area, looking for needed items and great deals, when I ran across this pad. 

The sheepskin on the back was in very good condition. The rest of the pad was a little rough. One of the problems with these pad are the textile difference between the fabric and the binding. When the pads are washed, the shrinkage rates are different and the pads starts to roll. And seeing as it's a horse pad, it gets washed a lot!

Once you remove the old binding, the curl relaxes and the pad is ready for renovation.  This particular pad is not super thick, making it a great candidate for a 'slipcover' on the outside. I found this pretty, bright floral pre-quilted fabric at JoAnn Fabrics. Perfect!  

It took some careful fitting, machine sewing to quilt the layers together and a bit of hand stitching on the tricky parts and I have a great looking new slipcovered dressage pad!  One of the hardest decisions was what color binding to use.  I prewashed fabric to prevent the same curling from happening again.

I still need to make and attach new billet keeper straps. Future plans include matching sport boots for Stormy 

and eventually, a fun shadbelly coat for me using the floral fabric for contrast. 

Feels great being back in the Studio!