Stitchwitch Leather Works

01/22/2025

Billets looking worn and cracked? Are your favorite holes looking less than round? Billets are an important part of your safety in the saddle, and should be inspected regularly and replaced when needed.

We hand make our bespoke billets out of high quality leather, customizing color, width and length to customer preference.

If your billets need replacing, treat yourself to a pair of “Beth Billets” - you won’t regret it!

01/14/2025

It’s - and honestly, for us, every day is a tack repair day! We wanted to take the opportunity this lovely Tuesday to remind you of all the services we offer - and share some repairs from 2024! What do we do here at Stitchwitch? Well…

💫English saddle billet replacement (long and short) with high quality, hand made billets

💫Saddle and tack dyeing & seat patching including our very aesthetically pleasing full seat patches

💫Saddle and tack cleaning and conditioning - including de-molding services!

💫English saddle tree/gullet plate inspections and repairs including: channel alterations, removing air panels to accommodate wool flocking, knee pad refurbishment or replacement, converting saddles from static blocks to Velcro patch, flap wear leathers and more!

💫Tack and saddle repairs including restitching broken threads, nail head replacements, stirrup leather keeper repairs/replacement, shortening or altering straps, repairing keepers and more!

💫Custom leather work and items: belts, bridles, reins, collars… the list goes on!

Have items in need of refurbishment or repair, or have a dream item you’d like to see created? Contact us here, or by emailing beth (at) stitchwitchleather (dot) com 🎉

01/07/2025

Happy friends!

Today’s repair is a bit of a mirror image of last week’s change - last week we removed a point and v billet set up and replaced it with straight hanging standard billets. This week, we did the opposite! This saddle came in to add a point billet, and got a fantastic make over as well 😍

This saddle left not only with a fresh billet configuration and a set of fabulous “Beth Billets” but also got a makeover with some dye and conditioning.

We love helping saddles work better for horse and rider, and performing makeovers just like this one 😊 Now is a great time to get your saddle on the list for repairs, or get a worn saddle looking show ring ready with a fresh layer of dye!

Contact us today to get on the schedule!

12/31/2024

Many dressage saddles, in particular, are made with a point and v-billet system. This type of billeting doesn’t always work for every horse, and in today’s we reused the existing V-billet to hang two straight hanging billets.

Have a saddle that is not quite perfect? Together with your saddle fitter, we can help!

12/08/2024

Fun fact:

Beth is not only is a repair master - she also creates! Here are just a few images of items that have been created for our wonderful clients; first up we have a lovely raised bridle with a unique crown adjustment for the cheeks and noseband for a streamlined look on the horse’s head.

Beth also makes reins! Beth’s hand made reins are the ultimate gift to your hands, and can be made custom to your preferences.

Need an existing pair of reins altered? Beth does that!

Favorite pair of reins sustained some damage, broke a keeper or came unlaced? We can help!

Pictured in this post are a pair of reins made here in our shop; hand sewn and hand finished, you will be hard put to find anything that compares!

11/27/2024

Happy Thanksgiving from Stitchwitch Leather Works!

We are thankful for YOU, our fantastic customers.

We find so much joy in the work we do, and we are lucky to have such an amazing customer base bringing us new challenges and allowing us to keep doing what we do best.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday,
Beth and apprentices Ashley and Tasha

11/19/2024

It’s 🥳🥳

Take a look at this dressage saddle makeover!
The first two photos show what we started with - scroll to see the transformation 😍

We started with a little facelift on the exterior, removed the static knee blocks and replaced them with Velcro for ultimate customization, and finally, added dees to the pommel area. We think this one looks so fresh!

Have a saddle in need of a facelift? Contact us today!

11/12/2024

Happy friends!

Are your knee blocks not quite Goldilocks approved? Too big? Too small?

We can swap out your static blocks - on a jump or dressage saddle - for Velcro, and can even build custom blocks for you if desired!

Stop fighting with your blocks and contact us today!

11/07/2024

As the colder weather sets in, take the time to check over your tack for worn areas as well as give it a good clean. Do your billets look like the ones on the right of the first two photos? Time to replace!

As Apprentice Ashley says, friends don’t let friends ride in unsafe billets!

Find that your billets are looking rough? We hand make our bespoke billets out of high quality leather, customizing color, width and length to customer preference.

Contact us for more information!

10/29/2024

Happy all!

We wanted to continue with last week’s theme, looking at an interchangeable gullet bar saddle. These saddles are held together with screws, which means that an important part of maintaining these saddles is to ensure that the screws are tight!

Shown in this image is a (very) loose gullet bar. The gullet bar shapes the head of the saddle over the horses withers, which makes it a very important part of the fit, comfort and longevity of your saddle.

We at Stitchwitch suggest avoiding the power tools and recommend hand tightening to ensure you don’t strip the screw channels in these saddles, and as we showed last week, make sure those points get back in their pockets before putting in the final screws!

Fall is a great time to inspect your tack for issues like this, as well as for wear and tear, and winter can be a great time to get those items in for repairs or refurbishment without losing too much training time.

Reach out to us today to get your saddle or tack repairs on the schedule!

10/22/2024

Happy everyone!

This week we wanted to share a tip for anyone with an interchangeable gullet saddle.

We used this saddle to illustrate a common, easy to overlook error that can be made when the saddle is put back together after adjusting the gullet bar. While the saddle can be screwed back together (incorrectly) at this point, make sure the tree points make it into their pockets!

Tree point pockets help protect the tree and important tree point from wear and tear from being exposed, and stabilize the tree and panel so they fit snuggly together and work in harmony on your horse’s back.

While it can take a little work to get the saddle back together properly with the points in their pockets, ensuring they are in the proper place is an important step for your saddle’s longevity as well as comfort and correct fit for both you and your horse.

Have a saddle with an interchangeable gullet? Don’t forget to check your point pockets!

10/15/2024

Happy - our first after some time off!!

Saddles need maintenance as they age, and your saddle fitter is an important part of ensuring your saddle stays in top condition. In this case, the fitter was able to identify that this saddle had degradation to the point pads of the tree, meaning that the plastic, leather or other “padding” material on the points of the tree had met their life expectancy and needed to be replaced. We were happy to help with the repair!

You’ll see in the first photo, that this tree has nothing on the end of the white tree points, which leaves the saddle with no transition or padding for both the tree and the pockets the points live in as a part of the saddle panel. Without the important transition pieces, point pockets and panels can be damaged, stretched or make irksome noise as things that shouldn’t move do so.

Subsequent photos show the evolution of the new, stiffened leather point pads we added. With billets replaced, this saddle is ready to go back together.

The new points will help stabilize and pad the transition of the tree against the panels, helping prevent wear and tear to the panel and the tree point pocket itself. This fix also provides a much nicer experience for the horse and rider as saddles with point pad degradation are often “floppy” to toss on a horse versus being able to be placed smoothly with no folding under on the horse’s back.

Finally, this saddle was unique in the way it comes together: many saddles are fully sewn front and back by hand. This saddle had an interesting hook and loop holding the rear panels to the tree - a neat solution we don’t see very often!

10/11/2024

Just like this Wolfang dressage saddle, we are back in business and better than ever after a brief sabbatical!

This monoflap dressage was losing its sweat panels, the leather between the horse and the girth straps, as the leather tore around its stitching. We removed the failing pieces and replaced them with robust new leather using a combination of hand sewing and machine sewing.

This saddle is ready to go back to work - and so is Beth! Have saddles or tack in need of repairs, enhancements or improvements? Contact us today!

07/03/2024

🥰 We love seeing our creations out in the world!

Enjoying the beautiful weather in CL104 and a matching custom bridle from Stitchwitch Leather Works and bit from Safe and Sound!!!

07/02/2024

Beth is taking a short sabbatical from the majority of work from mid July to September.

We are working diligently to get all work in the shop completed before July 13th.

Thank you to all of our wonderful customers for your support and enthusiasm; we look forward to being back and better than ever this fall!

06/25/2024

Happy all!

Most of the time when repairs come in we get the whole saddle, but, thanks to some neat saddle making, the owner of this flex tree saddle was able to send us just the billet configuration off her saddle to create replacement pieces. Can you believe these billets are 20 years old?

To create the replacement pieces, Beth used the originals as a template and compensated for wear and warping from the years of use. The beautiful hand made new billets are off to the owner for re-attachment via Chicago screw; we hope these will serve just as long as their predecessors!

Update: here are some photos of them re-attached!

06/18/2024

It’s friends!

Today’s repair is a glow up for a very old, sentimental saddle that belonged to a customer’s mother.

After years of use, we were happy to de-mold, deep clean, repair and dye this saddle. It’s had a long, full life and was showing the signs of it - and this restoration gives it a whole new life!

It will go back into service to teach the next generation, the original owner’s grandchildren how to ride.

06/12/2024

Happy belated friends! We apologize that our original post seems to have gotten lost on its way to you.

Today’s repair is a pretty subtle issue on the outside; a few missing stitches in a saddle panel. A little issue like this is easy to overlook, but we urge you to check your tack regularly; a small issue now is very fixable, and prevents issues later on!

In this case, a few damaged stitches could have become more than a few at an inopportune time, and could easily be accidentally caught and enlarged by a saddle fitter’s flocking irons. To repair and reinforce the area, Beth removed the flocking from the panel and turned it inside out (the panel is lined in white serge wool) to hand sew in the repair.

Hand sewn repairs are an asset particularly with issues like this, as the stitch used when hand sewing does not ravel if the area is under stress or becomes damaged again. This panel will be re-flocked by a saddle fitter, re-attached and go back to work!

Don’t forget to check your saddle and tack regularly for any issues - and head off bigger ones by getting them on the books today!