Western glass etched glasses

Here is my latest western themed project. Glass etched western glasses. Each glass has a different picture: a bucking bronco, an Indian chief, a saddle, a steer, a cowboy sitting on the fence rail, a desert seen, and a cowboy on a horse.

Silver heart spur bookends

Several years ago I bought a pair of silver heart spurs to make western bookends. Just this afternoon, I finally got around to drilling the holes and putting them together. It is rough cut wood and slightly bowed. The spurs are rustic and the hearts have already started to turn. It does not have the shiny polished look of the set I made for my friend. Still, it has the silver hearts and what girl doesn’t like hearts?

Yes, I know, western bookends and I have no horse books between them. While I don’t own many, I’ve read some of the best - John Lyons’ training books and Monty Robert’s Join-Up and his Shy-Boy, the story of the mustang tamed in the wild.

Western vest and boot sewing kit

I made this little western suede vest and boot for a friend. The little boot is a scissor holder and the vest has pockets inside for thread and a little pin and needle cushion.

Woodburned Horse-head spoon

Here is one of the woodburned horse-head spoons I have done. I can burn a horse spoon for folks at $2.50 a spoon, plus shipping. Since each one is done individually, the look will change slightly. Some folks have told me these are too pretty to use for cooking, but at only $2.50 a spoon, you can buy one for looks and for cooking for only $5. :)

Riding jacket and skirt

I have just finished making a riding jacket and skirt. The jacket has pretty feminine puffed gathered sleeves. They do not show up too well in the angle of the photo. My mind was not at all on these pictures being taken when they were and the background is poor as well. Maybe I can get some better pictures later. The coat has the splits in the back for properly hanging in the saddle. I thought of using a wool gabardine, but wanted something washable since the caot will not only be worn riding, but used as a dress coat as well. I made it from a "linen look" cloth, a rayon/polyester mix. I like how it looks like linen and yet does not wrinkle hardly at all. It is very easy care and wear.

The skirt was made from some cotton broadcloth which was on sale and I am paying for it by having to iron it after each wearing. It wrinkles terribly. So much 1800's time period sewing has nearly made me adverse to using synthetic cloth, but the cotton wrinkles so, that I may make the skirt out of a rayon next time. It is a complete circle skirt, full enough for cross-saddle riding and nice enough for side-saddle riding. Kayla C. is always making circle skirts and I used her instructions for making this one. Some of her skirts are pictured on her blog. Here: http://custerfamilyfarm.com/blog1/index.php?blog=3&title=my_new_skirt&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#trackbacks

and here:http://custerfamilyfarm.com/blog1/index.php?blog=3&title=lots_of_pictures&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#trackbacks

Ruffled western skirt

Recently, I made a western skirt from some very light weight denim. After cutting the yoke and basting the skirt on, I did not like how deep or pointed the yoke came. I took the skirt off and cut the yoke higher and with less of a curve. This altered the hem-line of the skirt a bit making it un-even, but all the ruffles on the bottom helps to hide this defect. The belt loops also come to the traditional western yoke shaped points.

Western dress and vest

About ten years ago I received a western catalog with a nice burgundy dress and western vest; I wanted to make something similar. I purchased some burgundy cloth and found some drapery/upholstery cloth with the right pattern for the vest, and never made it until just a couple of weeks ago.

The upholstery cloth had a suitable texture in the pattern design part, but the green on each side had a texture like carpet. I cut it off and sewed black cloth on each side and cut my vest fronts from this. The back of the vest is solid black.

The catalog picture was a two piece dress with the blouse having hidden buttons except for the top one which was silver, as most western buttons are. I used a hidden button blouse pattern and used matching silver buttons on the vest and the top blouse button.

To make it look western, it really needs black cowgirl boots, but I haven’t any black ones and my cream ones do not match. I am thus obliged to wear my burgundy/wine lace up boots. These, along with my re-enacting hat, gives the clothing more of a Victorian western look than a modern western look. I plan to make a matching western purse out of some of the vest upholstery cloth. Lord willing, when this is done, I will post pictures.