I have been pursuing the wrong type of saddle, so the western saddle project has been shelved and placed on temporary hiatus.
Saddle, Try #3, is now an English saddle. The first photo shows the saddle for fitting before the second baking.
The second photo displays the underneath part of the saddle after the second baking.
The third is the current state of the saddle, after being covered in leather. That's the smoothest seam I have done. The leather is actually cut in 3 pieces, and has already been glued down. This is unbelievably super easy now. This first layer of leather actually strengthens the saddle tree so I plan to cover even the bottom-most portion, the white clay that you see here.This thin layer of leather will not be seen as it will be covered by a thicker darker brown leather. I don't know why I was so careful about not getting glue on the top side of the leather--I forgot that another piece of leather was going to be glued on top of it. It's good practice though to work neatly.
The last photo shows the paper towel pattern of the saddle flap that I will cut out today. The soldier ape fits on it perfectly. I can hardly contain my excitement.
