Hooked wool saddle pads aren't exclusively useful for long and grueling rides. Because of their beauty and comfort, hooked wool saddle pads can be used as decorative accessories around the living room or across a saddle stand to support your prized show saddle.
Things You'll Need
- Burlap
- 9 feet of stitching cord (approximately)
- Tapestry or darning needle.
- 5 lbs of wool roving (approximately)
- Latch hook
Instructions
Measure and cut the burlap to the desired size plus two inches for a seam (average full-sized rectangle western saddle-pad measurements are 56 by 64 inches when flat [28 by 32 inches folded]). Do not measure the burlap to the actual saddle as you are likely to make the saddle-pad too small for proper use.
Fold a two inch seam on the under side of the burlap and hand stitch the seam down with the stitching cord and darning/tapestry needle--this will provide better edge strength and prevent fraying.
Split a length of roving into two or three strands--depending on the thickness. It should be thin enough to fit the latch-hook and pull through the burlap, but also maintain some bulk.
Run your hands down the lengths of roving to check the evenness of the roving.
Place the burlap across your knees (seam side up) with the smooth strand of roving on top of the burlap. One hand and the latch hook should be underneath the burlap.
Push the latch hook up through a corner of the burlap and hook the wool around the head of the hook. Leave roughly one to one and one-half inches as a tail, close the latch hook around the roving.
Draw the wool roving down through the burlap. You should leave half of the tail of the roving on the top of the burlap. The loop on the underside of the burlap should be as tall as the tail on the top of the burlap.
Release the wool from the hook.
Continuing along the edge of the burlap, push the latch hook up through the burlap again (leaving one-half to three-quarters of an inch of burlap between the hook and the last loop). Slide the roving into the latch hook, leaving an inch or more of roving between the hook and the last loop.
Draw the hook and roving back through the burlap, creating a one-half to three-quarters inch loop on the bottom and top of the burlap.
Repeat Steps 9 and 10 around the edge of the burlap until you have rimmed the burlap with wool. If your roving ends before you complete the row, use step seven to start a new strand where the old strand ended.
Repeat Steps 6 through 10 for the second row, starting the row just inside the outer row. Maintain the established one-half or three-quarters inch spacing between rows that you held between loops. Continue working until the burlap is covered on both sides with wool and the saddle-blanket is complete.
If the roving is not even, continue to run your hands down the roving to smooth it out (be careful to not break the strand by pulling too hard). Gently tug snarls and lumps out of the roving so that you have a smooth piece of wool.