30 calendar days. Started 6 Dec 05, finished 6 Jan 06. The book and video that Dusty made show a very logical and methodical method to the project. No wasted effort by getting ahead of yourself and having to undo something. Basically, it involves making all the little pieces first, then the small assemblies, and then putting the whole thing together. As someone who tends to jump ahead and leave things half done (that black sporran in the picture is still missing the tassles 6 months after making it) I really tried to keep to the step by step approach. I'm glad I did, because in the end it was faster.

I worked about 2-3 hours in the evenings, and usually 6-8 hours on the weekends. Being the holiday season, I had more time off than usual which helped. Dusty told me--when you get to work, don't try to make a saddle. Make a strap this day, and cover a stirrup the next day. Keep it in small bites, and it won't seem so overwhelming.

My wife would say that I was obsessed with this project. I might not use such a strong word, but I was pretty focused on it.