Our seat had the original stitching around the edge. It is a bit frayed, but we decided to keep it original. The seat was so dry it made crackly sounds when it was touched. We treated it on three separate days with Obenauf’s Heavy Duty Leather Preservative. What a difference. The seat feels much softer, and doesn’t try to crack anymore. We also put a dab of this stuff on leather nuts which are in the turning motor.