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Made my first leather holster

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:35 pm
by Dirthawking
Made this up for my Sig P250c. First holster I have ever made. Messed up on one of the belt loops with the stitching grover. Over all I am happy with it. Retention at this point is very tight, but will loosen up some as all leather holsters do.

Decided to go with black, as the current belt I use is also black.

Thought I would show the step by step in pictures.

Cut out my patern:

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Glued before hole punch and stitching:

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Once it was glued, I used a dremel to sand all the edges down to where I wanted them.
Stitching hole patern layed and punched:

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Stitched:

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Belt loop holes cut, stitched. You can see where my grooving tool slipped and cut off patern:

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Dyed it black and burnished all edges:

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Short jump later. Wet molding:

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And finally a finished molded holster. In this picture I had not buffed and sealed it yet. Did not get all the definition I was really wanting. But it is for EDC of my concealed carry so not line anybody sees it.

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Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 6:37 pm
by WildBill
Very nice work! Especially for a first try. :thumbs2:

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:09 pm
by jwine
That's a good looking holster, especially for your first try. Keep it up

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:48 pm
by Oldgringo
WildBill wrote:Very nice work! Especially for a first try. :thumbs2:
:iagree: Good Job!

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:14 pm
by Big Bronze Rim
Well done! I have made a ton of all kydex and kydex leather hybrids, but never an all leather one like this. I may have to give it a go.

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:22 pm
by RoyGBiv
No way that was your first time... That looks GREAT.!

Well done, you!

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 4:52 pm
by goose
Very well done!

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 5:30 pm
by Paul's Shield
I don't know anything about leatherworks, but how did you wet mold the holster? with a replica pistol or the real thing? I just have no clue, but he11, you did a great job.

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:45 pm
by WildBill
Paul's Shield wrote:I don't know anything about leatherworks, but how did you wet mold the holster? with a replica pistol or the real thing? I just have no clue, but he11, you did a great job.
I was wondering the same.

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 7:55 pm
by MoJo
Excellent work. First time out? Either you've made other leather goods or, you are a quick study. I have seen people pay good money for holsters that didn't look that good. Keep it up, this may be the start of a cottage industry for you. :tiphat:

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:09 pm
by Dirthawking
Thanks guys. It was fun to make, and I am sure I will make a few more just for myself as time passes. Already planning on making one for my Brother-in-laws Glock.

Lets just say my Google-fu was strong. Lots of research.

Paul's Shield wrote:I don't know anything about leatherworks, but how did you wet mold the holster? with a replica pistol or the real thing? I just have no clue, but he11, you did a great job.
I used the real thing. Just gave it a good coat of gun oil before, and a good wipe down and oil after. Some makers do use a blue gun to do it. Just did not feel like buying one to make one or two holsters.

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:10 am
by XinTX
VERY nice. Especially for a first effort.

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 10:44 am
by Abraham
Your holster is a beauty.

It also looks like it took a lot of work to make.

Any idea how many hours went into making it?

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:19 pm
by Mahzik
WildBill wrote:
Paul's Shield wrote:I don't know anything about leatherworks, but how did you wet mold the holster? with a replica pistol or the real thing? I just have no clue, but he11, you did a great job.
I was wondering the same.

I've done some leather work over the years but I'm not claiming to be an expert. I took a holster making class at Tandy Leather a year or so ago. Their suggestion was to wet mold to the gun in the Ziplock freezer type bag. I tried it and it seemed to work well, but YMMV. I would think using an "well oiled" gun would allow excess gun oil to soak into the fibers of the wet leather leather and soften it to some extent. Most of the leather holster/belt makers' web sites that I've looked at strongly discourage using most type of leather conditioners and treatments for this very reason.

Re: Made my first leather holster

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:56 pm
by Dirthawking
Abraham wrote:Your holster is a beauty.

It also looks like it took a lot of work to make.

Any idea how many hours went into making it?

If I had to guess as I worked on it off and on for a few days. I would say around 10-15 hours. But some of that is drawing and measuring for patterns.