I'm staring at a full shoulder of veg tanned leather right now and want to make a few holsters. I made two single mag carriers for a small frame Glock mag to test my measurements, design, and shake some of the rust off (last time I did leather work was when I was a kid). See below, not perfect but they work and were fun and easy to make. Still need to dye and finish them, And that will happen when I make a few more things to experiment with finishing on. See pic below. 

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I need to adjust the stitch line on the back of the mag for future ones. Already fixed it on the pattern. 

My first two "holsters" are going to be a basic OWB slide/lobo style (think rectangle on belt but nothing over the muzzle). Probably one for a 1911 and one for a Glock. Not ideal for carry for multiple reasons, but a quick holster pattern to make and test my layouts on before using up a bunch of leather. 

So what things do you like or dislike in leather holsters?  IWB and OWB.  Do you prefer the slot style of belt attachment, the tunnel and slot style belt attachment, belt snaps/loops, or plastic/metal clips?

Paddle are out for now only because I don't want to buy the hardware. Trying to stay simple, but willing to try new ones. I've only had 2 slot style, belt loop snaps (Glaco summer comfort), and metal/plastic clips. I know I dislike the metal clips (they don't stay on). I've never tried the tunnel style (belt slides through a tunnel and maybe a slot to the rear) so I have no first hand experience with them. 

Might try embossing/stamping some more. I'm not too great at it. Kinda want to try pyography since that seems a bit more up my alley. If I had a tattoo gun that could be cool but too much of an investment for right now. 

Personally I find it difficult to improve on the Milt Sparks Summer Special II.

That looks pretty good.  My Galco Summer Comfort is similar to the summer special.  My biggest gripe about it was the lack of a sweat guard which the SSII has.  Does the re-enforcement piece go all the way around the back and up the sweat guard or just along the holster mouth?

ETA: found a pic of a backside, it's a full wrap up the sweat guard.  Makes sense from a comfort and stiffness standpoint.

Very nice!  Does having the stiffener go that far down help a bunch?  

I wish someone made an IWB leather holster for a Beretta Vertec with a Surefire X300.

I've made a handful of owb leather holsters and a lot of sheaths.  Not too many iwb.  I do  owb a little different. I mold the front piece only. The back is flat. Makes for a very comfy fit. Here's a pic of one I did a while ago.  Guy didn't want a stiffener added. But didn't really need one either. The way I made this one it clicks in like kydex almost.  All sewn by hand etc.

You guys do some nice work.

Do you mold the front piece and then sew together? Just curious how you build the pocket with this method?

I'm curious as well.  I've seen people mold them much like a kydex holster using wet leather and a foam press. 

Also did you groove for the stitches or did you just punch and sew on top of the leather? 

I went on a holster making kick a few years ago.  This was probably my best, although I never carry it.  



Also did some knife sheaths that turned out really nice.  This was probably my best of those:

Nice stuff!

Sorry in advance this got longer than I was planned.

First I cut out the shape I think I'll need for the front except extra material on each side .  Then soak in hot water till no bubbles come out of leather. Then I'll mold the front piece using just my fingers and the butt end  of a sharpie.  While I'm molding I will do against the slide/sights part of the gun first. When I have that nice and tight I'll use a staple gun to hold down the far edge of that side. Then I'll slowly work the middle and then trigger guard side.
    When it's all nice and tight and stapled down on left and right side I will get out the heat gun(old hair dryer that gets very very hot) The faster and hotter you dry the leather the more rigid it will be.
   During the heat gun drying I will take the gun in and out a few times just to make sure everything is going good. When gun is out I will blow hot air into the inside also. When it's almost completely dry I will cut  It out to the shape I want and  dry some more with heat gun. The put it aside and let it air dry the rest of the way.
  The next day I'll dye the inside then blue it to a flat piece of leather.
After glue is dry I will touch up all the edges and get them nice and square, cut in belt loops, make sure everything works good etc.
      Then I'll take my groove cutter and cut a groove where I want stitching.  Then I will punch holes and sew.
    Then I'll finish the edges as good as I can and dye it all black.
When that dries I seal it.  
  When sealer dries I will buff it and apple neutral shoe polish. Then a chunk of beeswax gets rubbed into the edges.
    When all done with everything I'll try it on. Usually supper tight fit and gun won't even come out.  So I'll grab the appropriate thickness plastic bag, put gun in it and then insert into holster over night.
   Try it on again and use it a few times. Usually it breaks in to be just right. (Usually)
   Any other questions feel free to email me I'd be glad to share what I've learned.  I may have skipped a step or two. Im at work and trying to type fast.

Seriously, it's a disease. I did Kydex for quite a while, but the leather is a rabbit hole with no bottom; you'll never have one and NOT think, "Ooh, I could do a bit better on this part-just one more!"
















You know you're really in deep when you buy a new gun, and you're first thought is, "Yay-I get to make more holsters!!" <sigh>


Larry

Contact Ryan grizzle. He might be able to help

I've always been told that leather will move and move the lights switches resulting in dead batteries or burns... if a leather WML friendly holster similar to the VersaMax2 or Summer Special 2 type could be made to work,  i would gladly pay top dollar for such work.

Can't hurt to ask. My summer special clones he made with horsehide are very stiff. Almost kydex stiff.

Slept like ass and woke up early.  Decided to skip making a belt slide type holster and printed off the template for a 1911 pancake holster, Modified it for the 4" slide for my range officer compact, and cut out the leather. 

Hopefully will get it glued together and and the stitch holes punched today. 

You guys make some pretty impressive stuff!

First leather holster complete....almost embarrassed to share this since there's several things wrong with it, but it is functional so there's that....good thing I purchased a cheap shoulder to mess around with this on.

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Boning out the holster is harder than it looks. will take some practice to get good at it. 

Right by the trigger guard I didn't notice a scar on the leather when cutting it out. Oh well first go at this so I don't care too much. 

I also nicked the leather cutting out the belt slots on the forward slot. Again not a biggy because this is my first crack at this, but if I keep this up I'm buying that oval hole punch. 

I did figure out a good rhythm to hand stitch and do a "lock" every stitch. The stitching actually looks pretty good close up. 

I also figured out a good technique for burnishing the edges. These are much nicer than the ones on the mag carriers. Still not perfect but a step in the right direction. 

Was fun doing this and I learned a few things. Hopefully next go around I won't repeat the same mistakes. Will probably do a G19 or G26 for the next one since I don't have a holster for one yet. 

Im going to try to go back to sleep now. Only finished this because I couldn't sleep and had some laundry to get done. 

Thanks.  I need to cut down the front panel a little bit. It covers up too much of the rear of the slide for my tastes. 

If that's your first, then you did Great!!!
 One tip on cutting the belt slots... I use a large hole punch. The size of the width of the belt hole I want and make two holes in each top and bottom. Then take a sharp wood chisel and punch out the belt loop sides so that essentially you are connecting the two holes you made.

Shit I should have thought about that for the slots!  

Im going to tackle another holster and maybe start on a belt probably tonight. My folks just got into town so it may drag out a few days. 

Safariland does a hybrid of kydex and leather that they use on their mag pouches. That stuff is very stiff.

I don't mind paying for quality work. I have spent thousands on holsters over the years. I have one of those big plastic bins with drawers. Each drawer is stuffed with holsters for different types of pistols. I have recently started trying to sell some of the ones I don't use off. Only then I end up buying more holsters. I like having options, sometimes I like leather or kydex, sometimes I want to carry IWB, other times I will carry in a shoulder holster. It all depends on what I am wearing, what I am doing, what I am carrying and the weather.

Those are some sharp looking holsters. I really like black leather.. That came out wrong. I like the way black leather holsters look.

I'm hand sewing my dads leather belt right now and holy fuck this is a pain in the dick beaters. Takes FOREVER and nothing will piss you off more to discover you mis-stitched after going several, or a whole lot, past it. My dad doesn't care about the stitching being perfect, but I don't want it to look like a bag of ass (not that anyone will be looking that closely). 

1/4 done only 3/4 of the belt to go . Pics when I finish stitching. I'm not happy with it but my dad still wants it.  He doesn't have a gun belt so this will serve as one for him. 

Next time....I'm just going to hope the contact cement holds and skip the stitching . 

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Just finished hand stitching this.  Talk about a lot of work, the belt is 1/4" thick. 

It's now dyed and edge coated dark brown. Still need to make the belt keeper but that won't take much time tomorrow. Finished pics in the morning/afternoon. Want to try evening out the dye. Will probably switch to something other than alcohol dyes for colors other than black. 

Your work looks great. All my holsters are leather and all are from Lou Alessi. I've found his cqc/s pattern to be a very practical and functional design. I don't know why anyone would bother threading their belts through their holsters when you can just attach or detach from your belt while your belt is already around your waste.

I find there to be an inherent romance between guns and leather. Kydex certainly has its place among us gun enthusiasts but there's nothing quite like a fine leather holster for your favorite roscoe.

First belt finished and leather was just treated with Aussie leather conditioner.  Dad said to leave it be and not re-dye it. He likes the pseudo worn look it has from the slight molting/splochiness. 

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Things I don't like....

Outside stitch line isn't even, I didn't hold the punch perfectly vertical. I should have run a crease on the front stitch line before stitching. It would have made it less obvious I think. i didn't have much success running a groove after punching on my mag carrier. Creasing might be better. 

Belt tip was free handed, stitch line isn't equidistant from the edges. 

Belt keeper is thicker than need be because I should have made the sliced portion 6" long instead of 7". It balances well though I think. 

I need to get an oval punch for belt buckle the holes. I used a circle punch and it works. They'll egg out into ovals eventually. 

It took me a while to get into a groove with stitching. As a result some stitches aren't uniform with others. I also took more time than I liked figuring out how much thread I could manage at a shot. Turns out it is 1.5 of my wingspan at a maximum. 

I need to buy a strap cutter. I made the liner with a 3' straight edge and box cutter. I oversized it and carefully trimmed it down. 

I made it from a precut premium cowhide belt strap which was the only way I could have enough leather to make this. My liner was barely long enough. If I had a double shoulder then this wouldn't have been an issue. 

Thanks for the kind words. I agree that there is something about guns and leather that like. Kydex has its place, and I like it too, but everyone and their Uncle is making them now. 

I do agree that sliding a holster on and off is a pain in the butt. I want to try putting grommets on the leather and using the kydex type belt attachments. 

I'm always hyper critical of my own work .  He's actually wearing it right now to start "wearing it in"  I nailed the primary belt hole measurement perfectly.  It helps that he was right here so I could test fit it on him though.

Just finished my first holster this afternoon. Made some mistakes but overall I'm pleased with it for a first attempt. Colt CCO in Avenger style holster.

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_{Funny. I'm making one of those for a full size too. Same pattern as yours.} 

Addicting isn't it?

Thank you.

Suddenly my hand made leather axe covers, cell phone holsters, and magazine carriers seem woefully inadequate.

Nice work guys.

Way more than it should be....

Since I suck at wet molding I'm going to try using my wife's food saver to mold the one piece of the pancake, and then trim and cut the back panel.  Should makes something similar to what grabagear posted about earlier on in this thread.  

If this works and retains the gun pretty well I'll try using this same method to make a AIWB "cod piece" type holster for my G26 with TLR6 and a reload. 

Man, I actually really like that belt. The color is great too. I like that the stitch lines aren't exactly perfect. I like them the way they are. This belt has character and I'd be proud to wear it if someone made that for me, everyday!

Looking forward to seeing how the food saver works. Been thinking of trying something like that as well

I don't see why it wouldn't.  A few holster makers use vac bags to help form their holsters, basically the same concept really....just a lot more expensive considering the cost of the bags.  For a trial run though it should do just fine.  I do have a fridge compressor motor I could convert into a vac pump if I decide to really dive down the rabbit hole.  Was planning on using it to make a silent air compressor for the garage.