I started messing around with leather about 2 months ago when I need a sheath for I knife I made a new handle for. I really enjoyed making the sheath and it has become my new hobby.
The knife and sheath





Then I decided to try my hand at stamping and make a pocket holster for my 38







I started practicing tooling and have slowly been getting better. From left to right my first attempt to my latest.



I made a bible cover for myself. I screwed up the dimond quilt stamp on the front. Some stamps are tough.










A wallet for my son





Finally my latest project I just finished tonight a notebook cover for my daughter. I'm really happy with the floral tooling on this one.









Everything is hand stitched, that takes forever I'm looking to getting a sewing machine. I have a bad habit of buying a bunch of things for my new hobbies then loosing interest so I'm going to hold off for a little bit until my tooling gets better.
Any way just wanted to share I'm proud of what I've done so far. Anybody do lether work? I'd love to see some other people's projects.

Very cool skill.

Old school hobbies are great
Your skill is amazing.

I inherited leather tools from my uncle in the 60’s. I still use them on occasions when I need something That I can’t buy. Tandy’s also sells kydex and Chicago screws.  I find that axes and knives will cut stitching and need a couple of brads or screws to protect the stitch.  I have a friend who does specialized work for fire departments with leather. For working by hand your stitching is very good. Enjoy

Tooling leather and making stained glass are two hobbies that I thoroughly enjoyed back when I used to do them.

Congrats, that some great looking work!

I enjoyed it the past but the hand stitching is just too difficult for me on large projects.  I have an unfinished buscadero gun rig I gave up on because of the stitching.  We can't afford a leather stitching machine so the project just sits.  I tried to convince my sister to get one of those Chinese cobbler machines but she's non-receptive to the idea. Tried for years to find a leather capable sewing machine we could afford but they don't exist in our budget lol.

Thank you




One thing I've learned is if you add a welt in your sheaths that will protect the stitching. From what I have read rivets and screws can dull the blade over time. I have a tandy store about 5 minutes away from my office it has become a dangerous to my finances as the gun store.



Thanks and yes hand stitching sucks. I find I spend more time stitching than I do tooling and finishing the project. I've seen YouTube videos of guys ordering the $150 Chinese Amazon machine and with some modifications get them to work well.  Leather machine company is only a few minutes from my house. I test drove the cobra 26 a few days ago and decided that's the machine for me. I figure a few months of my gun/ shooting budget saved and I'll have one.

great job

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Your work is excellent. I tried it last year and sucked.

Thanks guys. I've been trying to do a little bit of something every night. I still need work on my knife cuts ant running thr bevelers.
This is my latest creation a notebook cover for my mom for mother's day. It's the most complex tooling I've done. I think it came out good it could be smoother but this was my first fully tooled project.

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That's super sweet

I haven't done much the last few months. Its been to hot in the garage. My son wanted to go as a pirate for Halloween so I decided to build him a baldric.

I printed the basic pattern off weaver leather and went from there


I dyied and antiqued it and painted his initials red.






The finished project complete with functional heavy british dragoon and sword.

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I decided to put together some patch knife gifts a few years ago as Christmas presents. Never again. I made the first one, realized it was worthless without some kind of sheath. So I made some basic scabbards. I was still putting the finishing touches on these babies on December 23 that year.

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I made a couple of mag pouches for a Sig 938 and really haven't played with it anymore. We expanded our family business and there's just not as much play time anymore.

They look great. Alot better then the sheaths I've made. I'm still working on making patterns ( my mind doesn't work in that way) its tough. However on the subject of Christmas gifts I'm working on some sleigh bell straps for family. I have 5 I need to make. I made the template and have started constitution on the first one. I'm trying to avoid hand sewing the straps but I don't see a way around it with out it seeming cheap.

Thats cool OP! nice work!

Thanks!

I did sme tooling on the the sleigh bell strap tonight. I'll use this one as a tap off template so the other ones will go much faster.

Nice looking work.  Yes, leather is fun.   One of my projects:

That looks amazing! I've been wanting to move into bags and such. I'd love to see some of your other projects your lightyears beyond me lol

I was doing leatherwork full time. Family/personal issues caused a year+ hiatus. Hope to be back at it by the end of the year.

Absolutely amazing. I one day hope to be at this level.

I was testing paint colors on a piece of scrap and decided I should make it into a smaller strap. So I attached some bells and I'll grab a buckle from tandy on my way home tomorrow to finish it up.

I can't remember his tag but there was a dude that did a thread on making leather holsters years ago.  It was a great tutorial and my dad and I made 2 or 3.

Made 2 of the four big straps tonight. I think they came out nice.

Super clean man, very nice work.

Thank you.

All finished on this project

This would be a perfect machine for you (Pfaff 145/545).  It's bordering not quite high enough under the presser for me but it'll do 3 layers of 8oz no problem.  It's lightyears better than the Boss manual machine I was using, which I would offer you except I don't hate you.



If you'd like some advice on how to find a machine that will do what you want let me know.

Thanks for that. What's your thoughts on the cobra class 26 I live about 20 minutes from leather machine company and have been down there and test drove the class 4 and 26. After talking with them the 26 is what they recommend( although I've seen Don Gonzales use his class4 on small stuff on YouTube with good results) maybe I should just get the class 4 and be done? The machine you reccomend seems like it comparable to the 26 but not a cylinder arm. Other than making a pillow in home economics 25 years ago I know nothing about sewing machines. Ive also looked at the boss and the weaver equivalent but dont want to spend 1300 hundred just to wish I had spent an additional few thousand to be happy.

If I ever buy a brand new machine it will probably be a Cobra Class 4 or a Cowboy CB4500 because my leatherwork revolves around my knifemaking and sheaths can get rather thick at the welt as you mentioned earlier.  

You're right the 26 looks very comparable in capacity to mine.  The machine you want depends on the projects you want to do and the metrics you're really looking for are:

1- min/max thread weight (211 is about as big as I go on the Pfaff and same for the 26)  I'd like to step up to the 4 because I'd really like to use 277 (can barely make it work on the pfaff not worth the effort) and 346.  Needle size goes hand in hand.

2- Height under presser.  7/16 is a bit less than the Pfaff (iirc 145 is 7/16 and 545 is the same machine with 9/16 under presser) Again this becomes mostly important when you're using multiple layers of heavy leather.  7/16 will get you just about anything with holsters, wallets, belts, slings, bags.  9/16 or more gets you into larger knife sheaths and tack.  So it might pay to buy the smaller machine and only hand stitch the small amount of projects you may do that don't fit.

3- Arm length, not all that critical for me with sheaths.  Very project dependent.  The Boss is only like 8" and was sometimes cramped but has more problems than that to worry about.

4- Servo motor you can adjust the speed to.  If you buy a used industrial like mine it'll more than likely come with a clutch motor and do some assinine 2,000 or more stitches a minute.  Just impossible to use precisely.  With an adjustable servo you can get single stitch precision.

Cylinder or table, again, really project dependent.  The Boss is more like a cylinder and the Pfaff is obviously a table, I find the only time I'm wishing for a cylinder is when I have something that won't lay flat like the belt loop of a sheath.  The table is a lot nicer to work at for most things and I find it easier to keep stitches straight in line as well as straight through.  On the cylinder I have to keep in mind what I'm doing with my left hand a lot more.  But a cylinder is definitely more versatile.  

From your thread I think the 26 will blow you out of the water.  I've never used one but both the Cobras and Cowboys get top reviews on the forums.