DIY: Design and build a holster

I need to start this thread with a THANK YOU to Ray Cory of Lobo Gun Leather for being so patient and willing to deal with me. I'm still a major novice but his guidance has been a true blessing and something he did out of kindness - we were total strangers before my first email with him.

So last lesson we learned the basics which I will not cover again. This is becoming a bit more advanced but you guys are learning just like I am. You first either need some good paper you can transfer to cardboard or manila folders to work with. Your first step is to trace the gun, then you draw your belt line (add a quarter inch or so to allow room for the belt), and design the holster and stitch patter around this. On this particular holster, a 'welt' design utilized from Mr Cory was also used and is represented by the red line on the paper. You need to test fit this to the gun and make adjustments as necessary. It will never be perfect on the first attempt to don't ever expect it too.









Ok, so know you got a design your satisfied with. You need to transfer this design to your leather with a stiching wheel and a scratch awl. Ideal is to lay out all of your thread stitches, locations to glue/not glue, etc. With this particular type of holster and me wanting to use white thread you must dye it BEFORE you stitch it. The pictures will be better than my words so feel free to ask me questions regarding what I was doing in any given picture.






























Once we get it all stitched up it is time to form again. I left my welt a little wider than I should have but that is OK - I know for next time. It is beneficial to use something as a belt to preform the holster. It will help with the break in period tremendously! Since I used water this time drying time to increase dry considerably, I recommend putting it in front of a fan. You want the holster to look dry but feel damp to begin the boning process.




















Once that is done you can dye the edges of the holster after trimming the excess from sanding earlier. Once this is done you can either leave it alone over night or you can attempt to dry it using an oven. ***DISCLAIMER**** Using heat can activate collagen's in the leather and leads to a significantly harder holster, it can also burn/crack the leather very easily. Temperatures can vary so determining what works for you on scraps is recommended. After the piece is dried it can be finished with a protective finish. Then your done! :thumbup: