JLSleather

that was gonna be my question ... ifya hadda nuf room ta grip onit. otherwise, I'm gonna say that's not a terrible "first" at all

I like the rigs ,but I didnt' realize they were closed. Only thing this needs is the slots dyed.

might could be the pic is a bit too small. that's not half INCH, that's HALF OF THE THICKNESS OF THE FRAME & LEATHER. So, assuming your frame was 1/2" thick, and your leather was 1/8" thick (exactly 8 oz), that's 5/8", and half of that would put your stitch line 5/16" away from the gun drawing. Keep in mind, this is a "starting point" - I have been known to alter the design like 4 times before i'm happy with the fit and land on a pattern. Not to sidetrack too much, worth mentioning here that this is the importance of the leather thickness. If you're molding the leather over the form (or gun, or whatever you're using), you can use whatever weight leather you want, then trim when it's formed. When cuttnig from a pattern, you need to use close to the weight of leather that the pattern was made with, or adjust the pattern to suit different leather thickness. As in... If the pattern says use 7/8 oz leather (mine usually do), I sometimes use 4/5 lined wit 3/4 without altering anything about the pattern (4.5 + 3.5 = 8 oz). If somebody asked for that same rig but in 10 oz leather, I know I'm only moving the stitch line HALF THE DIFFERENCE, so (2 more oz = 1/32", and half that distance is only 1/64"... so I just mark down the outside of the SAME LINE and It'll be fine). Start talking bigger thickness changes than that, you'd want to start kicking teh lines outward on th pattern. Im'a send you a sketch of the shield .. maybe save you some time. Use it, or pitch it, or whatever -- up to you.

4 layers of 6/7 is GREAT for self-defense. Ya dont hafta shoot nobody - just hit em witda holster Okay, that's enough, I'm done there. GOOD to see the new guys jumpin' in both feet. That said ... I thik you gonna find it's tough to get a good grip on the grip .. might remove some leather in that area. As a rule, I start by drawin' the gun, then draw a line about 5/8" away from the bottom of the grip - more for hands bigger'n mine, maybe abit less for the mrs. ANd as you would suspect, the position of the slots matters. Higher the slots, the lower the carry. Each his own there... Is that the shield you was talkin' bout?

correct - same thing. Difference then, is that the kydex will remain in the position it was cooled in (until/unless it cracks), whereas the leather is creating "air space" you don't need and dont want. You really only need a 'site channel' that goes a bit beyond where the muzzle end of the slide clears the narrower part of the holster. You didn't show us the other side of the "dummy", but I assume that a mold for kydex has had the port filled in as well to prevent molding into the port. With a leather holster, this is more 'optional' - and I only mention it because that's about how high your "site channel" needs to be. yup, that would do it. That will let the gun slide into the wet leather easier I would guess. This is a Sig, but shows the point pretty well. You can clearly see where the dowel/channel stop. This was "high enough" to let the slide clear into where the holster opening widens, and will vary depending on the model. Course, if you're driving the dowel from the bottom, all a guy gotta do it tap it up until you get the height you want and let the rest stick out.

most mid-size pistols I like 7/8 Sometimes I make that happen with 4/5 lined with 3/4, or two layers of 3/4, etc. The 6/7 lined with the 2 put a guy real close. Keep in mind that your pattern is cutting the OUTSIDE of teh holster, so the thicker the leather, the tighter the fit will be with the same pattern. (I've had guys pay for patterns, says right on it use 7/8, and they got mad because their 9/10 holster was far too tight ) larger pistols a bit heavier leather, smaller rigs lighter leather. 'just winged it' is how ya learn it -- keep that up.

The link will take you to the double mag - and if you let me know you're going, if you're purchasing the double mag, I'll INCLUDE the single mag with it. Oh, there's an "avenger" style holster for the shield 9/40 also no problem. I don't get here all the time these days, but I'll git to messages as i find 'em.

Agreed. Until it becomes more like a job I may have something you'll like... and if you got a caliper I'll check some dimensions and make any adjustments if needed. If you're going to form with that yellow gun, I'm gonna recommend you cut or sand off the rear end of the "slide channel form". I like to bevel it off so it's a bit of a ramp - exact angle doesn' t matter, but about 30ish shoud be fine. I've colored the part i would remove. BETTER YET - I like to take it all teh way off, gouge a groove down the center of the slide. Then wet the sewn holster, shove the dummy in there, and then drive a dowel (or pencil, whatever) UP from teh muzzle end. The round stock will track right in teh groove, keeping it in the center, and will stretch the leather ONLY where needed - not change the fit of the whole thing. NOTE that when using this method, I use a dowel with that same bevel on teh high end, and you only want it to go as far as it needs to go. Using your gun as example, you only need a site channel until the frame clears the low end of the holster, or basically the dowel can stop about the bottom of the port Obviously there's a redesign of the trigger guard since that previous design, so that will matter. A slight change would make that cosmetic detail stand up, which would be nice. Does your gun have that aggressive rail? Your holster pic suggests it might. When forming, I would "pad" that rail with some package tape, or similar - just to keep the leather from forming INTO the rail. But I do make a "curved panel" for the older style G19, which may be more along the lines of what you're wanting to do. Look a bit like this....

I DO I have a pattern for the shield that is a 'curved pancake".. which I greatly prefer over a "flat back". Basically a manipulation of a "pancake" holster design, only the front is cut LARGER than the back (inside) panel, and sewn with a bend already in it. And I also have a design around here sumares for the mag, and a double mag.

Your leather still a tad too wet -- but you CLOSE Let a bit more of the water come out, and you'll get richer definition without doing more work I'm not a fan of antique AT ALL, but I certainly dont EVER recommend it on "figures". Maybe if it's kept to the floral areas. These were done from those old Stohlman patterns, all from his "top 20" book for wallet designs, in 3/4 oz cowhide. No antique paste used on any of it - main (base) colors applied with an airbrush, and then depth added with STohlman's "dry brush" technique.

I like the design That DOES look snug. Part of that is likely the full-length site channel (which I generally don't do) though teh Glock is clearly a newer design as well. GOOD news is, you'll know where you want the next one narrower, or wider, or looser ... etc. Your leather, at least on the back panel, looks like it may be a bit dry (lacking oils)? Still, you pulled off the look - how does it carry? Pulls okay? Cant be sure from the pic if your thread is a bit smaller than I generally use, or could be just the geometry of the needle you used causing that look. I like the LOOK of 277 thread in a holster, but I'm confident that 207 is certainly enough strength. Is that elephant?

well, uhm... yah. The worst thing you did to yourself here is ALL THAT BACKGROUND. It's a bit tough to keep an even surface with that large a background. It can be done, but often looks nice without going to all of that. Consider just a light "accent" around the design, and leave the rest natural.

I LIKE IT - "just enough" design without being over done.

Schmetz leather-needles.pdf this is jsut one brand, but you get the idea.

Well, yeah The point is 'twisted" the other way from the "LR" needles, and not the same as the (very popular) "D" or "S" needle. I got a pic here sumares... RED arrow shows direction of sewing, meaning the way it sits here is the way it went in the machine, top of the pic away from you. These are sewn with the SAME size thread and the SAME 6 stitches per inch. Done this way to show the difference in teh LOOK of the finished project. I LIKE the very straight, very tight results from teh LL point. The LR point tends to be less deep, and has that angled, almost 'lacey" look I've always found a bit "girly". The belt above with the official Colt buckle set was FOR a girl, so. ... there's that Note how much deeper the stitch is pulled on the LL, even though no groove was made and the tension was not changed. Somewhere around here there's a whole thing about needle geometry.. see kin I find it....

AND ... you can also "pre-punch" on the smaller machine - just end up with smaller holes (which likely doesn't matter). Incidentaly, on VERY heavy projects, I have been known to put a large diamond point needle in the drill press and "poke" the holes that way. Leave the spindle off, make sure your diamond point is oriented correctly, and use an overstitch wheel or similar to set even spacing. I used the pic of the little purple Sig holster for a reason. This one shows one case where I didn't want the parts sewn "just yet". The stiffener panel is sewn on as usual. Then the holster is folded into position, marked, and sanded for evenness. BUT... tehn the holster is "poked" around the outside edge for stitching, without thread. This is done because that holster is OPEN ENDED. It is fully lined (with natural cowhide) and incorporates a tensioner screw so she can set her own ease of removal (for this purse gun). Thus, it's sewn together ONLY in the little "rectangle" area to the right of the pistol and under the grip. Without the long version, lets just say this was the only way to do this and keep the stitching continuous.

MOST of my holsters are 277 thread, with a 24 needle (with an LL point), and 6 stitches per inch. A few pics here, just for reference. 207 thread, #23 LR point needle, 6 per inch #69 thread, #18 needle (on the consew 206), 9 per inch 277 thread, #24 LL point, 6 spi Zoomed in detail on Sig P938 holster - natural leather with natural thread, pic says the rest.

Are you personally carrying? No need to post here - kinda defeats the purpose of "concealed" - but send me a message with your model if I have a pattern I'll send it, first one free

346 is great .. for pulling your truck out the ditch and snow I like 277 for holsters, and often use it on belts when they're meant to be "matching". For a belt, like a belt, I like 207 thread is more than plenty. The consew 206 is a reliable little machine, sews VERY well with thread size from 42 to 138. I got mine to do 207 now and then, but usually not. I had one of these machines, BIG mistake letting go of it. I used mine for everything from wallet liners (like 1.5 oz chrome tanned leather) to zipper gussets (4/5 oz veg cowhide with zipper tape) to the full wallets (3/4 oz veg cow with multiple layers of lining leather). All the way down to 42 thread for some liners, 69 thread for others, and 138 to sew the wallet together. AND, I ocassionally "cheated" when doing a holster project. Without going into the "why" of it all, SOME projects I wanted HOLES but not SEWN WITH THREAD just yet. So I rubber cement the piece together, turn OFF the machine, and HAND CRANK the wheel to "poke" the holes. Keeps em aligned and evenly spaced. Then went back and HAND SEW the thing together with heavier thread like a 277. No time right now to detail all of that, but sometimes I want it held together but not YET sewn. For great info on ALL of this... the consew (or equivalent) AND the '441' machine, contact Bob. He'll steer ya right https://www.tolindsewmach.com/ 866-362-7397

thanks the drawing was done from a 3.8" bbl (yers prolly 4.5"?) and withut the add-ons.

cool - let us know here how close this is, so other folk know it's good to use

Somebody got a xdm .40 print this and lemme know 'f its close.. XDM40sketch.pdf

anybody making pocket holsters these days? Would like to get some patterns uploaded to Cutesy, but need to lnk a bit of hardware for some. I mean like these....

Lacing is one of those "sitting on a comfy chair with the feet up" applications, when time allows me to do it that way. It's about the ONLY time I ever have a tv on These were triple-loop laced, which is even more time consuming than the double-loop generally used on wallets. LOTS of lace, too. Dont even remember the linear feet of lace, but its a good bit. Figger the distance to be laced would be like around 80" depending on teh details of the design (compared to a wallet, which is about 25").

I LOVE this stuff -- Great on everything from book covers to holsters. Sheen, protection, without turning your leather "mooshy".