Rack N Roll

So it looks like I just build a standard western holster but size it appropriately for a 1911. Cool. Thanks for the responses.

Epic advice. As far as material, I've been digging through the collars forums and they suggested bridle leather (I think?) to use, would that be a better option than Latigo? Or does it really matter? How would you suggest finishing them? I didn't know it took different collar sizes between training and everyday wear. Goes to show exactly how much handler experience I have going into this. I'm a wannabe, for now.

Tying into this, I've been drooling over some western style gunleather recently, and got a wild idea in my head, I'm curious, if I stripped one of these holsters down to replicate a pattern, and then expanded the pattern to build a cowboy holster to house a 1911, would I be met with success? Or am I missing a key function here that makes cowboy holsters only effective for wheelguns?

Greetings LW.net! I just recently came into this art with a Tandy starter's kit and I must say I'm sincerely enjoying it. That said, I'm thinking of breaking into it by doing collars and leads for working dogs. My intention is to build a collar that is comfortable for the dog, and a lead that's comfortable for the handler, and build it to be bulletproof, since it will have a 100+ pound dog straining at it at any one time. That said, my idea was to go with a sort of three-layer system for the collar. I wanted to do the top layer as heavy tooling leather, to provide the strength, the middle layer I'd choose Latigo, as I have read that Latigo best resists sweat and dirt, and then i wanted to use a thinner, soft leather, flesh-side out as a padding to encircle the collar. My method of assembly was to sandwhich the edges of the bottom layer between the two other layers and then stitch through the whole thing. For the lead I was going to use double-layered Latigo, with the third liner covering the loops for the handler to grasp. That being said, I'm still new to this whole deal and do not know if my ides are valid. Any suggestions or pointers to do with technique or materials used are very much appreciated. Thanks for your time.