Hello Everyone!
I picked up leatherworking a few months ago, and this is a holster and magazine pouch I made for a longtime friend/customer of mine. I work as a gunsmith and shooting instructor, and have always put a lot of care into gear selection. I have a lot of vintage leather pistol gear, and finally decided I should start making my own. I’ve found JLS Leather’s patterns to be a world of help, and a wonderful starting place to develop and grow my skills before tackling my own designs and drawing from other sources. I love Kramer holsters, and have been using a lot of very old DeSantis holsters for a number of years (their pre-makers mark ones, and their “LI,NY” stamped holsters, probably from the 70’s-80’s), and want to recreate some of their older designs and build quality. DeSantis is local, so I have seen many of their holsters for years. Any suggestions, criticism, etc would be greatly appreciated!
I’ve chosen to do much of the work by hand; saddle stitched with KS Blade Punch pricking irons, cut with a Vergez Blanchard round knife, edges beveled, sanded and burnished by hand, etc. I am having difficulty using the JLS patterns regarding fitment due to stitching spacing, so I stitched the left side above the sights first, molded around the gun, then stitched beneath the trigger guard. I switched to Fiebing’s Pro Dye and it’s helped greatly over the standard alcohol dye. Leather is Hermann Oak craftsman grade.
-Brian