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I just finished this holster and thought I would share. I have been working to get this boning thing down and I think I finally got it. Still working thru some dye learning curves but that seems to change from one color to the next. The holster is a snap on pancake with 25* cant for Commander size 1911s. Yes it is a clone of the MS Axiom and TT Gunleather DDOO. The shark trim was chocolate brown before being sealed but now looks black. It works for me though so not a big deal. I used 8/9 leather for this. The seal coat is Tandy's Pro clear gloss. Hand stitched. Sorry double post.

Just finished and ready to go to Mo.

A customer of mine recently bought a POS holster on Amazon. The thing was still wet and transferred dye to his hands when he pulled it out of the box! So now he wants me to make him a new one. Problem is, I have NO clue how to make this holster he wants. He offered to send the POS to me to reverse engineer a new holster, but would rather return it and get his money back. So my question is this: Is there a pattern for this holster?

A customer of mine recently bought a POS holster on Amazon. The thing was still wet and transferred dye to his hands when he pulled it out of the box! So now he wants me to make him a new one. Problem is, I have NO clue how to make this holster he wants. He offered to send the POS to me to reverse engineer a new holster, but would rather return it and get his money back. So my question is this: Is there a pattern for this holster?

I've wanted to give this a try for a while but never managed to find the time until now. This is the 1911 holster and shoulder harness from the Al Stohlman holster book. I modified the holster slightly to cover the trigger and I made the harness several inches bigger and flared the top of the shoulder strap about an inch or so instead of having it be the same width as shown in the book. 10 oz HO on the holster with 2 coats of NF oil and a light wipe of Fiebings Hi-Lighter. The top piece of the harness is some scrap chap leather in the 4-5oz range, bottom piece is 8 oz HO and the 1/2 strap is also 8 oz HO. Thanks for looking, Josh

Hello All! I've been prowling around, in the shadows, on these forums for nearly the past year, gathering knowledge here and about...what a great community of craftsfolk! And always very willing to help us upstarts and rookies as we begin our own journey in this trade. I am most appreciative of the moderators, powers-that-be and professionals at LeatherWorker.Net for maintaining and contributing to such a powerful online resource...many thanks! Anyway...I've been studying and practicing and observing along the way and finally got a few things off my bench and ready for some critiquing by more seasoned eyes than mine. I purchased one of the new CB3200 machines (ol' Cowboy Bob @ Toledo Machine was MOST helpful!) but an unforeseen medical detour put me off track from using it for a while...all of these items are hand sewn. Hoping to get back at the machine in the next few weeks so it can earn its keep. Please let me know what you think. First, is a Dark Brown IWB holster for a 5" 1911, stamped border & white thread, with a 1/8" Kydex clip and matching snap-on double magazine holder. Next, a wrap-around style knife sheath in Dark Brown for a Buck brand gut-hook blade hunting knife, stamped border & white thread. Finally, a cheap flea-market/pawn shop knife gets a decent looking sheath - I actually used scrap veg-tan leather from a safety harness, dyed black and stamped with a tri-weave to hide all of the scuffs and scratches. Sorry if the pictures are out of sequence with the description...I'm still kinda new to this whole forum/post world thing! Chris EagleWoods Leather

I finally got the big winter storm which gave me the time to make the Tandy 1911 Cavalry holster and template set. I bought the pattern set early this summer and put it away for a winter storm. We have had a lot of blowing snow yesterday and today, almost a Blizzard in northern Ohio. So my excuse to hold off on finally getting this project done was gone! It turned out to be a fun and fast project. This one's going to my brother in law who has begging me to make one for him. Thanks for looking! Joyce~ Back River Laser

I don't make a lot of holsters but was commissioned by a friend for this one. He wanted a verticle shoulder holster for his 1911 that he could wear comfortably. He specifically asked not to have mag pouches so I opted for an elastic attachment on the non gun side to counterbalance the whole thing. Made everything pretty much modular so any piece could be replaced as necessary or changed out. I went with a non traditional style back piece to get something that was comfortable to wear for long days on the range. Figured I would share it.

Hello everyone, It's been a VERY long time since I've posted anything here, because I went on a rather long hiatus with my leatherwork and only turned out 3-4 items in the last year and a half, or so. I'm getting back into the game, though, and yesterday I delivered a holster for a compact 1911. It is made of 7-9oz horsehide leather and the saddle-stitching is done with artificial sinew. The design is "bottomless," so it will actually fit a full- or mid-size 1911 just as well, as you can see from the photo with my full-size 1911 blue gun.

I finished my first holster (and first leatherworking project) in March, a simple IWB holster for a 3" subcompact 1911. It came out rough-around-the-edges and unfinished, as I only had a pocket knife, awl, and a couple of needles for tools. It's still going strong, even after wearing it every day since then. The stitching isn't as tight as it could be, the boning could be a lot better, the edges have 0 finish work, and most of the stitching is wobbly and wherever-it-lands. Overall, I consider it a massive success. I used a lot of resources and recommendations from this forum, and I don't think I would've had a good result if not for you fellows. Thanks for that. HOLSTER #2 Now I'm starting to plan out my second project, and would like to step up the quality this time. I haven't been able to find an OWB holster for a full-size 1911 with a flashlight attached. I toyed around with a few different types of leather, but haven't been able to find anything nicer than what i was working with for the last holster (ordered online through Distant Drums). I have a bit of that left, but don't want to waste it on mockups/test-fits. Since this will be a range holster (there's no way I'm concealing this gun anywhere on me), I'm also considering making it a drop holster with a leg strap. I'm pretty excited, but would like to plan this out a bit better, and ideally be able to give the plans away to others as well. For the last holster, I just kept test-fitting and adjusting so I never made a proper pattern for it. I have a few rough measurements for this 1911 (thickness and height in several areas) but nothing too concrete yet. The biggest problem I foresee is getting good retention out of it. The light is both wider and taller than the trigger guard, which is where almost all of the tension was on my last holster. I can't make the trigger-area smaller/tighter than the light, because then I wouldn't be able to fit the gun into the holster to begin with. Any suggestions at all are welcome, including criticism on my first holster. I imagine there's plenty of room for improvement that I hadn't even considered yet, being such a novice leatherworker. When I started that project, I actually tried hammering a needle through the leather before I realized I was supposed to have an awl for that. Thanks for all the advice so far!

Finished this rig up recently for my brother. Was the first time I've done any leatherwork in about a year. Everything was made with 7/8 oz Herman Oak leather. Everything was hand sewn. Let me know what you think.

This is my first attempt at a pancake holster, with inspiration from Lobo's enhanced pancake design. I decided to add some length to the front piece to make it more flat backed. Very comfortable. I have to say, welting with a flat back allowed for some pretty tight stitch lines around the gun, and I am pretty happy with the result. I will say it is kind of a pain to line everything up this way, and I don't know that it adds that much.... Shaved down some Hermann Oak skirting for this piece, and used some watered down Tandy Pro waterstain in medium brown for the color. Used the dark brown waterstain for the edges, and find that it buffs up very nicely. Still need to find a snap for the thumb break, as the line 20 snaps I had on hand seemed like they might scratch the gun. I hope my dad will enjoy his Christmas gift! Comments/critiques welcome!

Earlier this month I debuted my BSP holster for an M&P Shield. Since then, I've had several orders on the books for it for different guns. Here's one for a 1911 Government (my all-time favorite to build for and personal carry choice). The small wraparound mag carrier has the smallest footprint of any item I make, is fast on the draw, and hugs tight. It's secured with a single one-way snap for security and goes on and off in seconds. Oddly, this little piece of gear took many iterations to get right. Who knew? Here's a rear view of both pieces, as well as a few shots of it being worn on the body. Note the slim profile, even when worn @ 3 o'clock. The muzzle rake (angle of draw) has been tweaked for this pattern, and I'm very happy with how it draws and holsters. The BSP (Belt Snap Pancake) is my improved version of the well-known 'Patriot' holster by legendary designer, Bruce Nelson. Bruce's original pattern had the wings over-elongated and a few other things that prevented it from really working to it's full potential. It took quite some time for me to get this one right, but it's ready for prime time and is quickly becoming my favorite holster in my lineup. As always, feel free to pick it apart and thanks for looking! Chris

So I'm a novice leatherworker, son of a pro who's been doing it for years and actually owns his own leather working business. I just recently purchased a Metro Arms American Classic II 1911 45.Cal, and absolutely HATE the cheap bulldog harness I bought for it. So I decided to dive in head first into making my own holster. I mainly open carry, but wanted something that would be prime for concealed carry when I do decide to get my CWP. The holster wont be finished and attatched until tomorrow, but I still wanted to share the harness =). Let me know what you guys think! I apologize for the poor quality photos.