What got you started in this hobby/addiction?

[Tnoisaw]

I started by making Kydex holsters but they were not very good looking. There's only so much you can do to Kydex to make it look good. So I did one in leather and thought I could improve on it. I love to work with my hands (I'm a plumber). I also have a CCW and want a good looking holster. Of course few will see it since it will be concealed. It also keeps me busy since I got laid off November of last year.

[$$hobby]

i was first exposed to leathercraft in jr HS. i dabbled in it for some projects from time to time, but it really took off after i got back into horses. i guess horses and leatherwork goes hand in hand since horses have a tendency to be hard on tack.

[pat h]

I got started about a year and a half ago. I bought a pocket tool pouch from a guy i was working with. When it got shipped i wasnt happy with the leather it was make of so i thought about it a while. Looked at the pouch and decided i could do that. so i read and read bought a side of saddle skirting and then decided to make a tool bag. I thought it turned out great at the time, got alot of compliments on it. My brother put a design on it for me when i was on vacation. By that time i was making tool pouches for people at work made a few knife sheaths and anything else i could think of. Then i decided i could do the tool bag better so i made one for a friend. tried to do a design on the top that didnt turn out very well. I just scribed it in. So then 6 stohlman books later the carving is getting better.

[TrikeGypsy]

This really is a GREAT thread. Interesting to see how folks got started.

I got started in the early 70's. I had horses, and being a young adult with no money, I started hanging around an old saddle shop. The old gent who owned the place told me if I was going to continue being there, he was gonna put me to work. Started with hand stitching, which moved to simple tack repairs, which moved into saddle repairs. When he passed on, and the shop sold off, I concentrated on my horses and showing. Sure was nice to be able to fix my gear..and word got around the show circuit that I could. As you can imagine, I started getting repair commisions from folks in my area. This turned into a nice "drop off/pickup" arrangement with a local tack shop.

I was still showing my horses, but, being vertically challenged (lol) I could never find chaps that would fit me. I picked up a pattern, made some modifications to that, and put a set together. They were pretty rough looking, but got the job done. I made another pair later with some improvements, which then turned into "those are really nice, can you make me a set?" I have been making custom chaps ever since.

Over the years, I was forced to move back to Illinois for family reasons. This was the first time in 20 year I was without any horses, so I bought a motorcycle to ride instead. Last year, like so many others, I lost my full-time employment. This left me with too much time to ride my bike (which is now a trike). On a charity motorcycle run, I was approached by a gentleman asking where I got the chaps I was wearing. They happend to be a much improved set I had made during my horse days. When I told him I had made them, he asked to take a closer look, so I pulled them off so he could inspect them. He was so impressed with the hand-tooled yokes and quality that he asked me to run the custom shop in a new biker leather store he was opening.

These days, I am still making chaps, just for Iron Pony riders. The fun part is I get to bring a bit of western influence into the biker world. I offer hand tooled yokes/cuffs, belt inlays, western conchos, and buckle, tip, and keeper sets. You should see these guys go nuts over this stuff...LOL

The great part is, I now get to work every day doing something I love, leatherwork. I just have to grin and bear it when I get teased about the country music playing on my shop radio....

If you happen to be in No. Illinois and would like to check out the shop, send me a pm and I will be happy to give you info on the shop location.

[McJeep]

I love leather, and I live motorcycles - it seemed like a natural ;0) Wish I had time to do more than "dabble" in it but I don't see it paying the bills really well here so it will remain a "do stuff for family and friends" deal for the time being

[CADBURYS]

years ago i bought a leathercraft kit out of the EXCHANGE & MART did the wallet put the kit away ,then sometime later i wanted a holster for my vaquero 45 long colt (before the gun ban in the uk) went to order one but they man on the phone said it would cost more if i wanted one left handed ???? so i got some leather and book of holster patterns and made my own .im not good at leatherwork as such but i enjoy making dogware, belts etc but since being on this forum i want to learn to do more things in the art of leathercraft

[Jimbob]

Being born and raised in Germany means if you like guns or knives u are somewhat out of the order, so here I am...the odd guy...the custom knife making wave just started peaking over the fence in Germany arround early eighties and guess who was hooked....the odd guy!

I read tons of stuff about knife making, made some knives and then some more...collected knives and was in heaven working on weekends in a Master knife shop.

This master, Eduard Trittler had a son....he just had taken a leather class with Wolf Borger(later a first class custom knife maker!!) who also was working in this shop a few years earlier.

Well, short story long...I sat down with the son, learnd for 3-4 hours how to do leather knife sheats.

Boy was I proud, made my own knife sheats...wow!

Guess what, knife making died and the love for leather grew so fast...here I am, the odd guy doing leather stuff and not looking back....ohhh and I still love knives and guns!!