Newbie Stumble

[hillsmithy]

Hello!

I'm just getting started with some leatherwork. I'm making a holster for my first project. As is usually the case when I'm learning something new, I make every mistake possible.

So, I made the holster pattern, traced it on the leather, then cut out the leather. Unfortunately I did things backwards, so now I have a left-handed holster. I can make it so the flesh (unfinished) side is out, but obviously that isn't ideal.

I was wondering if you all could suggest some solutions. Is there a way to finish the flesh side to make it smooth? What should I do?

I intended to try some decorative carving/stamping, but that may be out of the question now.

Thanks for any tips and suggestions.

Todd

[skeeter]

Couldn't you take another thin piece of leather and glue it flesh side to flesh side. Then outside and inside will be smooth. If not to thick to still use for holster.

[St8LineGunsmith]

I was going to suggest what skeeter suggested if the leather is too thick just make a left handed holster for practiceing your tooling

one thing .for sure many of us have made that same mistake and once you make mistakes like that you very rarely make them twice.

Just chock it up as learning experience

[TwinOaks]

You can cover it or you can slick it....search 'slicking the flesh side'. Covering it will look best, IMO.

[Chief31794]

Still good practice and lessons well learned. Lining it might be acceptable as previously suggested. All of us have projects that didn't go as well as they should and wound up in the "bin".

Chief

Edited October 29, 2012 by Chief31794

[IngleGunLeather]

Plenty of good looking rough side out holsters. Very popular for Inside the Waist Band (IWB) holsters. You could make smooth side out cover/reinforcement pice with tooling on it for some contrast. It also might depend on what the rough side looks like. Hermann Oak and similar leathers look best rough side out. Tandy, not so much.

[hillsmithy]

Thanks for the feedback. It's Tandy and it's quite thick. I could thin it for glueing another piece. I'm operating on a real low budget, and only have a few pieces of leather, so I might try other options. I'll search "slicking the flesh side." Yes, I doubt I'll make this mistake again. Hopefully it will turn into a happy mishap.

[Shooter McGavin]

Honestly I really like the look of "rough out" holsters. Dye it a nice saddle tan or british tan, then cut a dark brown reinforcement piece and stitch it to the front.

As an additional benefit, you will end up with a leather lined holster as well!

Dont get discouraged, roll with it and see what comes out of it, I bet it will look cool!

[St8LineGunsmith]

you can always get a wire brush and brush the nap up to make it look like suede

I know what you mean about working on a budget.

leather working tools are expensive but a lot of the hardware aint bad

take some pics and show us how it turns out

[immiketoo]

I just had this happen to me for much the same reason. S#!T happens. If you are going to thin it, use a drum sander on the flesh side and work the crappy back side down to an appropriate thickness, or just use the sanded flesh side. I had to do that to my Tandy leather recently and it looked pretty decent after I was done sanding. Be warned, it will look like it snowed leather bits when you're done, but it's worth it.