Last One Off Of The Bench (And Some Questions)

[Dfarm]

Here she is. It is inspired by the "avenger" style of holsters, but I think I did a couple of things a little different than I've seen on here. This one is my first that I did any tooling on also. It is made from 6-7 oz leather, because I figured that if I used 8-9 oz or 9-10 oz like I normally use for holsters, it would be too bulky for the pistol (Beretta 25a).

Now for the questions.

Is there anything to help keep the front belt slot from ripping over time?

the thread is supposed to be white, but it picked up a bunch of dye on the way through the leather. What can I do to keep that from happening?

Is there anything that I can do to keep the muzzle end of the holster from wrinkling all funny?

what waxed thread are you guys using? This is sewn with the stuff from tandy, and I've decided that I don't like working with it anymore because it is too waxy. I have used "realeather" thread in the past with good results, but I've only seen it on little cards in hobby lobby(which, as far as I know doesn't exist in my home state)

thanks for any help, comments,ect.

[SooperJake]

Shorten the extra leather at the muzzle will help. You have too much there. Otherwise sew it shut for a closed-toe. What dye did you use? Some dyes are notorious for thread transfer. I've had the best luck , so far, using the Eco Flo Pro waterstain, preconditioned with Bick 4. . Someone else may give you their take. If you are using Fiebing USMC, you'd have better luck spinning the sun on your finger like a basketball. I just bought some Fiebing's Pro Oil Black to try it, but I haven't stitched through it yet. Preliminary edge dye testing did not rub off on my jeans after I buffed it vigorously with a cotton rag.

[mlapaglia]

An other option is leave the muzzle area open and dont glue it at all. This will keep it from wrinkling too.

[Jimbob]

stick a 1.5 inch piece of wood into the belt loop while damp and bone it also, it will take shape of your belt sample and will get a hardened edge, bone well on both sides and create an three dimensional look of the loop....lasts for ever!!

[Dfarm]

Sooperjake hit the nail on the head with the dye transfer I think. It was fiebings USMC black.

The muzzle end of the holster is open (I never close the end of a holster it seems like it would fill up with fuzz and junk over time) I see some room where I can take material off if I build another of this style.

And thanks for the tip on forming the belt loop. I'll be sure to do that on the next one!

[mlapaglia]

Here is a tip, for what its worth . When I have a short barrel gun or a long holster I take a strip of leather and roll it up and squash it oval and stick it in the bottom of the holster from the bottom. This fills up the barrel tunnel and prevents it from deforming. when I pull out the gun I take out the leather roll. Seems to keep the tunnel well formed on the end. Just an idea.

Michael