Great handsewing suggestion from Will Ghormley

[antipaladin]

One of those "damn that's a great idea" moments!

http://www.willghormley-maker.com/Photos.html

If you're not familiar with Will's work, definitely check out his

website. He HAND STITCHES all of his belts and holsters...unheard of

in today's quick and dirty world.

Edited September 3, 2008 by antipaladin

[abn]

He HAND STITCHES all of his belts and holsters...unheard of in today's quick and dirty world.

I hand-stitch everything I make, BUT I only make small stuff like wallets. I have to give props to anyone who does it on large projects like a belt or a holster. It's not necessarily that hard, it's just so darned boring and time-consuming.

However, the end product is really nice, as evidenced by Will's fine work.

[ChuckBurrows]

Will and I (along with others) discussed this on another forum and FWIW - I do something similar only I use a couple of three layers of 8/10 oz glued together and stab into the EDGE of the leather - it's a good use for soft, flanky leather like belly. The nice thing about the leather is it's sort of self healing...

Also there's actually quite a number of us "pros" that still do all of our sewing by hand - most are makers of historical gear some of which can be "period correctly" machine sewn using linen thread (post 1850's gear for instance and with machines built for linen), but earlier gear must be hand sewn for that particular customer base anyway.

Once you get the method down it's not all that time consuming except when compared to machine sewn gear....

[antipaladin]

Let me qualify my original statement to say that I meant "noone" does handsewing in the context of

commercially mass produced crap. Obviously, the fine members of this forum are exceptions to

that generalization...the work of the people here is top notch.

[TrooperChuck]

Thanks for sharing that link. Mr. Ghormley does some awesome work!

I've only been doing leather work a few years, but during that time I discovered I greatly prefer handstitching to machine stitching. I thought there must be something wrong with me for likeing something that is obviously more labor- and time-intensive. I'm glad to learn there are others who feel the same.

[RandyScott]

I use a cork from a wine bottle to back up the awl.

[ArtS]

Beautiful work! The guy who taught me could hand stitch jut about as fast as a machine! I was in awe but he's done it a long long time. He said he used to have to stitch all his saddles by hand before he could afford a machine.

I also like that grip on that pistol. Looks like the one "3:10 to Yuma" with Russell Crowe. I'd like to find one.

Art

[WillGhormley]

Hey Art,

You can have those grips made. The most affordable is http://www.westernandwildlifewonders.com/s...dex.php?cPath=1 . The other would be http://www.outlawgrips.com/index_files/Page898.htm . The third option would be to buy a "Hand of God" Crucifix and inlay it yourself.

Will

[TrooperChuck]

I found that a plastic 35mm film canister and a length of scrap leather works well for backing up awl stabbings. Take a 2" strip of leather, roll it up and slide it in the canister. I don't remember how long the strip was, so you may have to experiment to get the roll to fit the canister nice and snug.

By the way, I am a huge fan of Will Ghourmley. I recently used his Cattleman Holster patterns to make a couple holsters for Cowboy Action Shooting, and the pictures on his website inspired me to make a half-seat SamStagg rigged saddle.

Once I get my hands on a digital camera I'll post some pics of the saddle.

[keableleather]

There's not a lot left in the world today that actually encourages us to slow down, reflect and spend a bit of quite time allowing your mind to stabilize and rejuvenate..... hand stitching leather does it for me, a therapy!

And that's a great wax tip along with the great work on them holsters, can't really see why you would want to put a machine to those fine pieces of work!

Be only 15 minutes work to go up the seam by hand for a half proficient hand stitcher.

[Les No6]

Let me qualify my original statement to say that I meant "noone" does handsewing in the context of

commercially mass produced crap. Obviously, the fine members of this forum are exceptions to

that generalization...the work of the people here is top notch.

I can see you've never been to Walsall England, here's a video of factory production saddlery in Walsall the lady's doing the hand stitching are dedicated hand stitches that's all they do 5 days a week;

[keableleather]

I can see you've never been to Walsall England, here's a video of factory production saddlery in Walsall the lady's doing the hand stitching are dedicated hand stitches that's all they do 5 days a week;

Now that's a little too much therapy lol, keep in mind that Antipaladin did say "commercially mass produced crap" now this company certainly does not produce crap, and they know the benefits & value of hand stitching as pointed out in the video, safety, integrity & strength.

[Tex Shooter]

Thanks for the wax tip and keep up the fantastic work Will. -- Tex

[Bryan E]

I always enjoy going to Will's site and looking at all the cool items he's making. I really appreciate how he is happy to give instruction to those that want to try to replicate what he is doing.

Thanks for the link to his galary.

I love that old stitching horse he's using. Bet it's been used to make so many cool items. Boy...if it could talk.

Thanks again.

Bryan

[JLSleather]

I know it must be tempting for those who make holsters ONLY to use the machine. Personally, it's laziness that CAUSES me to handstitch a holster! I make other "stuff", and by the time I swap out thread, adjust tensions, test the settings, get the holster in the machine -- I could have been done hand sewing it and not had to adjust all of that BACK to where it was

Okay, all that said, I admit that I often run the gun BELT through the machine (right behind the 6" wide size 44 weight lifting belt).

That stitchin horse is purdy though.