Very First Time...

[cavmedic]

This is my very first attempt at working with leather. Decided that I wanted to make a holster for my 1911. Any and all critiques would be welcome. My main question is how do I get the stain to look more even. Right now it appears to be rather streaky. Also I am waiting for a belt hole punch to make the holes. I tried cutting them by hand on a scrap piece and it looked terrible. Thanks in advance.

[Memorymode]

Was the leather fully dry when you applied the stain?

[Thor]

Another question. Was it spirit or oil based dye?

[Boriqua]

Dont know how you applied the stain but it appears to be a dauber. I have better results loading up a rag and applying in circles. You also cant be stingy with the dye. Boning looks great.

On your next one try to get the stitching closer to the gun and a little further in from the edges. If the stitches are to far from the mold of the gun the leather can wallow out and the guns retention suffers.

I included a sample below .. you can see the stitch lines around the gun are right up against the shape of the mold and about 1/4 inch in from the edges. Looking forward to seeing your next one since the first one looks great.

Edited October 2, 2015 by Boriqua

[mlapaglia]

Stitches closer to the gun as stated before. You did say "Any and all critiques would be welcome." Im sorry but I would never buy a holster like that. To me, personally, it is not a design I find appealing. Style has to be considered if it is something you want to sell. In my opinion, the design looks upside down. The widest part is normally around the belt area to help it stay in place. The radius cuts on the left and right are not symmetrical. That is something that will come with practice but it is noticeable.

You have the potential to be good at this. You just need time and practice.

Michael

Edited October 2, 2015 by mlapaglia

[Quillleather]

I was thinking it looked upside down, then i read mlapaglias post. 😜

[cavmedic]

Thank you for all the critiques. I am gonna try my hand tonight at starting another one. This time I am gonna work off of a pattern that someone posted on here. That way I can get down some of the basics a little better. Again, thank you all for your help.

[cavmedic]

New one that I worked on. Better design, and much better work all together. Let me know what I can improve on.

[Boriqua]

The design looks fine and I really like the dye job. The stitching needs work but that is what practice is for.

You still need to get those stitches closer to the mold though. The most important part of the holster is its retention and it will suffer if you dont get those stitch paths in closer.

I dont know if that is a flat back or molded on back and front. If you are making a NOT flat back a good way to plot your stitch lines that works for me is to draw the profile of the gun very closely. Then measure the thickness of gun. Take a compass and redraw the profile line splitting the width of the gun on either side. Now I usually cheat in a couple of mm's. So if your gun measures out at 1 inch then trace a little shy of 1/2 inch on either side of your profile line. Make that your stitch line. Even after the leather is wet it should be a bit of a biatch to get your gun in there. It takes me almost 10 minutes sometimes just getting the gun seated. That is before boning if I plan on boning.

Hope that helps