PhilNelson Report post Posted January 4, 2017 I'm just getting started in leatherwork and am really glad I found this forum. I played around with leather as a kid and have been wanting to get back into it. My grandfather was a shoe repair man and would always save leather pieces for me to play with. I guess I inherited a lot of his old equipment years ago because I'm the one that had room for storage when he passed away. Thanks to this forum I've been able to identify a couple machines as an American straight needle stitcher, and a Landis finishing machine. I'm sure I'll eventually look for some help playing around with those, but for now am looking to learn to do things by hand. I'm really looking forward to trying to make a few holsters for myself. Thanks for all the great information, I've really enjoyed reading. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted January 4, 2017 If you look up holster patterns JLS has been kind enough to share many pancake and avenger style holsters. Welcome to the forum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhilNelson Report post Posted January 4, 2017 Thank you very much bikermutt07. I've already downloaded one of his and can't wait to give it a go. Think I'm just going to practice stitching for a while first though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted January 4, 2017 Knife sheaths are good practice. Not much material and if it's fugly you can always throw it in a tackle box. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HavenHillJay Report post Posted January 4, 2017 Welcome to the forum, everyone here is super helpful, you'll learn a lot. Used to live in the Wichita are for about 4 years. That was quite a while ago though. Enjoyed my time there. Enjoy the forum. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhilNelson Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Thank you HavenHillJay. I work in Wichita, I'm sure it hasn't changed much. I have been enjoying the forum. It's not often you find a group of experts who are willing to take the time to help the new guys. It is appreciated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blacksuit Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Welcome aboard. New here and too leather as well. I'm located in hutchinson! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Everyone here is great. I have learned more from these experts then I can remember. Make sure and look into any thread that maybe of the smallest interest to you. There are just loads of tips hidden in random comments. It's like playing Zelda. Just bump into everything you can find and see where it goes. Read read and read some more. Check out the pinned threads and read through them page by page. Good luck and keep having fun. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhilNelson Report post Posted January 5, 2017 It's a small world blacksuit. I work in Wichita, but live is Hutch also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhilNelson Report post Posted January 5, 2017 32 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said: Everyone here is great. I have learned more from these experts then I can remember. Make sure and look into any thread that maybe of the smallest interest to you. There are just loads of tips hidden in random comments. It's like playing Zelda. Just bump into everything you can find and see where it goes. Read read and read some more. Check out the pinned threads and read through them page by page. Good luck and keep having fun. The more I read, the more areas of interest I'm having. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Yeah I have seen some things here I didn't even know was a thing. Like leather bottles, mugs, even tampon holders. Who would have thought? I have only been at this off and on for two years. But my work, my wife the art teacher, and my 4 year old all keep me away from the bench. I have made mostly one off items. Jumping around was keeping me from progressing on the basics. Someone recently pointed out (in an off topic thread no less) to make one thing over and over till you get really good at it. Now I'm trying to do just that. I'm making bracelets and a few dog collars in the attempt to progress up to a few belts I need. I bounced from a few knife sheaths to a tote for my wife, a few card holders and a wallet. Now that I'm just working on bracelets I can even branch out with doing a few at a time. I have plenty of straps cut and dyed different colors and I have 5 more buckles ready to go. Now if I can just find some time..... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Welcome! Make sure to check out the Nigel Armitage saddle stitch videos. He is a good teacher. Fun to follow along with too. Good luck! BTW, the videos are on this site or Youtube. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PhilNelson Report post Posted January 9, 2017 Thanks for the great advise. I got tired of stitching scraps together so I decided to try a basic holster. I made a pocket holster for a Ruger lcp. Made it with the flesh side out so it would stay in a pocket during a draw. Seems to fit nice. I can see this could be addictive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikermutt07 Report post Posted January 9, 2017 Nice job on that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
