Another new guy - North Carolina

[Journeymen]

Hi all, 

Been doing this a few months and enjoying it very much. Spouse thought it would be a cheaper hobby than HAM radio. Muahahahahahaha

She does however enjoy me having a hobby where she gets purses and bags :-)

[PastorBob]

Welcome to the Forum!  Lot of great ideas, patterns, and plenty of suggestions and opinions.  Jump right in!  Make sure to share your journey with us through pics.  There is a thread showing how to upload pics somewhere. 

[Journeymen]

I'll give it a shot -here was the last holster I did.

[coldone]

Im New and from NC too. Nice work on the holster.

[Journeymen]

Thanks, the red is actually more Mahogany than the picture looks. Still trying to get the belt slots right.

[PastorBob]

Nice looking holster!  Hand stitching for me is so relaxing, unless I screw it up.  I think it really adds to a piece when presenting it to the recipient.  A couple of things I have struggled with initially was getting the thread to lay down uniformly.  With a standard sewing machine, the needle and thread always travel in the same manner while you move the piece being sewn to achieve the stitch.  I practice the same thing when hand stitching...I move the piece all over the place in the stitching pony so my thread and needles go through / pass over each other the exact same way, in the same orientation.  And I always use the same amount of tension when I pull the thread tight.  This way it looks very uniform.

Another trick I picked up...After making my stitching groove, I will place the stitch holes at all the intersections and corners first so they always align, especially when changing directions.  This allows me to put a hole on the exact intersection of lines, especially on corners, so it is kept straight in the groove (otherwise it will cut a corner if no hole on the corner). 

I also don't stitch around the belt holes.  I slick them down really good and that works well.  It is stitched on the outside so as long as there was plenty of glue, they shouldn't go anywhere.  I would also go ahead and run the double stich line all the way to the bottom stitch instead of stopping.  When it stops like this, one is forced to do a back stitch there.  It's all about how the eye perceives it.  To me, it is less noticeable when hidden in the bottom stitch line.  

Here is an example of one of my holster.  Notice the belt loop and stitching.

 

[Journeymen]

Thanks for the observations and suggestions. Good stuff

[Jimbob]

On 10/6/2021 at 1:41 PM, Journeymen said:

Hi all, 

Been doing this a few months and enjoying it very much. Spouse thought it would be a cheaper hobby than HAM radio. Muahahahahahaha

She does however enjoy me having a hobby where she gets purses and bags :-)

Lol...you wish...I do both...Ham radio ($$$$) and leather work ( $$$$) so yes...I know...BUT:

Both hobbies are great fun and very enjoyable ways of spending BIG money....in the end leather work is a bit more rewarding I think.

Now go and have fun!!

73