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JediMcD
10-16-2006, 03:37 PM
I have seen several people talk about pouches for their belt before and the frustration in finding something they like or could afford. After all of this I decided I would write up a tutorial on how to make your own pouches that you can customize in any way you desire. This may sound a little daunting at first, but with a little time and patience you can do it.

First let me say that I am by no means the foremost expert in leather crafts. I am sure others will chime in and change/modify my tutorial to make it better. This at least gets the topic going for those of you who want to try this. The nice part about making them yourself is that you can pick a design you like. You can make them have flush sides, inset sides, short flaps, long flaps etc.

Now comes the warning. I do not guarantee that everyone can follow this and create a picture perfect pouch. I will not refund the money you spent to do this if it doesn’t work out for you. With that said on to the fun.

First you will need to create a pattern. This one is just a basic pattern. It will create just a basic square pouch. This is by no means to any scale. I just did a rough drawing in paint to give you the idea.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n131/JediMcD/pouch.jpg

Make this pattern out of thin cardboard like a cola box or something else that you can easily cut and bend. This is the point when you can play around with the design. Bend and fold the cardboard to make the pouch using tape to hold the joints together. This will let you see what the finished project will look like. Get it right here first because, you don’t want to be wasting good leather if you change your mind. As you can see you can change the pattern to get very different looks. Here is an example of a different pouch.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n131/JediMcD/pouch2.jpg

Once you have a design you like then you can lay it out on your leather and cut it out. You want to use thicker leather than what you would use for something like a coat, but you don’t want the leather so thick that you can’t work with it. I would recommend leather in between 6 and 9 ounces. You will need some good scissors to cut the leather out. You can use a razor, but your edges won’t be as smooth which will affect the final product. The place you get the leather from can guide you to a good pair of leather cutting scissors.

After you have it cut out you will need to place the bends in it in relation to your pattern. I like to take a v shaped groove out of the back of the leather at the folds to make the pouch have nice sharp corners, but it you want really round corners you could leave it alone. You could use a knife or razor or even dremmel to remove some leather at the bends, or there are various leather tools that are available for this step. Don’t go too deep or your pouch will be too weak in this area. Take off just enough to be able to fold the leather easily.

Now is the perfect time to do any carving in the surface of the leather that you would like to do. I have used what leather shops call a swivel knife to cut grooves in my belts etc. This type of work can really make your pouch unique and standout from just a plain one. Also, now is a good time to install the snaps or magnets you will use to hold the flap shut.

Next you get to put the pouch together. There are various ways to do this, but I will cover the two that I think are the easiest. The easiest by far is using glue to hold all of the sides together. Glue is strong, but I am always afraid of it coming apart. You could use it and reinforce it with stitches at certain key spots like the top and bottom of the sides. The strongest method of construction is stitching. You need to get waxed thread and needles available at leather stores. It comes in white, brown, and black, so you can get a color to blend in or stand out depending on what you like. I would recommend picking up a rotary punch at the leather store as well as a sewing tip to fit it. The rotary punch will make it much easier to punch the holes needed for stitching, and the sewing tip will make the holes the perfect size. You can use a small drill bit or awl to make the holes, but I can’t guarantee the results or you retaining all of your fingers. Make the holes you will need matching up the location for corresponding holes. In other words, you don’t want your holes misaligned when your pieces are matched up.

You can either finish the leather now, or wait until you are done sewing the pouch. If you finish it now then the dye will be able to get in the holes you have created. If you finish it later you may not be able to get it down in the holes. You can do either method. If you are concerned about ruining the finish while completing the pouch then wait till it is all sewn together.

Next we sew. I would recommend getting a variety pack of leather working needles at the leather store, but you could use a normal needle as long as it had a very big eye to accept the waxed thread. You can stitch however you like to do it. It depends on if you want a continuous looking stitch or one that is broken up. Make sure to tie a knot at your beginning and ending points. This is where the wax thread comes into play. Once you tie your knot you will cut off some of the excess thread but not all of it. The remaining portion you will burn with a flame to prevent it from coming undone.

You should now have a pouch made. As far as a way to attach it to your belt, there are multiple ways to accomplish this. You could cut out strips of leather and sew them onto the back of the pouch at the top and bottom of the strip. This would allow you to pass a belt through the open loop. You could also glue or sew on spring clips to the back of the pouch. Either way will work.

Now you can go have fun with your new pouch that you created. I would really have a good plan going into a project like this. You don’t want to get half way into it and realize you don’t want to continue or you don’t know what you are doing. If you have questions please ask them. I can’t guarantee I will know the answer, but I bet others can help out. I know that Jedi Loreen does some leather work, and I am sure she can help too. There are plenty of other ways to make a pouch. You can get into shaping the leather by wetting it and forming it around an object to obtain that shape. I haven’t covered all of the ways because, that would take pages and pages. I just covered the simplest way that I think there is to make a good looking pouch. Hopefully I will have more ideas to come.

Yoiaholic
10-16-2006, 04:03 PM
Very nice! My next goal is the actual belt then I'll be coming back to this. Our costuming section is really taking shape.

james3
10-16-2006, 04:44 PM
McD!!! FRIGGIN WAY COOL!!!!!!

Dude! this is just perfect, I may still not have a clue but I may actually give it a try:)

xwingband
10-16-2006, 05:35 PM
Very nice! My next goal is the actual belt then I'll be coming back to this. Our costuming section is really taking shape.

Yes, indeed. Belt first. I've been looking at "solo" style ones to hold my mauser and they're way too expensive for a friggin' belt.

JediMcD
10-16-2006, 07:19 PM
Well I hope that actually made sense. It always makes sense in my head, but I have a hard time getting it down in writing. I am a better speaker than writer. I can stand up and BS all day, but if you ask me to write a paper I will be done in like 15 minutes. :lol: I worked on that for quite a while, so I hope it helps. The problem I had was that I am not making any right now, so I wasn't able to include step by step pictures.

I am making a belt right now, so if someone would like for me to document that process I could. Would anyone like for me to do that? What is the consensus? To write or not to write that is the question.

james3
10-16-2006, 07:26 PM
Write it up, show it off, and I will end up buyin' from ya anyway :wink:

xwingband
10-16-2006, 07:26 PM
Writing something would be awesome.

You are right though. The spirit of this forum is making stuff. I don't buy unless I couldn't do cheaper or better. In this case I think cheaper if not better can be done.

JediMcD
10-16-2006, 07:57 PM
What is up xwing? You dissing me now?

JediMcD
10-16-2006, 08:17 PM
Yeah yeah I know. I am posting twice. I just didn't want people to skip over an edit.

After having sufficiently beat myself up over an earlier post I would like to apologize. Maybe it didn't offend anyone, and maybe it did. Everyone here is very helpful and supportive, and I would like to do the same. I will definitely document the belt making and write it up.

This may be another one of those things that only makes sense in my head. I just wanted to apologize if I offended anyone by my comments. It truly wasn't my intention.

Strydur
10-16-2006, 11:53 PM
The main thing to remember here is that this is a forum that is hosted and paid for by a store. That said, pretty much the only thing I wont overlook is someone trying to use a service that I pay for to advertise for themselves. This is more a blanket statement than one directed solely at you. Please dont be put off by it and do continue to share your ideas and tutorials.

Jedi-Loreen
10-17-2006, 01:06 AM
Nice tutorial. I do a few things differently than you do. But I'm not saying your way is wrong, there are different ways to do things.


I understand that you wrote your tutorial to help other people learn to make their own pouches, not to advertise selling them to people.


I've never used any type of scissors or shears to cut my leather, I use those cheapy utilty knives with the snap off blades, they work well for me, along with a nice, thick steel ruler for the straight cuts. The trick with getting a good, clean cut through thick leather is have a very sharp blade and not to try and cut all the way through on the first pass, make several passes, going a little deeper with each pass until you are all the way through to your cutting board.

I also like to bevel the edges of my leather, it's not always important, but I think it can be when you are doing a belt, it helps to keep the edges from rolling and breaking down.

I, personally, don't trust just gluing seams, I use both glue and stitching, it's stronger, and I like the way the stitching looks. After the glue dries at the seams, I then mark my holes, but need to use a drive punch, because going through 2 layers of leather that are glued together can be too hard to do with a rotary punch.

Before I punch my holes, I use an adjustable grooving tool to mark an even line along the edge of the seam, this also recesses the thread a bit, so it is less likely to wear. Not necessary for the beginner.

I stitch using 2 needles at the same time, one on each end of the thread. For this you need something called a stitching pony, to hold your work:
http://tandyleather.com/PRODIMAGE/3132-00-L.JPG
The horizontal part goes under your thighs and your work clamps into the vertical part.

There is a special way to thread your needles to that the thread doesn't pull out. When I stitch this way, I cut a piece of thread 3 times longer than the seam.

I like to put the front side of the piece I'm working on to my left. I insert one needle into the first hole and pull the thread through till it's centered. Then I pass the left, frontside needle through the next hole, then the right, backside needle goes through the same hole and you pull both ends of the thread tight.

Continue this way down the entire seam, then when you get to the end, back stitch through 2 or 3 holes and cut the thread off flush with the leather. No knotting required. 8)

This method of double stitching makes a very strong seam and it looks nice at the back too, if anyone sees that side. :P

Working with leather takes a little practice, but the results can be worth it, when you can make pouches in what ever size and shape you want. :D I actually bought a couple of kits from Tandy that had 2 different contruction methods and studied them. I also have a couple of books on basic leather working that have been a lot of help to me. You can probaby find books about this in your local library.

I work out my patterns on brown craft paper, then when I'm satisfied, I transfer it onto posterboard. This makes my "template" that is easier to use to trace your pattern onto the leather.

I decided to start learning leather working a few years ago because I wanted to be able to make things for myself, and customize them. :)

JediMcD
10-17-2006, 05:58 AM
Yeah thanks Tim. That is what I began thinking about after I had said it. I am going to edit my posts to remove the offending material. Thank you for this site and your patience with idiots like me.

JLo thanks for the extra info. I knew you could always chime in and help clear up the confusion. It really is fun to work with leather like you said. Once you learn to do it you can really have more fun with your own stuff.

edit

Hey Jedi Loreen do you have a picture of the groove left by the adjustable grooving tool? I have been meaning to pick one of those up, but I usually just use my swivel knife. However, the knife tends to not make a perfectly straight line no matter how hard you try. I think the groover would work perfectly. I may just have to get one to try it out.

Jedi-Loreen
10-17-2006, 01:43 PM
The groover just makes a narrow, shallow groove, and you can adjust how far from the edge of the seem it will make that groove. I have even used it in the areas where I make my folds for my pouches.

So far, I've only made 2 pouches:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/JediLoreen/Leather%20Work/CustomSoftandHardPouchclosed.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/JediLoreen/Leather%20Work/CustomSoftandHardPouchopen.jpg

The brown one is made of a thinner leather. Since I wear it at my back, I didn't want something that was too hard. I also put a business card pocket in it. It's made using the 2nd construction method you made the diagram for, using the two gussets. It has the belt loops riveted on, to slide onto my Jedi belt.

The hard black one uses 2 pieces of leather and is only stitched along the back, the 2 corners are cut out at right angles and glued. The belt loops for this one are riveted on at the top, but have snaps at the bottom so I can get it onto my Sith belt, that has spike studs on it, instead of the button studs that Jedi belts use.

You can check out some of my other leather work here, though I need to get some pics of the greaves I made a couple months ago, into my album.

Jedi Loreen's Leather Work (http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/JediLoreen/Leather%20Work/)

JediMcD
10-17-2006, 02:27 PM
Thanks Jedi Loreen. All your work looks really nice. I might just have to pick up one of those groovers to finish up my Anakin belt with. Looks like it would do the trick perfectly. Like I said originally I am not the master of all things leather, and I am learning some things as I go. Thanks again for the pics.