Nice job, the stitching turn out great. I wouldnt worry about the holster losing its shape. The leather and thickness you used should hold its shape for years.
Good job

Very, very nice. And it's remarkable that you could get something this nice out of a first effort.

Beginners luck! We will see on my IWB that I'll start this week.

Thanks for the great comments. I'll get pics up tomorrow of the finished product.

plblark we now need to see yours!

Nicely done. You've piqued my interest now. I checked out that Tandy site and saw that they have holster making books. I may have to give that holster making a try... then maybe a belt...

Question for anyone; Do you need some type of gun-blank to mold the holster to shape? I have heard that some type of "wet" process is used to mold the holster to shape. Does anyone have any input about the molding process? Does a holster even have to be molded or is that done more for appearances?

The molding aids in retention, as well as looks. As far as the process, it basically boils down to:

1) Get leather wet.

2) Wrap gun in Saran Wrap.

3) Mold leather around gun. IN my case, I nailed the leather, with the gun in it, to a board, and molded around the gun as much as I felt necessary.

4) Allow leather to dry a bit before removing gun

5) Carry on with assembly, finishing, stitching, etc.

You set the bar quite high

I made a strong side OWB pancake with an extreme forward cant from start to finish in about 4 hours last night. I did it using only a scribe (double ended compass) to mark the hole spacing, a rough carpenter's awl punch, a utility knife, two large eyed sewing needles, and some needle nosed pliers. You can definitely tell

It didn't come out quite as tight as I would have liked. I didn't get the top (sights) side and under side stitches close enough to the revolver. To fix it, I can dip it in hot (140-150 degrees F) water and let it shrink in a bit or I can stitch in another line.

I need to be more precise, more patient, and the proper tools help a LOT. The stitch placement wheel makes things a LOT neater. Here's what I think I should have done different:

BTW: I'm making up the terms as I go along. there are probably better terms. I hope I'm descriptive enough. Pics will have to wait until tonight or tomorrow night.

NOTE: When tracing and cutting on the leather, think of which face of the leather you want oriented where... do you want the hide or flesh side of the leather facing you, the gun, or the world. In my example, the body piece has the hide(smooth) side toward me, and the flesh(rough) toward the gun. The outside piece has the flesh side to the gun and the hide(smooth) side to the world.

1) when drawing the pattern, the Body piece of leather(that which is against your body) should be the actual size you want.

2) On the Top piece of leather (the "outside" piece as it were), you want to make your pattern with everything on the sights side of the gun at actual size and add some extra to the Trigger Guard, Grip, and Muzzle sides for molding.

3) the idea of a lexan or plastic piece cut in the silhouette of your gun is a GREAT idea. EDIT TO CLARIFY: This is the outside mold piece so the lexan is left where your gun is not and you cut your gun out of it. you basically put your gun down, the wet leather over it, then clamp this mold on to hold the leather exactly where you want it. The silhouette pattern should allow for a single thickness of leather on the perimeter of your gun everythere there will be leather.

4) stitch the "spine" of the holster (The straight line which should go along the sight plane of your gun) first. You just need a straight line to reference everything off of. In My example you can actually do all the stitching on the sight side now (the belt holes, holster outline, etc) as long as you're not leaving excess there.

5) NOW you would do the wet forming. Do it rough by hand first then clamp it down with the lexan pattern outside and the gun inside. (BE SURE TO SARAN WRAP THE GUN

6) let it dry overnight.

7) Remove the lexan and do any touch up molding on the bottom (trigger guard side) of the gun wet JUST the area you're touching up. replace the Lexan, and let it dry.

Now, you should have a tight molded leather shell. leave the gun in, mark the stitches with the gouge or the stitch wheel (or both)

9) Punch carefully, stitch tight

10) lightly wet the leather, clamp in the lexan piece, touch up detail molding, let dry over night.

You could also use a blue gun. http://blueguns.com/

Or maybe an airsoft gun.

The hot water trick does a nice job and the finish coats also help solidify the holster's shape!

I'll get some pics up tonight.

Now updated with finished pics on page 1!

NICE! I like the color. It's very shiny though. what did you use to finish it? Did you use a sealer as well?

They have different finishes (which is the sealer) like gloss, satin, flat ... just like paint. This was satin but I'm planning to buff it a little to knock the shine down a little.