Hello Everyone, this is my first Instructable and I'm a novice when it comes to leather so any tips and tricks corrections or criticisms are very welcome. In the end i thought it turned out rather well for a 2 and a half hour project.

The holster is for my fathers Webley Tempest pump air pistol.

Step 1: Step 1: Tools and Materials

Tools:

Awl

Hammer

Cutting Board

leather craft cement

Rotary Punch

leather punches

cutting tool

cutting surface

waxed tread

sewing needles

Clips

Materials:

Paper or card (for template)

Leather (i used a thin upholstery leather)

Step 2: Step 2: Tracing the Object (in This Case the Air Pistol)

Firstly using tape attach 2 pieces of paper together along one edge (size of the paper will obviously have to fit the object you're making the holster for on it)

secondly place the pistol on the centre line of the two pieces of paper as shown in image 2 and 3.

Depending on which hand you are dominant with, rock the weapon to the one side or the other.

next draw round the pistol's outline on the one side of the paper

Noting out key features can be useful here (e.g. Trigger guard etc)

take an inch or 3/4's of an inch space around the shape you've drawn in slow curves as shown in image 4

fold over the half blank trace around it on the other piece of paper and then you can cut it out

to make sure you have the correct shape before cutting leather use the paper template to test the size is correct allowing an inch, inch and a half seam around the gun

Step 3: Step 3: Cutting Out the Leather and Checking the Fit

Trace out the shape of your blank onto your leather drawing round it with a pen or pencil

if you think you want to remake this design keep the paper template somewhere safe

cut out the shape of the leather going outside the lines and trimming in towards the line as using abit more material is better than wasting all of it.

after cutting out the leather blank you need to check the sizing again using clips is useful here because it means yo can gauge how tightly the holster grips the gun, and roughly how tightly the holsters going to grip the gun after sewing. (mine stays in if turned upside down and held by the holsters edge)

Step 4: Step 4: Cutting the Retainer and the Belt Loop

put simply cut out 2 rectangles of leather make sure one is long enough and thin enough to fit over the grip of the gun and prep the leather for stitching this means preparing both the holster and the belt look with the leather punches to lay out the stitching pattern. make sure one is long enough and thin enough to fit over the grip of the gun

glue up the now stitch prepared leather to the holster and put a weight or clamp on it let it dry completely.

Step 5: Gluing the Holster and Adding the Stitching Lines

using the clamps secure the leather in the correct orientation then take off one clamp at a time adding glue to both surfaces of the leather in a thin coat (note this was for the product i'm using, make sure to follow instructions on such products)

allow to dry fully

using the leather punches mark out the stitching lines and use the hammer to punch the appropriate holes

Step 6: Step 6: Stitching and Trimming

now initially I thought i had done a saddle stitch (using two needles and passing them through each hole) but I didn't have angled leather punches so the pattern produced by the stitching wasn't right.

you can now trim down any excess leather (i left half a cm around the edge)

Step 7: Step 7: Finishing

I added a back plate of a cuff link (because thats all i had at that moment in time and its really only practice for me) but a snap button would work or a hook and loop may give a fancier finished look.

and finally pictures of the finished product thanks for reading if it helped thats awesome if you can help me better my work brilliant. cheers