Knife Sheath

Making a Knife Sheath.

After making my first knife it was time to make a knife sheath for it. I am left handed and always wanted to carry my  knife on my left hip. So I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make that happen. 

First step was to create a pattern. I had an idea of the shape that I wanted but have never made a sheath like this before. So I decided to leave the material long on one side and trim it to size once I bonded and stitched the two pieces together. 

Here you can see the pattern that I made out of thin cardboard sitting on the leather prior to cutting. 

 Here is the pattern of the sheath and the rand that will protect the stitching prior to the first bonding step. 

 Here I am bonding the rand in place prior to wet forming. I use Boston Clips to hold the leather in place during the bonding.

 In preparation for wet forming I cover the blade with tape and cover the whole knife in plastic wrap to protect the wood finish from the moisture. 

 After I wet formed and bonded the leather. I punched holes for the stitching. 

 Here I am starting the stitching. I prefer to use a double needle "saddle stitch" because it makes a stronger and more reliable joint. 

 Once it was all formed and stitched I added a little embellishment, nothing too fancy just some subtle lines and a stamp. 

 Here is the finished sheath. It still needs to be oiled and treated. 

 I am quite happy with how it turned out.