Very nice work.....

,,Sam,,

For my stitching through layers of leather I use a small drill bit attached to my Dremal tool. I also have the awals but going through that much heavy leather is hard on me. Besides, I ran an awal into my hand once.

M60gunner, man that hurts doesn't it? If there's a way to stick myself, I usually find it. Try to do it only once, though.

Most of my holes were going through a single layer of leather. A punch would work just fine for that. But after I finished and got to thinking about it, drilling it would have been so much easier.
I'll see about getting a book on leather stitching. I was just figuring it out as I went. I'd like to learn how to finish the edges of the leather. I dyed it with Olive oil like I did the rest of it and treated it with SnoSeal. But color didn't show. Oh well, I didn't make this for anyone but me and it's functional. Best part it only cost me a few dollars for the thread, soft leather, and antler. I may have spent $20 adding this pocket. Luckily my local hobby store was having a sale.
A goover would be great. It'd look a lot better.

M60gunner, I have a nice hole in my gut from the needle I was using. I had to pull it through with a pair of pliers and it got away from me. I stuck myself in the gut with a leather needle. I bled like a stuck pig. lol

Dorado, welcome to the club. That's where experience comes from - not thinking ahead        

I was pulling a needle through a very thick (5/16") collar on a bowie knife sheath. The needle was just far enough through the leather so that I could get a hold of it with the pliers. The pliers slipped off the needle and the back end of the needle went down into my thigh. Hurt more than a little bit and that deep puncture took forever to heal. Increased my vocabulary quite a bit, though (didn't improve it - just increased it).

QuoteOriginally posted by Bladepeek:
Dorado, welcome to the club. That's where experience comes from - not thinking ahead        

Increased my vocabulary quite a bit, though (didn't improve it - just increased it).

Hey! That's exactly what I experienced and at a high volume too! lol

Well they say painful lessons are fastest learned. If that's the case then I learned a lot of lessons on this venture.

Painful and bloody or not.....nice work was the result.