A friend of mine asked if I could make him a shoulder holster vest like the one Rick O'Connell wears in The Mummy.
Despite not having a clue how to make something like that, I'm fairly pleased with the way it turned out. It's not quite screen accurate, but I like the way it looks :)
I took a lot of photos along the way, so if my finished product turned out okay I could share the process with you all on here. I'll also provide links to the materials and tools I used.
This was a relatively easy project and fairly inexpensive. I spent $36.18 on this. You can easily make this in a day, and depending on the tools you already have for about $30-$45.
Here's a list of materials and tools I used to make this and where you can find them:
For this project I had to purchase:
Fabric (1 yard: $18.72)
I did not do this in leather, but rather vinyl upholstery fabric. I did this mostly to cut back on cost. But the lighter material was also easier to work with.
This was the most expensive element. This fabric is 34.99 a yard, so it's a good idea to use a coupon. If you haven't already, sign up for e-mails/texts from Joann's. Also get the app. And visit the webpage before your check out. There are often different coupons available on each. Joann's will let you stack them most of the time. They will also honor Hobby Lobby coupons. There's a 40% off coupon for regular priced items every day. You can get that through the Hobby Lobby app.
Thread ($2.29)
Get this thread in the accent color you want. I used heavy cream. I only used this for stitching the edges of the actual holsters together. You want to use a heavy thread since you're using a heavy material. I thicker thread will also look better as an accent, as you can see it better.
Leather Lace ($2.29)
This I used to tie the pieces together. There was very little stitching on this project.
Leather Dye ($4.49)
This is not necessary, but I purchased this because the material I got was lighter than I wanted it to be.
An Awl ($4.22)
This you will need to poke holes through the material for the rivets and the lace.
Things you will also need that you may not already have:
Rivets($3.49)
You can actually make this without the rivets. They only hold the back straps in place. You could use literally anything...Stitches, velcro, snaps...whatever you like. I liked the way the rivets look so I used rivets. If you don't want to use rivets here, then there is no need for the rivets or the rivet setter and anvil.
Rivet Setter and Anvil ($11.99)
You will need this tool to set the rivets, if you choose to use rivets in your piece.
Heavy Needle for sewing leather ($2.49)
Any time you are sewing with a heavy fabric like upholstery vinyl, leather, denim, etc...you want to make sure you use an appropriate sewing needle. As indicated by the packaging, this set of needles is good for leather and leather-like materials (such as upholstery vinyl) Your standard sewing needle is not made to go through heavy fabric and may (probably) break.
I was lucky enough to be able to borrow these items from a friend. However they are nice to have, and not terribly expensive if you have to purchase them on your own.
So the process was actually pretty easy. I used some reference photos and got a general idea of the shape of the pieces.
Then I sketched them out to approximate size on wax paper. Then I taped them together to make sure the fit okay. Made some adjustments. And when I was happy, I used the wax paper pieces as pattern pieces for the actual fabric. It's a good idea to do this step first because this fabric is kinda pricey.
After I cut them out I used masking tape to hold them together and try them on again and make sure everything still looked right. I did leave a little extra length on the parts so I had room to adjust. Since this was being made for someone else. Then I laid them out and dyed them to get to the color I wanted
The dye is really messy so I covered the surface I was doing this on with tin foil because the dye will just soak through any type of cloth you put down. And it stains bad. I did 2 coats of dye and let it dry. It doesn't take very long...maybe an hour. Beware though, because this is not real leather and it doesn't absorb the dye like leather would, the stain will rub off on our hands a bit still when you are working with it.
Since I was making this for another person, I waited until I had a chance for him to try it on before I started poking holes in it and tying things together. Once I made adjustments I started putting the pieces together.
I used the awl to poke holes in the pieces big enough to thread the leather lace through and just tied the pieces together as they are in my reference photos. I poked a few more holes above them to make it look more like the reference photos as well.
The tape is what I was using to hold it together temporarily so my friend could try it on. I made sure to mark where the pieces fit with an erasable marker.
You can see in this picture that the pockets are folded with the inside facing out. This was actually an accident. However, it worked out well because I then stitched another layer of fabric going the right way over the top. This reinforced the pockets by acting as a sort of lining and made the fabric sturdier. Since the fabric is pretty flimsy by itself, when you put a gun in there without that lining, it just kinda flopped around. So yay for happy accidents!
Next was to cut out the outer layer of the pockets and stitch them together. I just traced the pocket on the fold of my remaining fabric and cut it out (and then dyed it)
I gave myself a little extra space on the edges just in case. Then stitched them together. The last part was to put rivets in the straps on the back to hold them in place. Then I took a blow torch around the edges. This burnt away any frays and thread that was still sticking out and also added some wear and tear to the overall look. And that's it! I hope this is helpful if you are trying to make this or something similar :)
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