Many year ago...let's say 14, I received a gift that I had no idea that I would be so attached to. My inlaws gifted me a Leatherman Wave. This find piece of equipment is now with me everyday. Pretty much everywhere I go, except when I am dressed up, it is with me. It is hands down the best multitool I have ever had, and I would recommend that ever person in the entire world have one haha.
It originally came with a canvas type sheath with a velcro cover. It took a good ten years before that velcro wore out and the cover would no longer hold. By chance we were walking around Bass Pro Shops in Springfield Missouri and I found a new sheath in the knife section. It is a great sheath that is made by Case. It was all leather, and the cover flap had a push snap button.
Over the last few years it has been getting more wollered out. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the word woller, it pretty much means to stretch out and get slopping fitting. Because I am a giant man, I seemed to snag my leatherman on things. It could be a when I am sitting in or getting out of a chair, or getting it caught on the seat belt in the car. So it would get push and pulled and it started to stretch out.
The belt loop on the back was made of a single strip of leather, so it got pretty floppy. It wasn't quite to the point of tearing, but there was no sense pushing it to the point I could potentially lose it.
Side story. Years ago I was doing handyman work when we lived in Kenosha Wisconsin, and I had to drive to a near by town to replace batteries on a sump pump for an apartment building. It was a good bit of work that involved be having to run to the store. When I bought a new battery, it had to be filled and I used my leatherman for some help in the parking lot of the hardware store. I finished up, went to the apartment building, finished up, and drop 35 minutes or so back home. As I was walking into the house something caught my eye. It was my leatherman.....on the bumper of the suburban where I accidentally left it in the hardware store parking lot!!!
For Christmas one of my kids, The Inventor, got a couple of packs of leather pieces from his grandparents. He is a creative guy, and this was just up his alley. The great part is Ol' Dad needed a piece to make a long over due repair, and the Inventor was more than happy to contribute.
So I used two small pieces for the new case backing. I took the original leather case and took the seam apart with a seam ripper. The messed up back part came right off, and the front part including the flap with the push snap stayed together. I outlined the font of the case onto the new pieces of leather where I planned on it being. This was pretty sweet because I got a chance to make the case really the way I wanted it. I used a pencil and layed out where I would like the holes for my belt, and where I would like the outside stitching to be.
I used a small nail to make the holes so that they were all big enough for the sinew I was using to stitch it all together. I love using what is called a saddle stitch. It has one piece of sinew with a needle on each end and you thread it back and forth through the same hole but in the opposite direction. So it is a real nice and heavy stitch. When you reach the end you sew backwards three or four holes, tie it, and burn it.
I started by stitching and fitting the cover to the new leather, and making sure it was all fit and secure. Then I stitched all along the outside and around the belt holes. When I was all finished with the sewing I cut out the holes and trimmed up along the outside of the sheath. I used the back side of a spoon to smooth down the edges and give it a nice worn look.
I am really happy with the way it turned out. It is now tight and snug to my hip. I also made it so that it is angle and is a bit easier to get in and out.
This is just one of the many things that you might see coming out of my shop. I love creating something as often as I can. I don't do too much leather work, but I do a whole lot of metal work. I have been making and selling knives, but I don't usually make the sheath for it. It would be taking a 100+ dollar knife and wrapping it in a 15 dollar piece of leather haha. I will leave sheath making to the leather workers haha.
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Thanks again for joining me today.
Be well
~The Yeti
