Wet Molded EDC Leather Sheath for a Swiss Army Knife and a Flashlight

EDC or everyday carry refers to the gear one keeps with him when going about his day. For me, some of the most useful things I carry are a Swiss Army knife and a flashlight. The Army knife boasts an array of tools, blades, and gadgets neatly packaged into a compact design. The flashlight on the other hand is very convenient to locate items under furniture or in a deep backpack, as well as avoiding tripping hazards when walking in dimly lit areas.

One can carry these items in a pocket, but that will over time lead to wear and tear on the tools, as they come in contact with other items in the pocket. It can also be a noisy experience as the tools clatter. To protect them from scratches and impacts, as well as to make them easier to carry, you can make a small sheath that attaches to a belt.

So in this Instructable, we'll make a leather knife sheath, that can carry a Victorinox knife, as well as a small flashlight.

Ps. This is also a perfect project to dabble in the field of wet-forming, as we'll be using cheap and manageable pieces of leather. That means we'll be able to use a smaller and more forgiving mold, as well as keep the stakes of wasting a lot of quality raw material low.

Supplies

3 oz natural vegetable tan leather (it's important that it's vegetable tanned and not chrome tanned)

A set of snap button hardware with the tools to install it

Leather dye

A sharp knife

Two round-tip needles

Thread

Pricking irons

Nylon or wood mallet

Cutting mat

Wood to make the mold

Clamps

Water to moisturize the leather before molding

Leather conditioner

Step 1: Watch the Video

I made a short video about the project, that gives you all the basics in 8 minutes:

Step 2: Making the Mold

Wet forming is a technique used to shape and mold leather pieces into specific forms. Leather is soaked in water to make it more flexible, and then it's shaped around a mold or form. As the leather dries, it retains the shape it was molded into.

For this, two methods can be used: forming by hand or using a two piece mold. As we'll be using the latter, we first need to make a mold.

Trace out the pattern attached to this step onto a piece of wood and cut it out. If you make your own mold for a different set of EDC tools, make sure to take the thickness of the leather you're planning to use in count.

Hardwood will give best results, but softer woods and particle boards do an ok job as well for smaller projects like this. If your knife and your flashlight aren't the same thickness, the mold will need to be cut with two different heights like can be seen on the fourth photo. However, if all your tools are the same height, don't bother making a mold as complex as this - a simple mold like this will be just fine, and you'll have no risk of damaging the top surface of the leather.

Use sandpaper or a wood file to round over any corners or edges that will be pressing into the leather, as otherwise they will imprint sharp lines into the final product.

Step 3: Soak the Leather

Cut out a piece of leather for the front part of the sheath. It's hard to predict how much leather you'll need but add at least 1 inch of excess to all edges. Then, submerge it in water for about 15 to 30 minutes. 

Step 4: Forming

Now it's time to press the leather into the mold. I found that I get the best results when first placing the leather on the wider half of the mold, and then pressing the smaller pieces into the leather. That way, I can verify that there aren't any creases in the leather.

Use two bigger pieces of wood to sandwich the mold and clamp it tightly.

Step 5: Remove the Mold

After 24 hours, remove the leather from the mold.

Step 6: Tracing and the First Cut

Cut out the sewing pattern and use it to trace the outline of the sheath on the formed leather. You can use a special erasable silver marker pen or for cleaner results, an awl or a needle.

We can now cut away the top of this leather piece, as we won't be able to do that when the back piece will be glued on. For that, you can use a pair of sharp, quality scissors.

Step 7: Burnishing

A burnishing agent can be used on the edge we just cut with a slickering tool to get a clean and glossy finish.

Step 8: Some Extra Care

As this Swiss Knife is a special Moomin edition, I wanted to make 100% sure that the sheath won't leave any scratches on the plastic scales nor the print. I know that leather can be used together with a polishing compound to sharpen knives, so I figured that maybe there's a way that extra fine dust can also have a similar abrasive effect on the scales.

Anyways, I decided to take some precautions and also burnish the inside of my knife sheath. It's probably unnecessary, but hey, it only took a few minutes to do.

Step 9: Cutting the Back of the Sheath

Cut out a piece of leather for the back of the sheath. The final cuts can already be done on the top edge as well as the flap, but for the rest of the edges, keep a small amount of excess material. Later on, we'll cut the final shape of the sheath through all the layers of leather at once. to get a clean result.

Use a hole punch to make the holes that will receive the snap button to close the flap of the sheath.

Step 10: Dyeing

If you want to dye your sheath, now is a good time as the hardware isn't yet attached to it.

I used some Chocolate Fiebing's Pro Dye for this project.

Step 11: Setting the Snap Button

To install the snap button, you can use a special press like this or a punchable setting tool. The captivating part about this process is that it will attach the details of the snap button on either side of the leather by forming them one over the other. No glue or sewing is needed - only pure energy and the right tools. The end result is a button that will stand the test of time and won't ever fall out by itself.

Step 12: Glueing

Apply some leather glue on the two halves and let it dry - the time needed is written on the side of the glue bottle.

Then, press the two pieces firmly together to get a nice solid assembly.

Step 13: Cutting

Now that all the layers of leather are glued in place, the final shape of the sheath can be cut.

For the belt loops, you can first punch two round holes and then cut out the inside with a blade guided along a ruler.

Step 14: Marking for Stitching

Use a metal dry pointed compass to mark a line parallel to the edges of the sheath - this will serve as a guideline for the stitching.

Step 15: Punching the Holes

Using pricking irons, punch the holes needed for the stitching. You can use the stitching template as a reference - I designed it in a way to minimize the number of times needles will need to be threaded.

An iron with five or ten prongs can be used for the straight lines and a single-prong iron for the corners.

To get the cleanest result, do not over punch the prongs into the leather - the smaller the holes the cleaner the stitching will look.

Step 16: Stitching

To get durable and clean-looking stitching, the saddle stitch technique can be used.

First, thread both ends of a thread with a round-tip needle.

Then, the stitching can begin. For that, you need to proceed in steps:

1. Widen the hole with the first needle
2. Put the right needle through the hole from the side of the sheath that will be seen more
3. Pull the same needle with the thread (now on the other side) away from yourself
4. Put the second needle through the same hole so that the needles are on separate sides again.
5. Repeat

As it's a pretty long process, you can listen to some music or a podcast to make time pass quicker :)

In the end, if you're using a synthetic thread, you can burn the ends and press them into the stitching. Otherwise, a double knot will do the trick.

Step 17: Finish the Edges

Dye the edges to make them match the rest of the sheath and burnish the edges for a clean and durable result.

Step 18: Conditioning

As a last step, you can use a leather conditioner to give the leather a shiny look and a surface that feels much smoother.

Step 19:

And with that, the sheath is done and ready to be worn!

With time, the oils naturally present in the leather will evaporate, so to keep the sheath in good condition over time, it will have to be treated with some conditioner every six months or so.

I'm very happy with how it turned out - especially the design. I was afraid that the sheath might feel uncomfortable when sitting or bending down, but actually, you don't even feel it when wearing it.

The only thing I would change about the layout is the flashlight compartment. I designed it in a way that it protects the bulb of the torch, but actually, this makes it impossible to tell whether or not light is turned on inside the sheath. As a solution, an open design could be used.

The second little gripe I had was that the sheath used to be really squeaky. Leather on leather has the tendency to be loud, especially when it's dry crust leather like the one I used. So I moisturized it with some mink oil, and it ended up resolving that issue.

I hope you learned something new and that you enjoyed this Instructable.

Thank you for reading so far, and have a wonderful day! :D