Get yourself up to the North Scottish Meet in two weeks time. I'm bringing two sides of leather, loads of linen thread, wax, saddle makers needles and awls by the dozen. I'll be teaching anyone who wishes to learn, how to make sheaths. I'll even demonstrate making a pair of shoes. In fact, I'll be finishing a pair off for one of Toddy's friends. I buy all of my stuff from Le Prevo. I only live a few miles from them so I call in regularly. One advantage of that is I get to rake in the offcuts bin and I get tons of good bits (big enough for possibles pouches) for pennies. It's like an Aladin's cave in there, and the smell of leather.... Mmmmm! (No I don't have a fetish!)
If you can't make the meet, get yourself some saddler's needles (blunts), a diamond shaped awl, something to lean on (don't push holes through the leather on the dining room table), and a pair of pliers (to pull the needles through when they get stuck in the hole). You'll need linen tread and beeswax to run the thread through before you stitch the leather. That's about it for the gear. Oh, and a sharp knife. All you'll need to learn is the saddle stitch.
You might also want to look up embossing leather. That's basically soaking the leather till it goes soft then pressing stamps or drawing depressions in the leather with a blunt point. Once the leather dries, you have a nice pattern embossed in it.
Have fun,
Eric
