Belt Pouch

this was my first (real) leathercraft project, and was directly inspired by my family's trip to a renaissance faire last october.

i had told myself that i would buy something there, but was unable to find something i liked that cost as much as i was willing to pay. not that anything was overpriced! having started this hobby, i have serious appreciation for the time and effort and materials that goes into products like these. i am just a broke father in a single-income home.

either way, i wanted a little belt pouch for the next time we went to a ren faire, and so i decided to make myself one with some large-ish scraps leftover from a previous anniversary gift/project. we had bought one of the low-quality-but-you-get-one-of-everything kits on amazon, with intention to make each other dice trays, but the ones we made ended up being much simpler than intended, because the leather we bought was thicker and stiffer than we thought it would be.

i didn't really know what i was doing here!

i made a pattern out of some cardstock, taking care to use only the amount of leather we had on hand; i didn't want to have to buy anything just to satisfy a silly whim. but i also wanted to make it big enough to carry my phone and keys. no pockets in period-accurate garb, you see.

i more or less copied a half dozen different things i saw online when i was making the pattern, hoping that in the end it would turn out alright. the belt loop is one thing i copied pretty directly, as is the closure.

i used quarter inch seam allowances, which makes the seams look really chunky, and i wasn't sure how close to the edge i could safely go. and i spaced the holes using a ruler (1/4") instead of a stitching chisel, which results in fewer stitches but a rougher look (i think it kinda works here, though).

in the end, i'm really happy with how this turned out! i haven't really gotten to wear it to a ren faire yet but there is a mini-one at a brewery coming up in a couple of weeks (as of writing in spring 2026) that i hope to be going to. now i just need to figure out the rest of my garb in those two weeks 😅