Drawing a Sheath Pattern From Your Knife

Make the mistakes on paper. Paper is cheap, and leather isn't.

Before you start

• Paper or thin cardboard, a pencil, scissors, a ruler.
• Tape, to hold the paper in a sheath shape.
• Your knife.

One tutorial uses a cardboard template made by tracing the knife.¹ Another says to trace the blade and as much of the handle as you want to cover.²

Remember that the template is the inside of the sheath.¹

Draw it, step by step

The measurements below come from one knifemaking book. Treat them as a starting point for your own knife, and check against the paper.

• Draw a fold line. Draw a straight line the full length of the paper. This line becomes the leather fold of the sheath.³
• Set the knife on it. Place the spine about 1/4 inch from the line, roughly parallel.³
• Trace the edge side. Go around the curve of the edge, leaving a bit of space between the blade and your pencil line.³
• Mark the top. Extend the line up two-thirds of the length of the handle. Make a mark for the top of the sheath.³
• Draw the welt line. Draw a second line along the knife edge, about 1/2 inch out from the first. The space between the two lines is where the welt goes.³

A second source says the same thing in fewer words: add space around the edge side of the knife for the welt.¹

Add the belt loop

• Extend the two lines at least 5 inches past the top of the sheath. That strip becomes the loop.³
• The loop can be narrower than the sheath, so taper both sides and it won't show from the front.³
• Leave enough length that, once folded down and stitched, there's a space at least 2 inches wide for the belt.³

The belt loop gets its own place in the build, covered in the overview of sheath parts.

Cut it and fold it

• Fold the paper in half on the center seam. Cut through both layers to get two identical sides.³
• Trim one side so only that one has a belt loop.³
• Don't cut straight lines freehand. Use a straight edge.¹

Test it on the knife

• Put the knife in the folded paper. Does it fit?³
• Leather is thicker than paper, so depending on how thick yours is, you might need to make the design bigger.³
• Tape the paper into a three-dimensional shape, the same shape the leather will have. This lets you make changes while it's easier.²
• When in doubt, go larger. One writer says better too large than too small.²

The welt pattern

• Trace the curve of the sheath on another sheet of paper. Then trace the inside line to mark the welt.³
• Cut it out and try it in the paper sheath. It should fit neatly inside the seam.³
• When you cut the welt from leather, leave a little extra on the outside edge.³

More on that in the welt method.

A wider pouch instead of a thick welt

The handle is thicker than the blade, and it sits in the sheath too. One tutorial gives two ways to handle that.¹

• Use wedges to build up the welt to fit the thickness of the handle.¹
• Or make the pouch wider and use a thin welt. If you do, make the template from heavy paper and wrap it around your knife before cutting the leather.¹

Stitch line

The stitch line goes inside the edge of the leather. One book marks a line about 1/4 inch in from the edge all the way round.³ Marking and sewing it is covered in the stitching steps.

Moving it to the leather

Keep the right hand or left hand in mind. For a right-handed sheath, the belt loop side of the pattern sits on the left when it's on the leather. For a left-handed one, flip the pattern.³

Tape the pattern down and trace it with a pencil.³