Cyndi's Custom Leather, Huntsville, TX
Sometimes it's funny how one thing can lead to another, and how hidden talents can surface from seemingly nowhere and change your whole direction, just like that….
Well, that is basically how Cyndi's Custom Leather came to be a few years ago. My husband has always had a fondness for big revolvers. He purchased one that was so big that finding a holster to fit it was almost impossible. When we did find something that would fit, it was just plain ugly.
Of course, he knows me and how I like to do craft activities, bead-work and things of that nature. So, one day he was looking through a course catalog from American Gunsmithing Institute and saw a training course for making leather holsters and thought maybe I could do something like that and make a nice holster for his hand-cannon. Well, I never took that course but I did buy a book on how to make holsters and bought a few basic tools just to play around with and see what happens. I first made a knife sheath for him and then a pattern that I felt like would fit his big gun. He then took me on a shopping trip to a Tandy Leather store to get the right kind and weight of leather for his big holster and some better tools and dyes, etc. (Oh man, the money we spent in that store that day…. whew!) The end result was he had a beautiful holster for a crazy big gun, S&W .460 revolver with an 8” barrel. And wouldn't you know, the holster just happened to match his knife sheath and then a key ring, and finally a wallet for a complete matching ensemble any gentleman would be proud to carry. Yes, my Honeybear looks good!
Soon after I got all this done, the guys in the shop that worked with him started sending him home with their wish lists for all kinds of leather goods. So, I started researching how different articles were made and tried to replicate the process, making improvements anywhere I could and adding personal touches here and there. Everyone was so happy with the products I was making, they all started asking when I was going to open a shop and start doing this full time. Well, all that sounded very unlikely to me at the time, nothing more than an impossible, far away dream, … but here we are, heading in that direction like a herd of wild horses.
