Making nylon/cordura sheaths/bags/whatever

[Syncop8r]

I'm looking to make/modify some things out of nylon or cordura sometime so would love to see any sheaths or anything else made of nylon and how you did it.....

[Don Pablo]

Skinth sheaths are made of cordura. I suggest that you aquire one for "study" purposes, see how it ticks. 

[italophil]

My wife made a heavy duty diaper bag last year for a friend of hers. She used these two sites as a rough reference.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-backpack/

http://leiflabs.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-messenger-bag.html

We also visited a Chrome Messenger Bag store http://www.chromeindustries.com/ in NYC. They make bags live in the store and you can talk to the seamstress.

My wife sews a lot and the major challenge was the thickness of the materials. She bought a new cutting wheel for the cordura, a heavy needle for the sewing machine (I think the one she ended up using is for denim) and a Speedy Stitcher awl for attaching the shoulder strap. Since she didn't want to use her serger to seam the edges we used a soldering iron like a hot knife to prevent fringing on seams that are on the inside between the two layers of fabric.

[Syncop8r]

Good start, thanks. 
I might have to get me a Speedy Stitcher...

[italophil]

In case you do a lot of stitching with an awl, you should take a look at a sail maker palm guard. It's basically a thimble for using with awls so you don't pierce the bottom of your thumb if the needle requires more pressure and suddenly goes through he fabric. You should get both the speedy stitch and a palm guard at any chandlery.

[Syncop8r]

I imagine I will also need strong thread, especially if stitching webbing.

[italophil]

If you are stitching by hand nylon thread in Tex 70 would be a good choice. If you use a sewing machine, you might have to go for a thinner thread like a Tex 45. Thread sizes are hard to understand.