[jimmontg]

About all I can add to what Carl said is if you're putting metal in a sheath make sure its 8 oz* or 1/8 inch thick veg tan leather. You don't want to use chrome tanned leather because chromic acid doesn't mix well even with stainless it can pit it. It really messes up high carbon steels like O1 or 1084 if it gets wet. BTW unless you soak your sheath in melted wax don't store your knife in it as the leather tends to absorb dampness from humid air.

I make belts mostly, key fobs, bags and sheaths, plus the odd journal cover or special wallet. Make a few padded and nicely tooled phone covers. Even made a suede vest once, I won't do that again, its a miracle it fit her and was a lot of hand cutting of tassels and hand sewing. I took me 4 times as long as I thought it would. If you know someone who knows how to make clothes go for it, but get a strong sewing machine. Otherwise leave clothes be.

*An ounce of leather is 1/64th of an inch at one square foot big. So 8 x 1/64th is 1/8 inch.

If you can pick out the leather by hand is best. If you have to order it online I suggest somebody who sells Hermann Oak leather or Wicket and Craig who you can buy from directly and they sell high quality veg tan, but are expensive when all you need is a single shoulder for sheaths and starting out. I ordinarily wouldn't recommend Tandy leather to buy from online, but their Oak Leaf single shoulders are good and I have never got a bad single shoulder and they are about $50, so are in your budget, I think they run about 7-8 oz thick which is good for most sheaths. Now I don't recommend using bellies usually, but Weaver leather supply has 10 oz Hermann Oak bellies for $30. The grain or weave of the leather on bellies isn't as dense as shoulders or the side, but at 10 oz thick it's good for a sheath, just don't make a belt out of it as the belt holes will probably stretch too much.