Making a Tea Cup Leather Holster for your Dolls

Wether you are a doll collector, a doll enthusiast, a miniature aficionado or a dollmaker, I believe that making a leather tea cup holster for your dolls is one of the most fun things you can do with a bit of leather, ingenuity and some simple tools.

Miss Henrietta Swan is the lucky recipient of such a contraption, as she loves to forage for herbs, edible flowers, barks and roots.

Not just to make delicious and medicinal tea out of, but to keep a closer relationship to the land around her. She feels it her duty to keep in touch with what is growing around her and to be a steward of the knowledge of plants.

Bringing a kettle with you or a handy thermos makes this task more approachable, while you are taking long walks through the boreal forest.

But Henrietta wanted the proper ‘crockery’ to drink tea from, not a big fan of plastic cups or drinking straight from a thermos.

So with a bit of mischief stealing supplies from all members of the family, trying my hardest to provide for my woolly friend, I went and tackled the creation of a set of tea cup and saucer by using the very informative, totally clear and wonderful step-by-step tutorial by Ann Wood Handmade.

If you want to try your hands at making some adorable tiny dishes for your dolls, using paper clay and paints, then hop on over here where Ann will show you just how.

If you want to rather watch parts of the process of how I created the little leather holster, you can visit my YouTube channel of course.

I decided to write a little process here for you, in case you feel a little lost at how to assemble the thing.

First off, you need to have a tea cup and saucer so you can make a pattern. My tea cup ended up being 20 mm in diameter and the saucer was 31 mm. So therefore my pattern pieces are set to encase such tiny crockery.

If you make yours bigger or smaller, the pattern pieces are extremely simple, as you can see in the video and photos.

You need a back pouch, a front pouch, slightly angled so that the saucer can peep out, and then a little pouch to set the tea cup inside. Nothing fancy.

I made a little PDF of the pattern pieces I used and made it available for my Patreon susbcribers, you can check it out over here>>>.

So once you have your paper clay crockery, dried and painted, and you have made your pattern or template to house both dishes, the leather craft fun begins.

Step 1.
Cut all your pieces from leather. I used 1mm thick leather for this purpose.

Step 2.
Make some decorative stitches on the top part of the Front Pouch. First I pre-punched all the sewing holes by using an awl, and then used a simple backstitch.

Step 3.
Attach the ‘Tea cup Pouch’ to the ‘Front Pouch’, using backstitch, but in this case, punch each hole just before you make the stitch.

This helps to tailor the shape of the teacup pouch slightly better, and it also helps with keeping the punched hole a little bit wider just before you use your needle.

I used clips to keep everything in place as I was working. You can also use small binder clips.

Step 4.
Cut the straps that will hold the tea cup holster over a doll belt. Position the first strap in place, at the right hand side of the Back Pouch, you will be attaching it to the back.

Attach both straps to the holster (one on the right side, one on the left side, both at the back), while also making another row of decorative stitches on the top edge of the Back Pouch.

This will help attach the straps and make a row of decorative stitches in one go, but if it’s too cumbersome for you, you can make the decorative stitches first and then attach the straps later or even glue them. I sewed mine on.

Tip: don’t overlap the ends of the strap, instead place them flat next to each other, to reduce bulk. If you are sewing them to the back pouch, you will also need to puch one hole at each end so you can sew them on.

Step 5.
Match the Front Pouch to the Back Pouch at the round bottom edge, hold in place with clips, and sew together using backstitch.

Same as with sewing the tea cup pouch, I punched holes with the awl as I was making my stitches and it all went remarkably well.

Finishing.
You can tie the ends of the threads together several times, so that nothing becomes undone.

Put a drop of glue if using cotton or linen cord, or singe the ends if using corespun polyester thread.

You can also dye the leather for a weathered look, seal it or burnish it to give it a different appearance. I left mine the way it is and Henrietta loves it!

All you need to do now, is weave it through your doll’s belt and voila! a tea cup leather holster for your doll.

So it is my hope that now you too are inspired and excited to tackle some miniature dishes and to create a little leather holster for your dolls.

It was really fun for me to try my hands at making something for my dolls, other than shoes, hats and fantabulous shawls.

I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable this activity is and it will allow you to exercise your creativity while making something fun for your dolls.

Like I tell all my students all the time: things do not need to be perfect, we just need to try.

This month I seem to have all sorts of ideas (and the time to make them come true) so expect a few more simple tutorials and adventures with Miss Swan as our muse.

She seems to be sparking all kinds of fun adventures and I am here for her, to follow.

Thank you for coming to check this out. If you do manage to make one, be sure to let me know.