His collars are made by sewing cotton fabric around a cotton strap. This is NOT as durable as sturdy ribbon sewn onto a nylon strap, and is also more complicated to make. However I like it because of the nearly endless range of color and pattern options on cotton prints, and Tiny Dog is not very hard on his clothes.
Sorry that some of the pictures are a wee bit blurry!
What you'll need:
Wonder tape (two-sided sticky fabric "tape" that can be sewn through without gunking up your needle), measuring tape, plastic or metal snap buckle (1 inch used here), seam rippers (probably), thread to complement or nicely contract your fabic, 1 inch cotton strap (I like to use white because cotton fabric is slightly porous and this keeps the colors nice and bright), D-ring (1 inch), big honkin' needle, cotton fabric (I suggest buying pre-cut quilting squares so you don't have to stand in line for the cutting table to get a tiny amount of fabric), and fabric scissors. Not pictured: a few pins, and a sewing machine.
I bought the D-rings at my local fabric store. They also had the buckles (called "parachute buckles") but they only had ugly ones and not in fun colors. I recommend ordering buckles from Creative Designworks. This amazing site is just for people who want to make their own collars and leashes, and they also have rings and snap hooks of all different sizes and colors, chain martingale loops, colored nylon straps, slides for making adjustable collars, and more.
A word of warning about the plastic buckles: they are VERY loud when they snap shut. Dragon always gets a treat when I buckle or unbuckle them, and so he comes running over when he sees me pull out a collar. A more sensitive dog might be frightened by it.
Step 1: Put on some good music. I recommend Cher.
2. Measure your dog's neck. Or if he's making frightened faces at you...
2b. Measure the length of a collar that's already fitted to him. Here the buckles are the same size, so I can just measure the length between them (10 inches). If you're using different sized buckles, you'll have to do some maths.
3. Cut a length of cotton strap that is the collar length (10 inches) plus about 5 inches extra. Add more extra if you want the D-ring to be far away from the buckle. I cut just 14 inches because I've made a bunch of collars for Dragon already and I'm positive that it will be the right length.
4. Lay out the back side of your cotton print and cut out a rectangular piece that is:
(a) about three times the width of your cotton strap (3 inches), and
(b) the length of your cotton strap plus 2 inches (16 inches total)
5. Lay the strap over the fabric rectangle and place a strip of wonder tape going all the way across the top edge of the strap. Peel off the backing of the wonder tape.
6. Fold the top edge of the fabric onto the wonder tape and press down. You'll want to also use two very small pieces of tape to secure the fabric on either end of the strap.
7. Another strip of wonder tape along the bottom edge of the strap.
8. Fold the bottom part of the fabric over the strap. There will be a bunch of extra sticking out over the top. Make sure that you pull it evenly as you're pressing it down over the wonder tape. The side of the strap/fabric combo that's down on the table will be the outside of the collar.
9. Cotton fabrics hold onto creases well. That's a downside if you didn't take your clothes out of the dryer quickly enough, but an upside for this project. Take the extra fabric that's sticking out over the top and fold it underneath, so that the fraying edge is hidden. Press down with your fingers to create a crease.
10. You can see the crease here. Pull it up enough to put yet another strip of wonder tape underneath, and then you'll press your folded fabric over the tape. We need this much wonder tape in order to keep the fabric secured in place. Otherwise it'd get stretched this way and that and you'd end up with something crooked or bunched going through the machine.
11. This is what your collar now looks like. The cotton strap is completely covered, and two of the fraying edges of the fabric are hidden/protected.
12. Time to get the last two edges. Put a piece of wonder tape right before where the cotton strap ends. Take the inch of fabric sticking out past the edge and fold it in inwards.
13. Roll it forward and secure on the tape. Do the same to the other side.
14. Now we have a no-sew collar! But it will start to come apart if you don't quickly sew it down, so let's get to the next step!
15. Start sewing along one of the folded over edges.
16. When you get to the corner, pivot the collar so you're sewing toward the very end. Pivot again along the very edge of the collar. Then pivot, sew down the length of the collar, and do the same spiral to secure the other end.
17. It should look like this: every fold is secured, with a minimal amount of sewing. That makes it more pretty.
18. Pull the thread through to the underside of the collar. Tie the two ends together.
19. Thread both pieces through your large needle, and pull the needle between the fabric and the strap.
20. Pull the thread taut and snip it right where it comes out of the fabric.
21. My camera did a great macro zoom on the wrong part of the collar. Anyway, the above technique completely hides the knot and thread ends, and protects them from wear. That's a pro tip, right there.
22. Oh look, it's coming together! Pull your collar through the D-ring and strap pieces. If you're picky like me, decide which way the collar should orient and which side you want the D-ring to be on before you sew anything down. I want the seam on the collar to be on the bottom so it's less visible, and the D-ring to be on Dragon's right side so that when he's heeling the leash clip doesn't hit against the buckle.
23. Adjust the length and pin everything in place. Here you can see that if you want the D-ring to be secured farther away from the buckle, you need extra length. I don't do that because it makes the collar bulkier and less soft and pliable where there are two layers.
24. If you have a very calm dog who will hold still, you can double check the fit at this point. Don't poke him with the pins.
25. Sew the layers together.
26. Almost done! Tie off the threads using the same method shown above.
27. Ta-da! You have a complete custom collar!
28. Put it on the dog and take lots of pictures.
I am aware that the 1 inch buckle is kind of huge on Tiny Dog. I wanted a wide collar that would be easy to get ahold of for attaching and unattaching the leash during competition. It's fitted quite loosely on his neck so that he can still bend his head and neck downwards..
The plan had been to make him "a" show collar, since his regular collar is teeny tiny and buried underneath his neck fur. But then I couldn't choose between all the awesome fabrics...
I bought tiny leash clips and made 2 matching, lightweight, 4 foot show leads.
And one more ultra-thin, ultra-light, 4 foot show lead.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful! If you decide to make any collars, please post photos! And feel free to link to this post if you're inclined to share it.
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