Making Dog Collars!

I’ve been making dog collars for a few years now.  I started making them for my own dogs and eventually started making them for my families’ dogs as well.

 

I just love changing dog collars with the season.  After a while it was just so much nicer to have custom, homemade collars versus store bought ones!

 

Over time I began selling them locally.  I first began in the store where we take our dogs for “day care”.  It’s a Wonderful place called Pet Play House and the owner was very encouraging about selling my collars.

 

They’ve been in her store for a couple of years now.

 

Just this summer I began selling them in another local shop, Scraps.  The owner was equally supportive.  I have really enjoyed working with both of them.

 

Unfortunately, they aren’t a product that sells in large volume or very fast so it’s not a “quit your job and work at home” kind of thing.  Just something that makes extra money on the side.

 

It’s creative and fun.

 

Just recently I needed to replace our dogs’ collars and my Mom and sister’s dogs’ collars as well. 

 

Here’s what our dogs’ collars looked like…

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Definitely in need of repair!

 

I found some cute fabrics and went to work!

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I start with a 100% cotton fabric and fuse it to a heavy fusible interfacing. 

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Actually, the fusing and pressing of the fabrics takes the longest.   From there I fold the fabric into thirds and sew along each long edge.

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At this point, things move along quickly.  I add the hardware and voila- Dog Collars!

 

I did have to get a semi industrial machine from my local quilt shop in order to be able to sew through all of the layers.  It gets PRETTY thick and my regular sewing machine could not take it!

 

Now, I can sew through the layers like butter!

 

Here’s what they look like once they are half way done. 

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And here they are with all of the hardware attached, ready to go to their new owners!

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Sewing is AWESOME!  Until next time!

 

Heather

14 comments:

  1. Heather -

    LOVE THE DOG COLLARS!! They are SO CUTE!!

    Any chance you will share your pattern??

    Kitty

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Kitty,

    Always happy to share!! The pattern is called Playful Pet Collars by Karen West. I buy my hardware online from www.cdwplus.com. They are fast and inexpensive and you can buy as little or as much as you want!

    Good Luck
    Heather

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  3. Wow! Beautiful dog collars, This is the best way to know about how we make a dog collar. Thanks for this information.....

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  4. After seind a couple of dog collars patterns, this became one of my hobbies. I started making dog collars for my neighbors and friends an after hearing their oppionions I can say:"It's so nice to see your work apreciated"

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  5. Those dog collars are so cute. I always wanted to make my own dog collars but Ive never really been all that crafty. But I am gonna give it a try. Thanks for the great tips!

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  6. Thank you, thank you for the nice compliment!!!
    Heather

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  7. What kind of sewing machine do you use?

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  8. I have a Pfaff Grandquilter. It only does straight stitches but it is a workhorse and has a very large throat space. I LOVE it!!!!

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  9. Hi Heather,
    awesome collars! Hey I have two (maybe silly) questions:
    how do you "fuse" the cotten to the interface?
    do you think a singer7258 or bother cs6000i would be heavy duty enough to sew the collars? Thanks!! Great work!

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  10. Heather,
    amazing collars! What type/model pfaff grandquilter do you own?

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  11. Hmmmm.of course I'm not at home and can't look at my machine! Sorry, it's a pfaff grandquilter but I don't know the number (actually I didn't know there was a number! :)

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  12. About the fusing...it's a Joann's thick craft interfacing with fusible on one side. It very stiff. Not at home, but I want to sayit's called "craft fuse". I can check.

    I'm just not certain about whether the machines listed will work! If they're pretty heavy duty you have a good chance! Mine is quite heavy duty- at the quilt shop they call it "semi industrial"! Hope that helps!

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  13. How much interfacing do you use? Is it the full size of the fabric? Thanks :)

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  14. Yes! The interfacing is cut the whole wide of the collar. :) Thanks!
    Heather

    ReplyDelete

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