Handstitched Small Dog Harness

[ypsicamp]

I took a sewing class at tandy last month and tried my hand at handstitching a small dog harness, this is my second attempt. It's made with 8-9 oz red latigo leather from the hide house and linen thread from tandy. I used a #6 overstitch wheel and the edges were not beveled but they are hand finished using hidepounder's pinned technique. I normally use a powerdrill with one of spinner's burnishers but i just wanted to try finishing by hand. My stitching is still pretty rough, you can see where I backed stitched.

the red latigo has this weird top layer on the hair side, it's almost feels like it's some sort of bonded synthetic material. when i sanded the edges it caused ripples on that top layer, slightly visible in the pictures. When i tried to bevel the sanded edge the top layer dragged the beveler and the edge looked ragged, but the layer beneath the top layer bevels just fine. That's why I didn't bevel the edges. i've seen this weird top layer on other latigo sides that are dyed "designer" colors (i.e. royal blue, green, etc.). Anyone else see this weird top layer before? If so, what is it?

I choose red b/c i was planning on making some harnesses in the local team colors (i.e. SF - 49rs, Oakland - A's & raiders). Let me know what you guys think, but more importantly what can i do to improve.

Mijo-

I am new to the craft and am encouraged by your results with the harness. I want to make a harness for my 50# shepard/retriever mix and this pattern looks like a good way to go. Nice work!

Edited August 17, 2012 by ypsicamp

[Santo]

I have been working on my hand stitching as a novice. I to was using a chisel but found more succes with a good awl and a "pricking wheel" to lay out ur stitch pattern. got my awl. Blade from bob Douglas and what a difference. I have some examples a couple threads down under " first agitation collar".

[Mijo]

Mijo-

I am new to the craft and am encouraged by your results with the harness. I want to make a harness for my 50# shepard/retriever mix and this pattern looks like a good way to go. Nice work!

ypsicamp - good luck with your harness and please post pictures when your done. If it helps you out, let me know and I can post pictures of the my harness unbuckled in it's three main sections. One thing I learned from my first attempt was to make the billet strap that goes around the body shorter and make the associated buckle strap (that comes in from the bottom) longer. By doing this the buckles sit higher up on the dog, and away from the dog's front legs.

Santo - I'm a fan of what you've posted in the past, though your agitiation collar isn't something a small dog could really use. I need to start practicing with an awl again before I get too used to using a chisel...

[lightingale]

Your harness is beautiful, Mijo.

This post interested me because last week, I too, made a leather harness for my dog to practice hand sewing. I used veg tanned leather, and it doesn't look nearly as polished as yours. I love the idea of using eyelets to reinforce the holes. I can't imagine that a little dog could pull hard enough to warp it, but it looks fantastic against that red. My backstitching is quite a bit more obvious than yours. I'd like to buy a thinner thread next time and see how that works.

The design was based off the EasyWalk harness that I currently use with him, but doesn't fit him properly because as a sighthound he has a very deep, but narrow chest. The problem with it is that it pulls to the side as he puts pressure on it, so next time I'll attach a loop chain to two D rings in the front that will constrict the front piece as he pulls.

Edited August 20, 2012 by lightingale

[Mijo]

Lightingale - I think your harness came out pretty good, in fact I think your stitching looks better than mine. I agree that the brass eyelets are over kill, particularly b/c my harnesses are for small dogs. I had originally planned on expanding the size range of the harnesses to include medium size dogs (15-20 lbs) and I ordered over a thousand of those brass eyelets. my intention was to use the brass eyelets only on larger sized harnesses but I have since scrapped the idea of making harnesses for dogs larger than 10 lbs. Most people seem to really like the reinforced eyelets, even though it's not really necessary, so I'll probably continue to use them based solely on customer feed back (they are cheap and easy to install). The tandy thread that I used on my posted harness is also too big / thick, using the correct size thread really makes a huge difference in the look of the stitching.

I also tried to make a harness using the EasyWalk harness as a template, however I didn't use a d-ring in the front like you did. It didn't work out at all b/c it just wasn't adjustable enough for my liking. I like the traditional harness pattern b/c you can vary the length of the strap that connects the neck and body straps, to get a better fit for a specific breed. typically the standard harness I make for small dogs won't fit a doxie, b/c they have an elongated body, but when I get an order for a doxie I just make the connection strap billet longer. I tried a number of different harness patterns but I keep coming back to this one b/c it just works really well; very adjustable and good overall balance (doesn't fall to one side or the other).

PS - I like your dog, is it a suluki?

[lightingale]

Lightingale - I think your harness came out pretty good, in fact I think your stitching looks better than mine. I agree that the brass eyelets are over kill, particularly b/c my harnesses are for small dogs. I had originally planned on expanding the size range of the harnesses to include medium size dogs (15-20 lbs) and I ordered over a thousand of those brass eyelets. my intention was to use the brass eyelets only on larger sized harnesses but I have since scrapped the idea of making harnesses for dogs larger than 10 lbs. Most people seem to really like the reinforced eyelets, even though it's not really necessary, so I'll probably continue to use them based solely on customer feed back (they are cheap and easy to install). The tandy thread that I used on my posted harness is also too big / thick, using the correct size thread really makes a huge difference in the look of the stitching.

I also tried to make a harness using the EasyWalk harness as a template, however I didn't use a d-ring in the front like you did. It didn't work out at all b/c it just wasn't adjustable enough for my liking. I like the traditional harness pattern b/c you can vary the length of the strap that connects the neck and body straps, to get a better fit for a specific breed. typically the standard harness I make for small dogs won't fit a doxie, b/c they have an elongated body, but when I get an order for a doxie I just make the connection strap billet longer. I tried a number of different harness patterns but I keep coming back to this one b/c it just works really well; very adjustable and good overall balance (doesn't fall to one side or the other).

PS - I like your dog, is it a suluki?

Yes, indeed he is a Saluki! He's 9 months old so his feathering hasn't all grown in yet. I also have a grizzle female (you can see just her leg in the background). I can see how it would be difficult to make harnesses to sell, as they seem to require fitting to each individual dog. I'm debating whether I should try selling something similar to this online, but I think the sizing headaches would make it not worth it. Nice that you found a pattern and system that works well for you

[The Dawg Club]

VERY NICE! WISH I COULD ASSIST WITH YOUR PROBLEM, BUT MY COLLARS ARE COVERED WITH GARMENT - EXOTIC LEATHER. PLEASE POST IF YOU FIGURE IT OUT.

[Mijo]

I made a more simplified version of the originally posted harness. The buckle / billet for the strap connecting the body strap to neck strap of the harness has been completely eliminated which makes it less adjustable (but it's for my own dog so it's custom fit).

the top and bottom halves are hand cut, rather than multiple straps sewn together like on the original, which made harness much easier to make. I did far less cutting and sewing on this version which reduced the amount of time to make it.

Any comments, criticism or questions are appreciated.

[RoyalLeatherDesigns]

Looks great and just like everybody else said the eyelets make it unique, you don't see everybody doing it that way I myself would not have thought of it myself. I know I am going to write that down in my notes. Great job and keep up the good work. The only think I would do better is the edges they still look a little rough, I know it has been addressed just letting you know.

Ralph

[Mijo]

Looks great and just like everybody else said the eyelets make it unique, you don't see everybody doing it that way I myself would not have thought of it myself. I know I am going to write that down in my notes. Great job and keep up the good work. The only think I would do better is the edges they still look a little rough, I know it has been addressed just letting you know.

Ralph

Thanks for the feed back. This was the first project that I hand cut all the pieces with a knife, rather than a strap cutter, which is a big reason the edges look so bad. You can see that the width varies wildly in certain sections b/c of my lack of skill with a knife. Consequently I didn't sand the edges enough for fear of the making it more obvious that the overall width isn't consistent. Lack of skill with a tool is a poor excuse for bad craftsmanship, but this is just the first project with a new tool (the knife I used).

I also don't dye my edges, but maybe I should start. Again thanks for the feedback, I very much appreciate it.