Lining And Working With Belly

[inkii]

After a year of practicing tooling, I am ready to get down to business with my dog collars. I've made a lot of practice projects and "doodles." Now I want to try my hand at making customer-quality gear that I can be proud to put my name on. I'm designing the patterns for my example pieces and looking forward to making my debut.

The problem:

Right now, the only leather I have on hand is two sections of veg tan belly. I understand that's not ideal for collars which will see hard use, since belly tends to stretch.

At a minimum, I need to use the belly to make example pieces for listing photos and prototypes to test with my own dogs -- that's unavoidable. Money is extremely tight. I'll be able to order a shoulder once the first order comes in, but I'm stuck with just belly until I get my first order.

If possible, I would like to fix the stretching issue so that the example collars could be sold too without compromising on stability (rather than making them for example photos only and then being stuck with them forever as pretty paperweights).

I've heard that using a lining would decrease a lot of the risk of stretch and minimize the impact of using belly. I haven't used a lining on any of my practice collars yet. I'm not finding much on Google -- lots of mentions of using lining, not much as far as specifics on how to do it.

The questions:

1. How bad is the stretch when using belly? Are we talking "punch an extra hole" levels of stretch or more like "all of your tooling is ruined and you may as well dump it in the garbage right now" levels? How much force would it take to make a noticeable difference?

2. To what degree does adding a lining stabilize a potentially-stretchy piece of belly?

3. What type of lining would you recommend for the inside of a tooled leather dog collar made from belly? What weight of lining am I probably looking for? (I'm not sure of the weight of the belly I'm working with, but it was one of the thickest ones at the store if that makes a difference.)

4. Would doubling it over and lining the belly with another section of belly work at all? Can I take a "brute force" tack and just make it thick enough that stretching is unlikely without changing materials?

5. I've seen mention of using pigskin or cowhide as lining (although not in the context of collars). How would you finish that? Does it create a smooth seam if burnished to veg tan? Or do you just stitch it and rely on the adhesive to keep the edges tidy? If the latter, are there any special steps to take to ensure longevity? And would you attach the lining before or after burnishing the main veg tan piece?

6. Are there any good articles or videos on working with lining?

Phew, I think that's it for now. I appreciate you taking the time to read through this whole thing -- I know I'm full of newbie questions. It's awesome to have an experienced community like this to reach out to.

[zuludog]

I have thought of making a dog's collar using leather lined with nylon webbing, as used for rucsacs and other luggage.

I would take a strip of relatively thin leather, say 1.5 to 2mm, and sew it onto the webbing using a saddle stitch down each side, thus producing a laminate which looks like leather but most of the strength comes from the webbing. I would punch holes for the buckle prong as usual, then carefully heat seal the webbing with a piece of stiff wire heated in a camping stove flame.

Or perhaps seal the holes in the leather and webbing together with an eyelet.

But that's all it is at the moment, an idea. Perhaps someone will find it useful.

[impulse]

You could probably get away with using cheap "splits" as lining. Cut it oversized and glue to the inside of the collar, whilst curved in the shape of the dogs neck - if glued flat, the lining will wrinkle. Trim to match the collar, then stitch along both edges. The glueing and sewing will add strength and greatly limit any stretching.

Cheers

Lois

[zuludog]

Yes, I forgot about the stitching. All leather will stretch to some extent, though obviously thicker leather will be less susceptible to that

That's why leather belts often have a line of stitching down each edge, even if there's just the one thickness - it's not just decorative, leather stretches, but the thread does not

So both the lining plus the lines of stitching will help to prevent stretching

You don't say what thickness your existing belly leather is. You could try using two layers/thicknesses; that, plus the stitching might be good enough

If nothing else, you'll get more practice, and see what can and can't be done; it's all useful experience. Allow for the curvature or radius as mentioned by Impulse

[DoubleC]

I've used belly for both the dog collars I made my girl. She's around 60 lbs and quite a puller because she wants to go everywhere fast. It was one of the first projects I made so I had to replace the first one because of mistakes I made, but not stretching. The second one is python, belly and Italian leather liner and it's really a sturdy beauty! Cheryl

[johnv474]

For a non-stretch lining, look at polypropylene or nylon webbing, like used on backpacks. I should cost about $1/yard for 1" wide. Even canvas will help. As an alternative to lining/burnishing edges, cut a strip of leather a little more than twice as wide as the collar. Skive the edges to a very thin edge. Turn the edges in to meet in the middle on the back, thus wrapping around the webbing liner. Glue in place. This fold can overlap or meet in the middle. Sew along the center seam in the back, and voila, a thick sturdy collar with edges that require no burnishing. Shine up the whole thing with some neutral shoe polish and you'll be ready for the camera.