dog collar Finally done! Carved dog collar

[YinTx]

Finally finished this up today. Took half a year of Sundays it seems, but ready. 1" wide strap, Hermann Oak leather, Fil Au Chinois Thread, solid steel hardware.  Learned a thing from @RockyAussie's watch strap tutorial, and tried to apply it here.  Thanks for that!  Plenty of little mistakes, and things I'd do differently (like only use that style of buckle with very thin flexible leather), but I think it will be serviceable!  From what I understand, LuLu is a girly girl boxer with white fur, so I think she'll like this style.

YinTx

 

 

 

[garypl]

Looks good!  But why did you make the strap from two pieces instead of one?  

Gary

[YinTx]

Thank you.  And, it is a safety collar design.  The center ring is supposed to allow the collar to flip and be pulled off if the dog gets hung up on something.  Not sure if it really works or not, but lots of folks seem to think it does.  It does add a whole lot of complexity to the design and construction, that is for sure.

YinTx

[garypl]

That design does make sense - thanks!

[mikesc]

Worth the wait, that is a Lulu of a collar :)

 

[plinkercases]

Very nice. Lets see lulu modeling it!

[daonewiz]

Very Nice.  newbie question.  Is the background dyed or antiqued ?

[Rbarleatherworks]

Love that collar, I am just about to make one and have been looking for inspiration .... Thanks

[YinTx]

6 hours ago, mikesc said:

Worth the wait, that is a Lulu of a collar

 

Appreciate that!

4 hours ago, plinkercases said:

Very nice. Lets see lulu modeling it!

She should get it in August some time... I'll post a pic then!

4 hours ago, daonewiz said:

Very Nice.  newbie question.  Is the background dyed or antiqued ?

The background is dyed with a tiny paint brush, then oiled, resisted, and then finally antiqued.

3 hours ago, Rbarleatherworks said:

Love that collar, I am just about to make one and have been looking for inspiration .... Thanks

Yeah, I've been wanting to make one for a few years.  Have attempted on two other occasions, and failed miserably on both.  Finally success!

YinTx

[BarkyKelpie]

Very nice! Love the pink stitching and highlights, ties the whole thing together.

It will look great against white fur, I hope we get to see pictures of her modelling it!

[YinTx]

5 hours ago, BarkyKelpie said:

Very nice! Love the pink stitching and highlights, ties the whole thing together.

It will look great against white fur, I hope we get to see pictures of her modelling it!

I'll try to get her to model it when the time comes, and if so, for sure I'll post photos here!

YinTx

[JayInOz]

There's a young couple here who make body armor for pig dogs. Collars several inches wide and heavy duty chest protectors. All synthetic. I'd love to see what you could do with that in heavy leather:) Some of the dogs are heavier than me. Battle scarred, beat up, mean looking monsters. With the right gear on they'd look like something out of a horror movie:) JayInOz

[RockyAussie]

On 6/15/2019 at 12:42 PM, YinTx said:

Finally finished this up today. Took half a year of Sundays it seems, but ready. 1" wide strap, Hermann Oak leather, Fil Au Chinois Thread, solid steel hardware.  Learned a thing from @RockyAussie's watch strap tutorial, and tried to apply it here.  Thanks for that!  Plenty of little mistakes, and things I'd do differently (like only use that style of buckle with very thin flexible leather), but I think it will be serviceable!  From what I understand, LuLu is a girly girl boxer with white fur, so I think she'll like this style.

YinTx

 

 

 

Absolutely beautiful and that has to be some of the best stitching I have seen. I think the pink touch in the flower centre is a master touch. I hope that you do manage to get some pics with LuLu wearing it. 

[Bob Blea]

That turned out great and your stitching looks amazing!

[bullmoosepaddles]

Grand collar. Lulu is a lucky and soon to be a well dressed girl. Love to see her in it. I like this a bunch. Thank you for sharing.  

[YinTx]

On 6/16/2019 at 5:26 PM, RockyAussie said:

Absolutely beautiful and that has to be some of the best stitching I have seen. I think the pink touch in the flower centre is a master touch. I hope that you do manage to get some pics with LuLu wearing it. 

Thank you!  After all this time, I think I'm beginning to get the knack for hand stitching.  I'm kinda hoping for some cool photos of the model with her bling as well.  

On 6/17/2019 at 11:16 AM, Bob Blea said:

That turned out great and your stitching looks amazing!

Thanks much, Bob!

On 6/17/2019 at 5:38 PM, bullmoosepaddles said:

Grand collar. Lulu is a lucky and soon to be a well dressed girl. Love to see her in it. I like this a bunch. Thank you for sharing.  

Thank you, after all the different efforts, I'm glad one finally came out well!

YinTx

[dougfergy]

Sweet!  The stitching really pops!  Nice job all around.  Do you mind telling us what size pricking forks you use for the stitching?  I think yours is quite a bit bigger than mine and my stitches are not as angled a finished product because of that, maybe?   Beautiful work!

[YinTx]

5 hours ago, dougfergy said:

Sweet!  The stitching really pops!  Nice job all around.  Do you mind telling us what size pricking forks you use for the stitching?  I think yours is quite a bit bigger than mine and my stitches are not as angled a finished product because of that, maybe?   Beautiful work!

Thanks.  I used 3.38mm pricking irons, and an old old awl that I have re-profiled.  Thread size and tension make some differences too:  try a 532 and see if you get more slant.

YinTx

[dougfergy]

Sorry!  I don't know what a 532 is? 

[dougfergy]

You mean 532 thread?  Do you think my thread is too thick maybe?  I've been using a 3mm pricking iron set and a pretty tiny awl.  So I think I get what you are saying since I use pretty fat, waxed thread.  My stitches are pretty close and small.  Jeez, I guess it would save me some time if I poked bigger holes, farther apart!

[YinTx]

1 hour ago, dougfergy said:

You mean 532 thread?  Do you think my thread is too thick maybe?  I've been using a 3mm pricking iron set and a pretty tiny awl.  So I think I get what you are saying since I use pretty fat, waxed thread.  My stitches are pretty close and small.  Jeez, I guess it would save me some time if I poked bigger holes, farther apart!

 

Yes, I did mean to reference 532 thread.  Looks like the thread you are using is pretty thick, and it looks like maybe you are using the Tandy stitching irons, and maybe your tension is too much (pulling the thread too tight).  Nothing wrong with all that if you are looking for the chunky stitch style, but if you are looking for the elegant slanted style, you have to change it all up.

YinTx

[dougfergy]

Sorry!  I felt pretty dumb after asking what 532 was!  I get what you are saying.  I might try some larger, wider spaced forks and a larger awl.  My awl is pretty tiny.  (thankfully, since the holes in my thumb are quite small but healing nicely!)  Hopefully I have learned to space my fingers left and right of the hole my awl is making with the bigger blade once I get one.  Thanks for the advice!  I learn something every time I read a thread here.

[Rockoboy]

19 hours ago, dougfergy said:

I have learned to space my fingers left and right of the hole my awl is making

Hold a piece of cork behind the leather when you push the awl through. Cork does not feel the pain or bleed anywhere near as much as you do.

Some people use a champagne or wine bottle cork, but I prefer a cork sanding block which is about 3" X 4" X 1.5" thick. It also helps to stop the leather from puckering where the awl comes through.

[dougfergy]

37 minutes ago, Rockoboy said:

Hold a piece of cork behind the leather when you push the awl through. Cork does not feel the pain or bleed anywhere near as much as you do.

Some people use a champagne or wine bottle cork, but I prefer a cork sanding block which is about 3" X 4" X 1.5" thick. It also helps to stop the leather from puckering where the awl comes through.

Thank you for that advice.  I'll do that.

[YinTx]

On 6/20/2019 at 12:32 PM, dougfergy said:

I might try some larger, wider spaced forks and a larger awl. 

Not necessarily the size of the forks in the pricking iron.  Here is a 2.7mm stitch, using a very affordable Ebay stitching iron and Fil Au Chinois 532 thread.   Very small teeth, small holes.  You'll note you can't hit them too hard, or you'll open up the hole too much.  These just mark the leather.

 You can also see on the top of the photo a 3.38mm stitch, same thread, different style iron.  Both on 2 layers of 1-2 oz Hermann Oak leather.

YinTx