I like to head down to PetsMart with my girl Abby - not just to stock up on needed items, but also to see what new items they've gotten, and to work on socialization and manners with Abby.

And I like to look at collars. Let's face it, you don't dress a German Shepherd up in cute accessories or frilly dog clothes, but I don't see anything wrong with having different collars or bandanas for assorted occasions, especially since I take her out in public a lot. After all, she is groomed daily to look nice. She gets her ears cleaned and her teeth brushed to keep her healthy and nice. Why not have different collars for different occasions?

What gets me is just how expensive simple nylon collars have gotten. For a completely plain model, the average price seems to hover around $10. For something a little fancier, like the striped one we got at PetsMart, you're looking at anywhere between $15 and $20, if you buy them at PetsMart. Even more if you go to one of those "doggy stores" - we have a lot of those around and they're silly at best. They cater to the kind of people who carry around Puggles in Gucci bags and stock up on dog jewelry and such. They hardly ever have big dog collars, and if they do, $40 would be considered cheap.

The thing is, making a nylon collar costs next to nothing - I know because I have been making them. I can purchase all the needed supplies at the local JoAnn Fabrics or G-Street store. The nylon base for the collars costs $.89 a yard. The plastic buckles are $2, sliders $2 for a set of two, and the steel D rings are $2 for a pack of three. Since you need one yard of nylon webbing, one buckle, one slider, and one D ring for each collar, the cost of making one comes out to about $4.

So if you have a crafty human, get them to make you some unique collars! Below are simple instructions on how to make collars - it's a really easy project even if you're a novice with the sewing machine and straight lines are about the extent of your abilities.

Materials Needed

sewing machine
scissors
cigarette lighter
thread in a color to match your fabric
one (sturdy) D ring
one plastic or metal slide-lock buckle
one slider
nylon webbing (width and color of choice)
ribbon (for decorating, if desired)

I use the following: a Singer sewing machine (the $80 kind most Target or Wal Mart stores sell), polyester / all purpose thread (very durable), stainless steel D rings (welded, preferably), black plastic buckles and sliders (to fit 1" webbing), and 1 yard of nylon webbing in my color of choice.

Check your local craft store for all of the materials - they will have a wide variety of choices. Some sell buckles that have reflectors in them, some sell brass colored D rings, some sell metal buckles and straps, and most have a wide variety of colored and patterned webbing, which is usually sold for making belts. For my example, I'm using 1 yard of black and white striped nylon with black buckles and a steel D ring.

A 1 yard piece of webbing will give you a collar that can be adjusted roughly between 16" and 26" once it's completed. This is a good measurement for us since Abby wears 18", but if your dog is smaller you may want to get less.

If you're not very good at sewing, use a thread that blends into the background material because it will be nearly unnoticeable if your lines aren't quite straight.


How it's Done

Once you have threaded your sewing machine and have all of your materials ready, you can start your project. I usually start out by taking the lighter and melting the edges at the ends of my nylon. This will keep the ends from fraying while you're working with them, as well as later on when your dog is wearing the collar. Since it's nylon, it will just melt. Move it over the flame until you have a smooth edge, then use a bit of water on your finger to cool it down.

The first part you will actually sew is the slider, the little plastic device in the bottom center of the photo above. This is what will allow you to size the collar later on. The photo below shows the underside of the slider and the strap.


Take one end of your webbing and pull it through the slider so that the webbing end is on the underside of the strap and slider. You want your buckles to face outward when the collar is worn, the the webbing ends to be on the inside.

After looping it through, give it about an inch of length on the reverse side to sew it down securely. I use two seams across next to the slider, then two seams across near the end of the strap, with diagonal lines going from the corners. Make sure to secure the ends by stitching them backwards so that the collar will be strong enough to hold your dog!

Once sewn, it will look like the photo above. Both sides look pretty much the same in terms of the stitching. Cut the ends of your threads and use the lighter to burn them down close to the webbing so you don't have a whole bunch of ends dangling around.

Attaching the Buckle

The next step is to attach the buckle that you will use to open and close your collar. You can either use the closed buckle, or either end of the buckle for this. I'm showing it done with the closed buckle below.


Make sure the side of the buckle facing up is the side that is supposed to be up, and that it's facing the same outside than your slider, or your collar won't look right. Always check to see that everything that should be facing outward when the collar is worn is actually facing outward.

After sliding on your buckle, use the free end of the nylon webbing, which is now pointing back toward the slider, and pull it through as you see in the photo above. Later on, the slider will move up and down the section you've just created to let you adjust the sizing.

Next, pull the D ring over the open end of your webbing and slide it down toward the slider. We don't need it just yet but there's no way of putting it on once you've sewn down the buckle, so don't forget this step. The flat part of the D ring should face the inside/back of the collar and the rounded portion the outside.

Then slide the end of nylon through the other side of your buckle, end facing toward the inside of the collar. Once you've done that, you now have a completed "circle" of webbing that is closed by a buckle, with a lose end of nylon and a loose D ring. Now you just have to finish it up.


Finishing

Before you put your collar under the sewing machine for the last bit of sewing, make sure that you are only sewing down the loose end of webbing, NOT both sides of the buckle. If you sew both sides, you can no longer adjust the sizing.

Pull the loose end of the webbing along the inside to give you enough length to sew it down next to the buckle, and to sew down the D ring. Sew two straight seams right next to the buckle first, then another two about a half inch apart from that. Once you've done that, slide the D ring as far toward that second row of seams as you can, and sew two more seams on its other side. This should hold the D ring securely in place. If you have space left, sew down the very end of the nylon, or use diagonal seams for extra strength.

Seen from the top / outside of the collar, it should look something like this (buckle is on the right). Sewing next to the buckles and D rings can be a pain at times, depending on your machine, so always allow a little bit of space between the buckle or ring and where your seam needs to be.


And there you have it, one brand new, racing-stripes collar, for the low cost of $4 and about 20 minutes' worth of sewing. Of course, if you are the crafty type, you can also use different colored or printed ribbons, or even key chain lanyards to decorate your collar.

Bear in mind, however, that not all decorations will work with the adjustable collar since it is, essentially, two-sided (if you sew ribbon to one side, you will get the "back" after looping it through). But you can measure your dog's neck and make a fitted one just as easily. If you make a fitted collar, you will just need the buckle and D ring, no slider.

Collars I've Made

Below are photos of some of the collars I made last night. The Hawaiian print collar is a fitted collar (but two-sided) and the Marine Corps one is adjustable by two inches using two sliders instead of just one. The Hawaiian one is done with 1" ribbon ($1.29 /yard), the Marine one using a Marine Corps keychain lanyard (free at the recruiter's office - the other services and most schools and organizations have them, too).


Another look at Abby's Hawaiian print collar. I simply sewed the ribbon to my plain black nylon backing - it's a simple process but beware, thinner or silky ribbons like to bunch up, making it hard to sew straight lines. Thicker ribbons are easier to work with and look nicer. Once it's sewn onto the nylon, the rest is just as easy as working with plain (or patterned) nylon itself.


Another view of the Marine Corps collar. I made this one for the local Marine recruiter who brings his Bulldog to work with him. The base is 1" black nylon webbing and the text is half of a key lanyard (just one half is needed). It's 21.5 inches long with the sliders set apart, 24" with the sliders together, giving you a little bit of leeway in the sizing while not obscuring the text on top.


A close-up of the reflective buckle I used for the Marine Corps collar. I like the idea of having a reflective buckle, but wish they came in different colors. Our craft store only carries this kind, but I'm sure there are others out there. There are a lot of different buckle styles, too - white ones, black ones, colored ones, metal ones, etc. So there's no reason why you can't get the collar you've always wanted!