Make Your Own Dog Collar

Instead of buying a new collar for my dog I decided to make her a new one at my work using the materials and equipment that you can find at Techshop.  The only thing I needed to buy was the metal hardware I wanted to use.  The project is pretty simple and can all be done in a short amount of time! 

In all I used scrap leather I found in our bin wall, CorelDraw, the CO2 laser, some glue, and the industrial sewing machine.

First I created the basic shape that I wanted my collar to be and the holes I would need for the buckle I wanted to use.  After my basic image was done I simply copied and pasted three times.  I did this so I would have multiple layers of leather to make the collar more durable.

Instead of using a metal dog tag that would clank around and make noise, I laser etched my dog's information right onto the leather.  In the image I used the word TEXT to show how this can be done.  

I grabbed some scrap leather I found in extremely useful bin wall at the shop and headed back to the lasers.  Once I set up the laser settings, I put my leather onto the laser bed.  I've had leather warp from the heat of the laser before so this time I used small pieces of tape in places where the laser would not be cutting through the leather to secure it to the tray below.

Once my pieces were all cut out  I used a trick my coworker taught me which is to glue your leather pieces together to keep them in place before you sew.  I stacked my leather and placed my D-ring for the leash attachment where I wanted it to go. Then I put the buckle in the spot that I wanted it to go and cut a slot in the leather for the tongue to come through. Once that was settled I applied some glue with a paint brush to the places that would not come in contact with the sewing needle to hold everything in place. 

I let the glue set up and a couple minutes later I sewed everything in place on the industrial sewing machine.

Now my dog has a beautiful hand made collar that was pretty simple to make!  I hope this has inspired my fellow dog lovers out there to get creative and make your dog something unique!