Monday, June 23, 2014

Dog Leash: Sew Your Own


When we adopted this sweet baby a little more than 4 months ago, I knew this name was Padfoot. I mean, look at the similarities!


Padfoot needed a Gryffindor collar.  I search around online, and I was shocked with how limited by options were.  As a crafty person, I set out to make my own collar.  I purchased a yard of the All Things Harry Potter fabric from Spoonflower and made a dog collar.  My finished product turned out great!  If you want to make your own check out: Dog Collar: Fabric Wrapped


Over time, his plain store bought dog leash paled in comparison to his custom collar.  I set out to change that and made a Hogwarts dog leash.


Materials:  1 Inch Black Nylon Heavy WebbingSwivel Snap Hook, sewing machine, thread, 1" or 7/8" ribbon in the pattern of your choice, ruler, scissors, candle, matches

1.  Cut your webbing and ribbon.  To create a 6' leash (this is a great length leash and what dog trainers recommend you use), cut your nylon webbing to 80" and your ribbon to 82".

2.  Burn the ends of your webbing and ribbon.  Light a candle.  Carefully, move the ends of your webbing and ribbon over the flame.  This will cause the edges to melt slightly and prevent fraying in the future.


3.  Fold 1" on ribbon on to the back of nylon webbing.  Sew across the ribbon to attach it to your webbing


4.  Attach your ribbon to your webbing.  Start on the end of attached the ribbon to in the previous step.  Line your ribbon up so it sits in the middle of your webbing.  Place pins about every 6" to keep the ribbon stable and centered.  When you reach the over end, you should have 1" of ribbon remaining.  Fold the remaining inch of ribbon over and attach it with a pin.


5.  Sew the ribbon to the webbing.  Place the needle as close to the edge of the ribbon as you can.  I recommend sewing at a medium speed with a heavy duty needle to avoid breaking your needle.  Run one continuous seam for the entire length of the webbing.  When you get to the end back stitch.  Remove the pins.  Now, do the same thing for the other side of the ribbon.  Both sides of the ribbon will now be secured to your webbing


6.  Sewing across the second 1" of ribbon you folded over in step 4.


7.  Create the handle of the dog leash.  Fold over 8" of webbing/ribbon with the ribbon on the outside.  Using the image below as a guide, use a Box X stitch to attach the webbing/ribbon to itself.  Still using the heavy duty needle, slow your machine down to a pretty slow speed.  Slow and steady wins the race.  The Box X should be about 1.5" x 1".  Your Box X should go to pretty close to the edge of the folded over webbing.



8.  Attach the swivel snap hook.  Slip the swivel snap hook over the other end (opposite the handle you just created) of the webbing.  Fold 1.5" to 2" of webbing over.  Run one set of stitches as close to the swivel snap hook as you can get.  Go over this stitch at least 4 times (forward, back, forward, back).  Move to the end of this piece of folded over webbing and run another set of stitches.  Go over this stitch at least 4 times (forward, back, forward, back).


9.  Attach the leash to your dog and enjoy a great walk!



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