Spiffy Irish Dog Collars

I am the proud owner of two Irish Water Spaniels.  They are medium-sized dogs who resemble a Standard Poodle but they have long whip tails and webbed feet for swimming.  My boys are 4 1/2 years old and they are somewhat ill-behaved in public, but angels at home with us.  Since this is "their" week, I thought they needed new collars for St. Patrick's Day.

Lewis and Clark sporting their new collars.  Lewis is on the left in the lime collar and Clark has the kelly green collar.  Lewie had to have his ears trimmed after a bad run in with burdocks, but I think he's cute anyway!  The intense looks are the result of me holding a few treats!

I used:

• 3/4" nylon webbing- about 24 inches (some loss and some doubling) for a 16" collar
• 3/4" ribbon- about 24"
• 3/4" clicking buckle
• 1 3/4" D ring

Make sure that when you cut the nylon webbing you fise the ends by swiping it through a flame.  I just turn on my gas burner and pass it through the flame for a couple of seconds.  Fold the end of the ribbon over and prepare to sew.



Sew along the edge of the ribbon to connect the ribbon to the webbing.  When you get to the end, turn it around and sew back down the other side.

This is how it will look.  I used black thread so that it would show up.  Plus. . . that's what was in my machine and I was feeling lazy.

Thread the ribbon up through one opening. . .

And down through the other opening.

You will want to have an overlap of 3-4 inches.

Sew a straight line across the collar.  You may need to hold the buckle down.  Use the reverse button and go over the seam 4-5 times.

Slide the D ring in between the main collar and the little tab and then sew another straight seam.  I like to put an X at the end of the tab to make sure that the D ring will be secure.  Lewis and Clark can pull pretty hard.

This shows the X.  I apologize for the crappy sewing.  No excuses, just going too fast!

On the other end of the collar, slip on the otherpart of the buckle.  Make sure that you measure the collar on your pup's neck before you start sewing.  It should be loose enough to slip your fingers under it, but not so loose that it could slide off the head.  A panic-stricken dog can easily get out of a collar.

Here's the fruits of 20 minute of work!  Big Lew's collar is a little longer than Clark's.  Aren't they festive?  My teenage boys thought they were a little "gay."  I threatened rainbow collars for April and then they thought these were lovely!