# How to make your own fabric wrapped flat collar



## wildo

I recently purchased a custom embroidered martingale collar for Pimg after looking and looking for what I wanted. I was super pumped for it to finally arrive and after unboxing it- I thought it rocked. After the excitement wore off, I began to start noticing quality issues with it. Now, I want to make two things very clear--

This collar was NOT purchased by a sponsored vendor on this forum!
I have very high standards when it comes to things I could probably make myself.

I had really hoped that the martingale would be a nice stepping stone between our 3+ years of using the prong collar, to eventually only needing a flat collar. I didn't know that the martingale wasn't really much of a correction collar, and it had little to no effect on my dog. After spending $48 (shipped) on this useless collar, and after discovering that I am required to use a flat collar in agility, I decided to make my own flat collar using the super nice hardware I paid for in my martingale.

So with the backstory out of the way, enjoy the pics/info on how to make your own fabric wrapped flat collar. I will eventually make another one; I bought enough material to send some off to Grandma so she can embroider Pimg's name on it. This one was my "learn how to do it" one.

*Materials*

1/8 yard - color set, and preshrunk cotton fabric
1 yard - 1" nylon webbing
5/8" Stitch Witchery
Dog collar hardware (clasp, D ring, adjuster)
Fray Check (this is like super glue for fabric to stop thread from unraveling)


*Wrapping Webbing*
Start by measuring your dog. Since to collar has a lot of "loop backs," I measured by mocking up the collar itself using the webbing and trying it on my dog to ensure adjustability in both directions:









Once you have the collar adjusted to the proper size for your dog, take it all apart and cut down the webbing to length. Melt the end to avoid unraveling. The total length for my collar was 26"









Layout your fabric by cutting it 4" wide by the length of your webbing + 1". Since my webbing measured 26", I cut my fabric 27" long.









From the wrong side of the fabric, fold over one edge by 1 1/8". Note- the picture shows I had folded it over by 1". However, I found in later steps that I needed it just a bit more. So be sure fold 1 1/8"









Next, you need to fold the opposite side over by 3/4". It will gain you nothing (I realized after the fact) to mark your fold line. However, this is the only picture I took with the ruler. You can see the chalk line at 3/4"









Folds pressed. [Editor's note: Remember to PRESS the seam, not IRON the seam. Ironing is something we do to shirts. Pressing is something we do to material under construction. Ironing at this point will distort the fabric.]









Tuck the webbing under the 3/4" side. You want to split the difference on the ends of the webbing, so you should end up with 1/2" of fabric on either end. We will use this to tuck it under for a finished end.









Next, you will put a strip of 5/8" wide Stitch Witchery on top of the webbing so that we can bind the other side of the fabric in place to make stitching easier.


















After that, you will want to pull the wider side of your folded material up on top of the stitch witchery, encasing the webbing. If your fabric goes over the far side of the webbing a bit, then you will want to adjust your initial fold to account for this. Above, I mentioned that I had to refold at 1 1/8" instead of 1". This is because my seam went over a little. Press with steam to set the stitch witchery in place.









Something to look out for when rolling under the ends is a crappy corner like this shown below. My $48 martingale has one of these, and it pissed me off. Unacceptable:









Fix it by pushing the corner under better with a pointy tool like a seam ripper:









Finally, you can stitch up the open side, as well as the ends. I will note here that I gave myself too generous of a seam allowance. So in the pic below, you can see that I am about 3/16" in from the side. I wanted to be more around 1/8" or even 1/16". Don't make my mistake (unless you want to correct it like I did two pictures down from here).









Once the open side is stitched up, you should stitch the closed side as well:









As I mentioned above, I felt my seam allowance was too generous, so I stitch both sides again at 1/16" seam allowance:










*Assembly*
Start assembly by looping the collar material through one end of the clasp. Be sure to leave plenty of "leg" on the short side because we also need to sew the D ring in place here. Here is the material folded over, with a heavy stitch holding the clasp in place.









Next, slide the D ring up the collar and butt it against your stitch. Stitch the D ring in place in order to close up this end of the collar. I always stitch a heavy 'X' boxed in with a square for something like this. Be sure to put Fray Check on your stitching- don't want it coming undone! And with the collar material being kind of thick doubled up like this, you can't rely on backstitching to lock your thread in place.









Now you need to turn your attention to the other end of the collar. Be sure not to forget the adjustment ring- that would suck! Slide the material through both loops of the adjustment ring, through the clasp end, and then back through the adjustment ring again. Fold your material back over on itself, and stitch a heavy boxed in 'X'. Again- be sure to add Fray Check.









You now have a completed fabric wrapped flat collar!









If your dog is a bum, and just wants to lay on your clean folded laundry on the couch, then it might look like this: 


















Enjoy! It only took me 2 hours to make, and that's with taking pictures of every step.


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## ShenzisMom

SO jealous. I need to learn how to do stuff like this. Amazing! Your pup is beautiful


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## wildo

Deathmetal said:


> SO jealous. I need to learn how to do stuff like this. Amazing! Your pup is beautiful


Thanks! On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the hardest, I'd rank this at a 2. It was really not hard, and wouldn't make a bad beginner project. I've laid out every single step you need. Give it a shot- you'd only be out $7 if you messed it up.


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## AvaLaRue

Very nice!


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## ShenzisMom

Challenge Accepted! :laugh:


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## JakodaCD OA

great job !!! so ya cook, ya do agility with the dog, you make agility equip and now your making collars , so how come some dog loving agility chic hasn't nabbed you yet?)


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## wildo

JakodaCD OA said:


> great job !!! so ya cook, ya do agility with the dog, you make agility equip and now your making collars , so how come some dog loving agility chic hasn't nabbed you yet?)


I'm debating on whether I want to make my own bait bag or not. I'm interested in this one: Leerburg | Snap Open Bait Bag. I've made two treat bags in the past, but the hold up on this particular one is the hex open purse frame alone is $19 shipped, and the leerburg completed pouch is $29 shipped. There's really not much savings there, in spite of the fact that I know it would be made right. The treat bags I've made are the round ones with a string closure- which work very well. But I have giant-sized hands, and it is hard to get in them quickly to retrieve a treat. I think the hex-open style would work great for me... Decisions...

(As to the girl... Geesh. I wish. Still waiting... I keep telling my boss that there _must_ be some hot little programmer chick out there that needs a job. He has yet to find her for me though. )


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## Kayos and Havoc

That is a nice collar too. I like the pattern.


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## AbbyK9

Nice!


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## Kris10

Pretty cool...but I would probably consider the difficulty higher than a 2 personally:blush:


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## wildo

Kris10 said:


> Pretty cool...but I would probably consider the difficulty higher than a 2 personally:blush:


I suppose that depends on your sewing experience. You could complete this collar by pressing two folds, and sewing one straight line. It doesn't get much easier than that. Give it a shot, you might be surprised! :toasting:


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## JakodaCD OA

nice bait bag, and I think if you can make that collar, making the bait bag should be a cinch) I say go for it, and make it out of the same pattern you used on the collar


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## wildo

JakodaCD OA said:


> nice bait bag, and I think if you can make that collar, making the bait bag should be a cinch) I say go for it, and make it out of the same pattern you used on the collar


Ha! Well, I try hard to balance the fact that my dog is female (and get her feminine looking things) with the fact that I am male, and don't particularly want to wear feminine looking things... Not sure that the frilly purple fabric would suit me all that well! haha!

Actually, it's not about _if_ I can make it (I'm sure I can); more so, it's about if it is cost effective to make it rather than purchasing. The mechanism that snaps it open or closed is called a "hex open frame" and a 7" variety is $12.50 plus $6.00 shipping! I'd still need material, and of course time. At $18.50 for just a single part, $22 totally completed doesn't seem too bad...


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## JakodaCD OA

do you have like a Joann Fabrics near you? Or AC Moore Crafts? I'll bet you could find the snap MUCH cheaper in a store or at their online store than 12.50...Both those stores offer coupons, ac moore sometimes has 50% off an original priced item, (and joann fabrics honors ac moore coupons

Yeah a frilly pouch wouldn't look to great I guess) I have been making some 'gear' bags, and use outdoor upholstery material..which comes in all kinds of solids/patterns, they also have waterproof..

22.00 doesn't seem bad at all really..I'd check out the joann fabrics site to compare


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## King&Skylar

thanks for the instructions! I pay 20.00 for each cutesy ribbon collar I get skylar (she has lots, lol) so it would be much cheaper for me to make them! Did you just use a regular sewing machine? Just thinking the webbing might be a bit thick?


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## Bunch of Rascals

I can't wait to make this! Thank you so much for the tutorial  I will post pics soon of how mine turned out. You rock!!!


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## wildo

@Jokoda- Yeah, I checked on JoAnn's site, as well as in the store and they didn't have any. I thought about checking Michaels (a craft store) but didn't because they don't sell fabric. That might be an oversight on my part- I'll give them a try. As to fabric choices, you might be surprised to learn that I used to work in a fabric store!  So I am pretty aware of what choices are out there. (I don't mean that arrogantly, I certainly don't know all choices- just saying I'm fairly up to speed on what's available.)
[EDIT] - AC Moore has an 8" frame for $6. I've never heard of them before, but that is a lot more reasonable. I think I'd rather have the 7" but for the price- it's pretty good.

@King&Skylar- Yep, I used a regular sewing machine. It's really important to know the limits of your machine. Even doubled over webbing was not a problem for my machine. If you try to find some sort of extra thick webbing, you might have another issue. Just remember- nylon webbing is _incredibly_ strong. You don't have to go crazy with it. I just got your standard run of the mill 1" webbing.

@Bunch of Rascals (and everyone else making them)- I'd love to see how they turn out!! Please do post pics!


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## JakodaCD OA

ahh so you don't need any instruction from us re: fabric!! Fabric stores are my downfall, can't go into one and come out with nothing


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## acavanaugh

What is the width of the collar? Did you use 1" webbing to create a 1" collar? Just wondering if the width of the webbing should be the same as what the collar would be. If I want 1.5" collars should I order 1" webbing or 1.5" webbing?


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## lauren43

I used to make these collars all the time. But my poor sewing machine really took a beating, she really can't handle that much fabric easily.

And believe it or not I had the same fabric.

Here's one of mine:


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## lauren43

And these:


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## lauren43

If anyone is looking for clips, I have a bunch of hardy plastic clips (1.5" and 2") I'm willing to sell for cheap, just shipping.

I also have tons of nylon, at 1.5" and 2", this is super thick nylon though, and perhaps the reason my sewing machine gave up.


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