I had the opportunity to show off the dog collars I made for the gal in Canada to a few ladies at my son’s daycare and one of his teachers loved them so much that she had to have her own. I was ecstatic at her lack of requirements and set to work finding the right size and working on a template. Really, her only requirement for her collar was, “I need something for my Cocker Spaniel . . . preferably in blue.”
I did a little research online about the average size of a Cocker Spaniel to figure out the appropriate length and width the collar needed to be (eventually some day I’ll make standardized templates) and decided on a 1” collar width. After I cut the leather, the next step was to figure out the tooling. I’ve recently had the opportunity to practice some different pattern techniques, so I decided to get a little creative with this one.
I have to say, there is something ultimately peaceful about sitting at my bench with the scent of damp leather, a few hand tools, some rockin’ tunes on the iPod speakers and the beautiful spring sunshine and breeze bursting through the studio window. After about 20 minutes, I ended up with this pattern and I was IN LOVE.
Next step was to decide on the dye. I knew blue was a requirement but how detailed did I want to get? I decided that the detail of the pattern spoke for itself and tried out a new Navy Blue dye that the husband had given me for Christmas. I loved the color so much that I decided to finally color the rose I had molded weeks ago. Do you LOVE this color or what? It’s deep, rich, smooth but still funky and colorful without being overwhelming.
After a coat of finish, some smoothing of the edges and the addition of the hardware, I had a completed product that I was in love with enough to pass on.
Mrs K loved the collar so much she wouldn’t let me take it back home to package it properly for her. She wanted to take it home immediately to her pup and I had the great satisfaction of overhearing her showcase the collar to a few other ladies on my way out the door. There is nothing more satisfying than a customer so happy she unknowingly volunteers as your next salesperson.
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