Greyhound collar

   This chap comes up to me at the Papplewick Pumping Station Christmas Fair with two dog collars. The dark one had been well used and the red one is light in construction and relatively new. The chaps asks me if I can de-construct the red collar and fix it to the bigger brown collar. The red collar has sentimental value to the chap. The red collar is about the same width and a little shorter than the brown collar which is stoutly made from two thickness of leather. The brown collar has seen better days especially the billet. That is the bit that has the holes in it and goes through the buckle. I give it a good clean with saddle soap and rub in some Neatsfoot oil. The chap had already said he would like the red collar tapered so it was a straight forward, if tricky, to mark out the red collar for cutting. Once I cut down the red collar I bevelled the edges then dyed them then burnished them.

   I carefully line the up the two collars and made sure the motif on the red collar was the right way up. The collar is worn as a tight circle so one has to be careful when setting the pieces out for stitching. When completed the red collar will have a greater radius than the inner brown collar so the stitching has to be done with the curve of the collar. If the pieces are stitched together on the flat the stitching will be strained when the collar is bent to be buckled up. It is not terribly difficult. It just needs close attention. I used 18/3 linen thread and gave the thread a good waxing before beginning stitching. The wax lubricates the thread making the stitching a smoother process. When the stitching is complete I gave the stitching a vigorous buffing, with a soft cloth, which pushes the wax and stitches into the the stitching holes and gives the exposed thread a lustrous shine. One of the last jobs was to burnish the edge of the old brown collar. The leather was in poor condition but I managed to get a fine finish. The very last job was to cut back the billet as agreed, then redo the stitching round the billet end. And that really was the end.    

Lead Rein

  It has been a busy week. The hours have just flown by. However I do have plenty to show for the hours spent this week. I more or less finished a Mord Sith costume, had a commission collected, made a halter for a  heavy horse, made a lead rein, sorted out someone that has been messing me about on Folksy, tweaked a costume I am delivering in a week or so. And I have chatted to lots and lots of people on facebook and elsewhere. So it has been very positive. Next week I will have to very organised and nothing must go wrong so that everything is done and ready for the market and country show next weekend. I foresee early mornings and late nights all next week. If it is all not ready by Friday we will just have to "run what we brung".

   I like the lead rein I have made. It will compliment the halter I made. You could just as easily use it as a dog lead. The leather is English bridle leather. This leather is great to work with but does take some extra effort. However it fairly glows when the job is done. The strap billet starts 1" [25mm] wide. It cut it length ways into three strands. Then the fiddly bit, to dye and burnish the edges of the strands. Very hot work on a hot day. Next the strands were plaited making sure the strands lay flat. It is a good job I have strong fingers as this was a power job to bend the stands required by the plait. The clams came in handy to hold the free ends of the plait whilst I secured them with some stitches. It was a bit ticklish to line up the handle loop around the free plait ends in readiness for stitching, but I got there. Thereafter it was plain sailing to stitch the handle loop on and then on the other end of the rein to stitch the lead chain on.

   The plaiting makes for a supple and shock absorbing connection between the animal and the handler. Where the strap is still a billet the leather is stiff and strong. The overall length of the rein is 32" [800mm]. About half leather and half brass. The brass has twisted links so that it lies flat, a swivel at the the rein end and a Walsall hook on the business end.