Italian Greyhound Collar / Further testing beadwork

This post is partially used to document the mistakes I made while making this prototype, but the biggest mistake I can say immediately is I didn’t keep track of how long it took to make this thing; it was over the course of three days, and I intend to make the big version of this basically the same, so I can’t imagine how much time this must take up, but I’m pleased enough that I want to get through with this while also completing the rest of my work…

The first major design choice I made was two-fold; I mentioned before I want the design to reflect the ancestry of the dog, and a problem I quickly realized with making a beaded collar was the ‘canvas’ size. I didn’t want to make a simple pattern like Chommie’s “Now Now” collar - I want something more complex; that collar reminds me of bead weaving I did as a child, which isn’t to say it was easy to make or it’s childish or whatever, just that I want different results - you can only make ‘pixel art’ with that kind of technique, and very small ones with that kind of collar.

So while I was looking up how to create the collar shape/insert the buckle, I found this kind of collar shape:

From J. H. Leather, whose videos I’ve been watching to reference how to make the base collar, had this template. I don’t have a reason to buy it from them, I’m using faux leather because it’s easy to work with and suitable to mix with beadwork, but I can print out a scale pattern of paper and use it to cut the faux leather. This shape also gives me more room to make a complex bead pattern.

I made a very simple drawing of what I wanted the beads to look like - making it would be more spontaneous because it feels like you need to ‘fix’ your pattern as you go. What was more important here was how the buckle & collar itself functioned as a usable item.

I’d later realize, because of the beads and other things, the way I made the buckle function made the collar harder to use & prone to breaking. I also realized the hole the buckle hook thing goes into needed to be vertical, not horizontal, so there’s room for it to move - not sure why that’s not the case with J. H. ‘s template.

I drew only the rabbit on the felt, in order for it to fit properly on the pattern, roughly following the rest of my design without putting much thought - just using complimentary colors as I went, trying to ‘shade’ the rabbit with different color beads.

After the beadwork was done I cut the felt and melted the edges with a lighter so any leftover threads and excess felt is burned off. Then I glued the felt in place to the faux leather pattern.

I glued & sewed the other side of the leather, beaded the edges, & inserted the buckle, and so I’m finished. Like I said, I realized the buckles don’t really do well with the beads - there’s two solutions for this, either using a wide fabric loop where the golden hoop is (I realize this needs to be above the design as well, so when you’re walking the dog the design is facing upwards), or switching to a click buckle, which I think looks less glamorous and also prone to getting dog hair caught in it, which really wouldn’t matter with a greyhound anyway so I’m undecided for now. I’ve spent a lot of time on this project right now, so I’m going to set it aside and determine whether I have time to make a finished, bigger object - I need to focus on the memorial garden project for now.