Hemp Dog Collar

I bought this dog tag while in Tennessee last week because it made me laugh (and it's also very fitting!), when I added it to Sarge's collar tho he jingled like a cat and was driving me (and him) batty...so while camping I made him a hemp macrame collar to hang it from. And because one thing leads to another, I brought some letter beads with me to also add his name to the new collar (actually it's a necklace not a collar - just like the last one I made, click here for that post, there is no way this can function as his collar...it's just decorative).

This isn't hard to do at all and it comes together quickly. I didn't do any special knots or design, just square knots and you can google for instructions on how to make them. For a 14" collar I cut one piece of hemp (bought a ball of it at Walmart for like 5 bucks) approximately 36" long, and another one approx. 7 yards (I say approximately because I don't have a ruler in the RV so measured lengths by holding the end at my nose and stretching my arm out to the side as far as it'll go - I figure that's about 3 feet). Find the middle of each of the lengths and holding them together make a loop and knot it about an inch down. That's one end of the collar. I clip the loop to the top of a piece of cardboard (or a thin cutting board is what I used this time), and clip the 2 short ends to the bottom of the board - clipping the ends down makes it way easier to tie the knots. Then make square knots for 12 inches and finish by tying a big knot in the other end that will slip thru the loop at the beginning (the loop and knot are the closure). If you want to add beads or a charm, slide them onto the two short ends and make the knots around the beads with the long ends - I added them so they'd be at about the halfway point of the collar.

one year ago: zucchini muffins
two years ago: mason jar lunchables

DIY: Parachute Cord Dog Collar

I made Sarge a new "necklace" out of two colors of parachute cord and added a length of chain to it to jazz it up. I'm calling it a necklace instead of a collar because I don't trust the plastic clasp on this to hold him with the way he pulls on the leash so hard, I use a thick slip-over-his-neck collar when we walk - so this is just for decoration :) If I had a nice gentle dog that doesn't pull like a madman then I would be ok with using it as his collar. You can attach a D-ring if you want to have someplace to clip the leash to.

Search online for the instructions for how to make these, parachute cord projects are everywhere - you can make bracelets, etc. too with the same directions. I had the soccer girls make keychains using this technique (click here to see that post), it isn't hard but I'm not going to try to explain making the knots when other people have already figured out how to teach it haha! One useful tip I have is to clip the top of the piece to cardboard or something, and then clip the middle two strands that are stationary (you make the knots over the two middle strands using the two outer strands) at the bottom of the cardboard - it helps to not have them moving all over when you are knotting.

-Measure your dogs neck, or the length you want a bracelet or whatever to be.
-The directions I was following online said to cut the cords one foot for every inch you will be knotting but that wasn't correct for me. I made Sarge a 14.5" collar so cut 16' of cord and had a ton left over. I used approximately 9 feet of cord (each color).
-Put both of the cords thru one end of the clasp, pull them thru the length you want your project to be plus a couple of inches. In my case I pulled about 18 inches thru. The short cords are the 2 middle strands and clip them to the bottom of a piece of cardboard. The long strands are what you will knot over the short strands.

-Make knots until you get a couple inches from where you want to end, thread the other end of the clasp on (make sure the clasp is facing the same way as the other end, they bow slightly) and fold the short ends back on themselves. Continue making knots over the short ends to weave them in.
-Get as close to the clasp as you can, then tie off. Clip the short ends off that are now sticking out of the collar.

-Trim off the excess long strands, I left long tails on Sarge's cuz I think it's cute to have them hanging down. Using a lighter or match, carefully melt the end tips of the cord (wherever you decide to cut them off. If you don't want tails, clip the cords close to the collar and melt them there) so the cord doesn't fray.

I decided he needed to be a little fancy and attached a chain to both clips so it sits next to the collar.