DIY Chevron Print Leash

Patrollin' the beach

Winning Smile

So this is my baby girl Vatra (although not so much of a baby anymore)

Such a dope

We named her Vatra (which means "bonfire" in Ukrainian... ватра pronounced Va-Trrra) because she has always been a big fiery bundle of energy and light in our family, but lately I've been noticing the years getting to her. 

This 13 year old yellow lab is starting to get white whiskers around the face, and acts a bit less like a lunatic when we take her out on walks. SHE OLD!

 Vatra (4 years old) and I (8 years old)

 So I thought I would make her something nice to keep her looking fresh, so here is my DIY chevron dog leash!

I have been super into chevron print everything. It has become super popular lately and I hope it's here to stay! 

Materials:

♥ Cotton Webbing- you can get this from virtually any fabric store... it's like 1$ per meter... get about 2-2.5 meters and 1 inch thick

♥ Exacto Knife

♥ Clear Nail Polish- or anything that you may have to prevent fraying

♥ Needle and thread- But I recommend a sewing machine

♥ Tape- I used some sort of painters tape

♥ A leash clip thing- I just got mine from an old leash I cut up

♥ Ruler

♥ Fabric Paint- DON'T get this "multi-use" Martha Stewart paint...this stuff wont last. You want actual fabric paint (and it's cheaper too!) because I'm assuming you will be walking your dog outside in all weather conditions... about 3$ per bottle

♥ Grid cutting board- Optional but recommended! 

I know what you are thinking... what is this stuff!? I don't own cotton webbing!

But don't worry. I promise it's very easy to find, and it's totally worth it. This leash cost me about 4$ in total... whereas a store bought leash would be about 4-5 times that!

Step 1: Take a piece of tape and with your ruler and exacto knife, cut quarter inch strips of tape (this is where that grid cutting board comes in handy!)... if you mess up a bit don't worry. Differences in size won't make a big difference aesthetically! 

Step 2: Place your cotton webbing onto the grid and cut off some of your tape from your strips from step 1 (about 2 inches of it)

Stick it diagonally across the cotton from one inch the other other (like pictured)

Does yours look like this picture? Good

Now do this along the entire length of your webbing

I did mine in parts.... I would tape up the cotton webbing that was on the grid and then paint it... I recommend you do the same!

Step 3: Once you make the big "V"s, you can start on the smaller ones.

Cut out a smaller piece of tape (about 1 inch long) and stick it on the inside of the bigger V

I just eyeballed it

Step 4: Cut out another little piece, forming a smaller V with the piece from step 4

Then use your exacto knife to cut off the extra little bit of the the piece from step 4

Remove it

Can you guys see it yet?

Nice right?

This is what it should look like once you are done your taping

Step 5: Alright, now for the fun part! Get your paint

I used a bright green sparkly paint... I think it was called something like Tropical Green

I also did one in Periwinkle... turned out pretty nice too, eh?

Paint paint paint

The cotton webbing is pretty porus so you may need to give it a couple of coats

Almost done now!

Step 6: Now you get to peel it of and reveal your beautiful chevron print leash

Soooo satisfying

Step 7: Take some of your nail polish and paint the ends of your leash to prevent fraying

If you are reusing the buckle from one of your old leashes, you'll want to get that now

Step 8: Place your buckle onto your new leash, and using your sewing machine, sew it into place by looping over a piece of the webbing. So the same to create one of those hand holding places

You may want to go over this a few times, especially if you have a dog who pulls (a yellow lab for example) 

And there you are!

Ooooh pretty!

She loves it!

Or... at least I'm sure she would love it if she weren't colour blind...

I tried taking a picture on Cat the cat to show the leash's versatility (Cat is named after the English word for Cat)... but she was not having any of that

So here is just a picture of a very pissed off Cat after her failed photo shoot

Alright alright, have a great day guys

TGIF right?

See you guys on Monday! Hope you have a relaxing one

I for one am going to be spending my weekend cleaning and reorganizing my room at home because it has just been redone... whoooo! But maybe a cool craft project will come of it!

If you guys have any questions, comments, or concerns, I would love to hear them in the comment box bellow, or shoot me an e-mail at:

{withloveblog2012@gmail.com}

♥ Olivia