Capture it with a collar...

Sitting having my lunch today, a phone was passed along the line to me.  On it, a picture of a Labradoodle.  Everyone at work knows that I'm a crazy dog lady.  Sometimes, if I'm feeling a little touchy, I like to pretend that I'm offended by the fact.  But, in reality, I know it to be true.  I can talk to other dog ladies until I'm blue in the face and they're fed up of hearing about dogs and then I can still talk some more.

In fact, perhaps this blog is a way of venting that pent up dog discussion that I have inside...  The discussion that I hide because other people want to talk about babies and expensive jewelry and makeup and holidays.... And I sit there trying to feel at home in the conversation when in fact every aspect of it is alien to me.  I am very unphased by all of the above.

The Labradoodle in question belongs to a relative of one of my colleagues.  And, the anticipation of its arrival has lasted for some time.  "Ask them if they want a collar making!" I ventured, feeling proud of my recent achievement with my new sewing machine.

Gemma's new collar that I made.  I, yes me!! Impressed?

"They've already bought their collar."  Replied my friend, smiling.
I winced.  "Their collar?" I felt mortified.  Then, it occurred to me that perhaps most dogs don't have a wardrobe of collars as mine do.  Perhaps some dogs have only one...

My collar fetish began in the early days of Caesar's adoption.  It occurred to me that this was one way to do two things:
1) Make him look a little more friendly when he was acting like an idiot.
2) Show his personality a bit.

Caesar is a little wacky.  I hope that some time in a future life he will be reincarnated as a person and we will meet.  I imagine he would be the type of person that lots of people love even though more than sometimes he is a bit of an idiot.  A sort of Russell Brand of the dog world.

Anyhow, when Emma brought Tango round one day wearing an amazingly original skull collar I was jealous.  Why hadn't I found a collar that defined Caesar.  All he wore was a slightly pricey soft leather number with a capsule type affair to hold his details.  It was the most unique collar I could find and even then I'd spotted several other dogs wearing it already.  "Where did you get that?" I asked, green with envy.

Emma told me she had bought it at a show off a lady who had been selling hand made collars.  "Oh," I said, feeling a little deflated.  Did that mean that I couldn't get my hands on one?

A few weeks later, Emma offered me the contact details of someone else who made collars and I promptly made my decision on which to order.

Superman was Caesar's first hand made collar.  And it was paired with a cute star tag in burgundy red.

Then, for more formal occasions, I selected a red polka dog affair with matching bow tie...

Then came the Batman and Batgirl matching collars...

Then, Scooby Doo....

So, the first thing I decided to do when I got my new sewing machine was have a crack at making some things for Caesar.  Top of my list was a fleece coat, which was a little fiddlier than I had initially thought.  Once finished, though, I decided to experiment with making some collars of my own.

Standing at the local haberdashery, I felt underwhelmed.  Nothing there inspired me.  I wanted to make Caesar something cool and fun that defined him.  Eventually I went with a blue crisscross style that I felt was quite smart:

I wasn't content at that though, so I added a small hand made dickie-bow to the collar hoping that this would smarten up his look.  I feel quite pleased for a first attempt!

Thanks for reading!