collar me gently: leather collar making process

since most of my projects take forever to complete
i decided to make a "gratification" piece,
something easy, fun and quick


the piece of my choice is:
a leather collar!


below:
an initial piece


(((embarrassed grin)))

half way into makin it i said,

nahhhh



so i re-started

cutting up an used leather belt i found at
a thrift store, houston, texas



making some holes for
decorative leather strings

uneven placement of holes
resulted from mind goin elsewhere....



trying out several ways for the
decorative strings



i decided to use buttons, not studs
to give it a "softer" look to the collar

then came the decision time......



loops for the buttons

at first i made leather loops very tight
then i remembered a scene from
dario argento film, "deep red" (1975)

more precisely,
the last scene from the film
that i have NEVER seen although i've watched the film
more than few times


but i know exactly what happens...


i ain't gonna tell you though...



so, i opted for a
"quick release" method
ie. yank it hard and loops will loosen


like this.....



decorative strings attached

i said,
no not this decorative



so as to straighten them up a bit,
i first moistened them lightly....



then hang them with some weights



time to add some finishing touch...

i'm going to color sections like these



the black polish gives glossy look
so i paid an extra attention to keep the application minimum,
since the belt has a nice "weathered" look to it



don't forget these places....




below:
completed piece

i am wearing this in my
google profile picture as well



these buttons are from
junior highschool (boys') overcoat from
pre-ww2 japan


chosen these to give the collar a subtle edge
the kind not as obvious as
pointy metal studs



good night......