Sew a Liberty print fabric dog lead :: Free sewing patterns

PR Liberty-print dog lead to sew - Free sewing patterns - Craft - allaboutyou.com

You will need

• 110 x 15cm Liberty Lifestyle craft fabric in print of your choice for main fabric (we used Newbury in colourway A) – if you need to match up a larger pattern, allow more depth
• 130 x 12cm medium-weight cotton fabric, for backing fabric
• 2cm-wide fusible hem tape
• metal dog lead clip
• matching sewing thread
• sewing machine
• sewing kit

Measuring up

To find the length of the strips, measure your dog’s existing lead from end to end, then add another 27cm for the handle loop and clip turn-back.

Preparing the fabric strips

Image 1. Cut the main fabric into two matching 4.5cm strips. With right sides facing, join the ends together with a 1cm seam, lining up the repeat if possible. Press the seam open. Trim the strip to the right length for your dog’s lead. Cut two 5cm strips from the backing fabric, then join and trim them in the same way.

Pressing the edges

Image 2. Press under a 1cm turning along each edge of both strips.

Fusing the strips

Place the backing strip on your ironing board with the right side facing downwards. Unroll the fusible hem tape and position it centrally over the strip. Trim to length. Now lay the main fabric strip, with the right side upwards, centrally on top so that an equal margin of backing fabric peeps out at both sides.

Image 3. The fusible hem tape is now sandwiched between the two strips. Following the manufacturer’s instructions, fuse the layers together, taking care to move the iron in an ‘up and down’ pressing way to keep strips in the right position.

Sewing the strips together

Image 4. Thread the sewing machine with black thread. Sew the top layer in place by working a line of stitches 2mm from each folded edge.

Making the handle loop

Image 5. Press under a 1.5cm turning at each end. Fold back another 20cm at one end for the loop and tack the first 4cm to the lead. Sew a 3cm rectangle at the end, then reinforce this by working two diagonal lines from corner to corner.

Attaching the clip

Slide the clip onto the lead so that it lies 4cm in from the end, then fold over and tack down the end of the lead. Sew down the folded end with a reinforced rectangle, as for the handle loop, stitching as close to the clip as you can.