Spiked Collar Tutorial

While some of the materials might not be easy to find, it helps if you know where to look.

The spikes, studs and other metal ornaments is normally only found in goth/metal/alternative shops, but E-bay may be your friend in this case if you have far to the shops. E-bay may indeed be your friend at any rate, because of the insane prices of most studs.

As for the belt, it may not so easy to find. I suggest trying second hand stores. the problem arises because you need a very specific kind of belt. Thin, pure leather, small buckle and no ornamentation.

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The tools you need are thankfully very easy to sniff up. A pliers for holding the spike while you are tightening the screw, scissor to cut the leather, screwdriver for the screws and measuring tape for the neck (or wrist).

Then comes the choice: hammer and nail OR hole puncher (for leather).

I suggest the hole puncher, because it is MUCH easier to secure the spikes through these hole, than the nail holes.

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When you have assembled your tools, it is time to make a design. This is the part where you are going to be creative, and decide for yourself. Besides, it all depends on what spikes you have and what look you are after.

I find that the best result stems from using several kinds of studs and then arrange them symmetrically. But that's just me :)

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First order of business is the measuring of the neck (or wrist). You see that my neck measures 37,5/38 cm.

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Now you need to mark up your design on the backside of the belt. The x's are where I'm going to punch my holes.

The tricky part is to determine the middle of the going-to-be-collar-belt. Measure from the inside of the belt buckle where the pin secures the holes. Mark where your neck circumference ends with a line.

Now fold it in half (neck line & pin) to find the middle. Now you need to offset the middle by a couple of centimeters, to get the buckle directly at your neck. Otherwise, it will be on the side of your neck when you wear the collar.

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With your markings ready, start punching holes.

Well, a few things to note firstly. Hammer and nail are easy to come by. Be sure to have something to hammer the nail into other than your dinner table :)

When using a nail, you have to make sure that you use a large nail, otherwise the hole wont be large enough. Also, remember that the leather contracts after removing the nail.

I suggest, before removing the nail, that you spin it around - this helps stretching the hole :)

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Here you can see the difference between the two holes in the leather. Left, 2mm hole puncher - right, 2,8 mm nail.. Still the hole punchers hole is a lot bigger.

This is because the hole that the puncher makes, doesn't contract. The difference between getting a hole pierced and a hole punched. :)

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But in the end it doesn't matter. As you can see the two spikes are perfectly rested on the leather piece.

I will mention that the holes should be larger if you want to have fun putting the studs in. Because these hole were way too small. Fu%#"¤@ holes.

If you use a hole puncher, you should try different hole sizes, to see what fits the studs best :) the same goes for nail really, but not many of us have a large collection of assorted nails of different sizes.

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With your knowledge of the best fitting hole size - make some holes!

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When you attach the spikes, it is important to make sure that they are securely attached. the better they are attached, the less you will miss after a night out :P

Use pliers to hold onto the spike, while you screw in the screw. Screw screw.. he.. :)

Be careful not to ruin the screws indents when you tighten. Also, be aware that the pliers may leave marks on your spikes. A way to avoid this is to use a small piece of leather as a buffer between the pliers and the spike.

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For the second-last step you are going to punch some holes for the buckle pin. Remember that the pin may be a bit larger than your screws.

Punch a hole where you have left the mark from step #6. Then punch a hole 1 cm from it to both sides.

Try it on, see if it fits.

I've added some more holes, so Parnuuna can use it as well :P

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For the last step, you should buckle the collar in the larges of the holes and, using a scissor, round off the belt a couple of centimeters after the belt strap.

Take your time with the cutting, as it may be difficult to get nice and even.

You're done - congrats my collared friend, see you at the party *rawr* ;)

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