**Updated Nov. 10

Making a leash for a toy sounds relatively simple, so it may seem surprising that I have a Part 1 for this project. However, I can already see definite room for improvement, so I’ll be trying this project again! I also would like to make a toy leash with velcro instead of snaps, and leashes that attach to my son’s clothes instead of the stroller/high chair/baby carrier/etc.

Recently, a co-op group I’m apart of was purchasing leashes for Sophie the Giraffe to keep the toy attached to things…and not constantly falling on the floor. Genius! Why do I never think of these things? Sometimes I feel completely uncreative. Well, thought I…how difficult can it be to make a toy leash?

So I set about making my own…

I perused the ribbon section at the local Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store. I found a spool of adorable monkey faces ribbon. I was a little torn between the monkey ribbon (which seemed a little thin) and a thicker, ribbed baseball ribbon. I went with the monkeys.

I arrived home and proudly showed hubby my purchase.

“Isn’t that a little thin?” -Hubby

I set about to prove him wrong!

Unfortunately, I failed.

Tip #1

Think LEASH. Purchase a very thick ribbon or something with which you’d feel confident securing a medium-size dog to a fence post.

Tip #2

Don’t zig zag the ends. You’ll make the unraveling worse.

The ends of the ribbon looked like they were fraying. I knew that with fabric, you can sew a zig zag stitch across the end, and that will keep the unraveling at bay. This is a terrible idea for ribbon. Don’t do it.

Click on the Photos to Enlarge:

Oh dear. How do I fix this??

I decided to fold over the end to hide the edge. This ended up working out well, since the folded over part of the ribbon acted as reinforcement for the snap.

I should’ve folded over a bigger piece of ribbon. You’ll see why in a second.

The snap right on top of the stitch isn’t aesthetically pleasing. Next time, I’ll fold over more ribbon.

As you can see above, I applied the “boy” side of the snap (the stud) to the end of the ribbon.

I wanted one of the loops of the leash to be quite large, so I could attach it to different sized bars: the stroller, the high chair, the carrier, etc. I measured out 8″ total and marked it with a washable fabric marker. I then applied the other half of the snap (the “girl” part). I did not reinforce this part of the ribbon, which I regretted as soon as I tested snapping and unsnapping this side of the leash. I could feel and see the ribbon fabric weakening. It’s just not strong enough.

At this point, I still hadn’t measured and cut the entire length of ribbon, so I went ahead and did that. With the loops attached, the leash ended up being about 20″. I have no idea if this is a good length or not. I’ll find out tomorrow when we go to the Farmer’s Market, and I use the leash with a teether and my son’s stroller!

For the opposite end (this is the side attached to toys), I made the loop a little smaller. I reinforced the end and followed my earlier steps.

Then I turned my attention the last snap placement.

Since I now knew that the ribbon needed to be reinforced under the snaps, I cut out and folded over a piece of ribbon to sew on the leash. This would serve as snap reinforcement.

I have to apologize about a couple of things. First of all, I know this really isn’t a tutorial. My directions aren’t clear; I realize that. To be honest, I really didn’t know what I was doing, until the moment I did it, and even then…

When I post the next installment, I’ll include step by step instructions and measurements.

Also, if you do not have access to snap tools and snaps, I think this leash would work well with velcro. You can even hand sew velcro on the leash, if you don’t have a machine. Also, I think velcro will work well on a thinner ribbon like this, since pulling the velcro apart won’t put such a stress on the fabric (as opposed to pulling snaps apart).

Tomorrow morning I will test drive this leash by letting my son use it…trial by fire! I’ll post pix afterwards, and let you know how it goes.

Update: I used the toy leash today with my son’s current favorite teether and his stroller while we were at the local farmer’s market. Success!

Have you made a toy leash before? Do you have any DIY projects on which you’re currently working?