Cool Coats Coming Soon-ish

As I sat in my booth at the AKC dog show last week I came to the decision that I would like to try my hand at making cool coats for dogs.  Every dog show and agility event that I go to, I find myself looking at them thinking I would like some for my guys but can't rationalize paying as much as they charge for them.

They can't be that hard to make, can they?  I have the ribbon, thread, webbing, buckles, sewing and embroidery machines.  All I'm missing is the shammy material, which I found wholesale at a fairly reasonable price.  Thanks to two very generous English Mastiff folks, I will be able to ship them from the warehouse to a US address and then they will be carted across the border right to Calgary, reducing the cost of cross-border shipping and making it a feasible venture.

There will be five flavors:  yellow, orange, pink, blue and teal.  Sizing and pricing will come once I have a chance to play with the material and come up with a Nearly Naked Neckwear design.  My brother assisted in coming up with just the coolest name for them which will be unveiled when they are ready for sale.

Summer Plans & News

I finally booked some booths at three dog events for this year here in Calgary:

June 10-12 - I'll be at the 2011 Alberta/NWT Regional Agility Championships which is being held at the Calgary Rugby Union's grounds.

• If anyone has any special requests for custom made / embroidered agility related items I will be taking custom orders.  If anyone has an item they would like duplicated, bring it by the booth and I'll take some measurements / photographs and let you know if I can make it.

July 15-17 - I'll be at the Evelyn Kenny Kennel & Obedience Club's dog show which is being held at the Springbank Park for All Seasons again this year.

• This event is not too far out of Calgary and worth a day trip.  Drop by and say hello if you are attending.  Custom orders welcomed.  Bring cash!  I am no longer accepting cheques or PayPal at events.  If you wish to pay via these methods, your items will be shipped out once playment has cleared and a shipping charge will apply.  Due to the excessive costs for such a small business, I am not currently set up to take debit or credit card direct.

July 29-Aug 1 - I'll be at the Alberta Kennel Club's Summer Classic which is being held at Spruce Meadows for the second year. 

• I'm super excited to be attending this event, especially since Spruce Meadows is a hop, skip & jump from my house in Evergreen.  I believe they have a banking machine somewhere on the grounds, but it was very difficult for customers to find last year.  I made a recommendation to the AKC that they put additional signage up so people can find the portable ATM's.

So what's new? 

Well, for starters I finally purchased that embroidery software I was planning on buying for a long time.  Now I'm trying to figure out how it all works and will be offering embroidery on leashes and fixed agility-type & lure-coursing slipleads only.

Next comes the arrival of something I'm eagerly anticipating, which is a fully enclosed 5x8 ft. Continental Cargo trailer.  It's on order and will hopefully arrive from Colorado within 6-8 weeks.  This will enable me to pack everything (including all 4 of my dogs) and head out to more dog shows and event venues.  Once I get a hitch put on the back of my SUV and figure out how to drive with a trailer, there will be no stopping me!  :)


Find Nearly Naked Neckwear products in two Calgary locations!  Tail Blazers MacLeod (just off of 86th Ave. SE & MacLeod Trail) and Muttley Crue (in Bridgeland) are now carrying Nearly Naked collars, leashes and harnesses!  I'm so excited.

New items I'm working on include:  pacifier clips (embroidery add-on) and camera straps & wristlets.

Long Overdue

We're currently revamping our main website.  Hopefully it will be up and running in a few weeks.  In the meantime you can still place orders or visit our ETSY site to see what is available and ready to ship.  :o)

Industrial Sewing Machines

It took a lot of research and online shopping to come to a decision as to what to purchase for a new industrial sewing machine.  A powerful (and quiet!) motor that will sew through multiple layers of thick materials without bunching the stitches and capable of sewing light to medium weight leather, a walking foot, and large bobbins were some of the things I felt were important.  After much deliberation, it is going to be a JUKI DNU 1541 with a Servo motor.  Soon I hope to have a bunch of new items available, including: belts for humans, camera straps and wristlets, and pacifier clips.  The new 'beast' arrives next week, and I am looking forward to running it almost non-stop.  ;)

Nearly Naked on Etsy

There's not too much to report aside from our new Etsy store:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/NearlyNakedNeckwear?ref=pr_profile

Harnesses are Here!

After several requests for harnesses I have decided to add them to what NNN offers.  The harnesses will be the standard, adjustable step-in style, with a buckle closure and two d-rings that meet by the shoulders for the leash to attach to.

Sizing is as follows:

Extra Small (made from 3/8" webbing)
          Fits girth range from 8-12 inches

Small (made from 1/2" webbing)
          Fits girth range from 12-18 inches

Medium (made from 3/4" webbing)
          Fits girth range from 16-24 inches

Large (made from 1" webbing)
          Fits girth range from 26-38 inches

If you needed different sizing or have a different style of harness that you are interested in having replicated, I can use your current harness as a template.  Please e-mail for details.

Convertible 3 Ft. to 6 Ft. Leash

These are super cool.

Someone had one at the Spruce Meadows AKC Summer Classic dog show, and they let me take some measurements and photo's on my iPhone, and I was able to reproduce this nifty leash.

Let's start with the handle.  When the leash is at its 6 foot length, this is what the handle looks like.  It is a fixed (stitched) handle with an mobile o-ring.  Not too fancy yet, but just wait, it gets better!

Here is the trigger snap end with the leash at it's 6 foot length.  Again there is another o-ring, but this one is fixed into place.

Okay, here's where it gets interesting...  To convert from a 6 foot to a 3 foot, you feed the webbing through the o-ring on the trigger snap end.

You keep feeding this loop of webbing through until the two o-rings connect.  This keeps the leash at a 3 foot length, and the handle becomes the large loop of webbing.

To convert it back, you simply pull the non-fixed o-ring outward and the leash extends back to it's 6 foot length.

How seriously super cool is that?!  Let me know if you'd like to order one.  Right now this only comes in a 1" width.