All of my products are made to order. I decided to go this route about midway through my first year when I was really struggling to match the ready-made/premade formula set by other collar makers. For various reasons, it just wasn't replicable for a new business starting from the ground floor.

Along that same vein, making collars without preset rules (length/width/style) is particularly hard for me and I ended up with a lot of wasted resources and wasted time, as my ready-mades just wound up hanging out here in my studio waiting for new homes forever.

Semi-customs are my way around this issue. I will happily make collars for my own dogs - these are the ones you see modeled in my photos - without caring if I have wasted material/time. I know their sizes, I know their widths, and I like using them as guinea pigs for most everything I make, and when we go out in the world, they act as walking billboards. The model collars themselves are never for sale, but their designs are repeatable on collars for your dog(s).

The benefits of semi-customs are as follows:

• The price is generally lower than most of my truly custom products. This is quite simply because the artwork is already completed. It takes a lot of time and effort to create these designs digitally, so having that part completed makes a huge difference. Additionally, if you've wanted a collar from me but can't figure out what you want on it, these can be an easy gateway.

• Turnaround time is generally lower, barring significant injury (as happened in my first year), I can pump these ones out rather quickly since the designs are ready to cut as is.

• Semi customs have their hardware and colors defaulted to what I think looks best on the model collar. This is different and less time-consuming than ordering in special hardware or cork for a custom collar.

• Your dog is an individual with different measurements than mine. You might prefer a specific width or different style than I do. Semi-customs allow Width, Length/Circumference, and Style of collar to be changed very easily.

The most important takeaway for all of this is that semi-customs allow me to work with predetermined rules and allow me to continue creating without a substantial impact on my resources, time, or energy.

1: Deposit

On the website navigate to the type of custom collar you wish to purchase and make any immediate selections regarding style and width. (Cork Products > Collars > Customs)

Clicking Add to Cart will prompt a pop-up/new page form, for any necessary details regarding theme/color scheme/sizing. Checking out pays your deposit and shipping cost.

Typically this is 25-50% of the total cost of the collar, but is sometimes less and sometimes more. The full price will be entirely dependent on the amount of detailing involved.

Paying this portion puts you onto the waitlist and allows me to begin work on the digital artwork for your collar when your order number comes up. Time between when you order and when I start working on it is entirely dependent on the length of the waitlist and can vary without notice. I keep the waitlist available in the site's menu.

2: Approval

If you submitted an idea for your custom collar when you paid your deposit, I will send you 1-4 versions of designs based on your concept. At this point you can choose one, tweak one, combine elements, or have me start over entirely. If you didn’t submit an idea, we’ll just discuss it via FB messenger or email!

3: Assembly

Cork and webbing are measured, cut, glued, and stitched together, then hardware is added. I try to make TikToks of the process when possible, at the very least showing the final product when it’s completed since not all sides are visible in the professional photos.

4: Photoshoot & Invoice

I set up my own small photo studio to get your collar in the spotlight! I post on most of my social platforms (Facebook/FB Group/TikTok/Instagram) and a PayPal invoice is sent via email to cover the remaining detailing fees.

5: Shipped!

Once the detailing invoice is paid in full, I pop your insured package into the mail and it makes its way to you! No package leaves here without insurance. You and I both invested a lot into this collar, so if it’s lost, we’re both covered. ❤️❤️

What is “detailing”?

This is a multifactored and design-dependent catch-all term reserved for custom items only. Semi-custom designs already have their fees included.

Detailing includes stitching time, quantity of small pieces and layers, and embroidery. Because I don’t know in advance what a custom order will end up looking like when completed or the techniques it’ll require to complete, I cannot appropriately determine the cost of effort and time in designing/stitching/finishing a collar to put on the website as a fee. There is no one-size-fits-all here, no universal pricing structure that works. Some collars feature things others don’t. That is the nature of a custom designed collar.

As such, when you purchase a custom collar on the website, you’ve paid your deposit. This allows me to work on the digital mockups and play around with techniques on the computer before I work with tangible cork. The detailing fees are added after the fact. No collar leaves here without those fees being paid.

LIGHT DETAILING

These are some of the most basic designs, they include single or very few small pieces requiring precision stitching

MODERATE DETAILING

A couple small pieces and/or includes a gradient fade or minimal embroidery

HEAVY DETAILING

Made up of small pieces, with or without a gradient, or includes or requires extensive embroidery

A Note on Embroidery

I use embroidery for the smallest features of stitching. When cork is stitched too closely together, as in the case of very small jagged edges, it tears more easily or the cork is obscured completely, defeating the purpose of using it in the first place. Depending on the amount of embroidery and how custom it is, this will incur an additional fee.

On the computer, I plot every single place the needle touches down when embroidery is customized. This takes a significant amount of time if the design is larger or more detailed. Even though the machine does all the stitching for me, I still have to agonize over the details, adjusting by 1mm at a time, ensuring proper coverage, placement, and measuring, especially in the case of embroidery that must be split multiple times since I use a smaller machine.

Embroidery is often the very last step on custom collars and if I mess it up, I can’t undo it since the stitches are so close and so tight together. Picking out stitches damages the cork, often irreparably. In the past, I’ve had to restart a collar from step 1 multiple times because I’ve messed up the embroidery at the end. While I’ve gotten much more confident with designing embroidery and I absolutely test on scrap before I stitch on a completed collar, shit still happens sometimes. The fees incurred for embroidery are all encompassing for these types of potential errors.

Limited Edition Collections are theme-specific. They came about when I couldn't stop making collars around a videogame I was thoroughly enjoying at the time. These collections vary in specific piece numbers, but have been as few as 2 and as many as 5.

Each collection only runs publicly for two months, then it is moved to the "Patreon Vault" where only Patreon members can purchase from a protected page on the website. The password will change should I lose Patreon members at any point.

So far, D2K9 has released

• Zelda: Season 1

• Moana

• Avatar: The Last Airbender

• Zelda: Season 2

• Fallout

• Red Dead Redemption II

I keep all the previous collection collars marked as Sold Out on the website so that you can still view the photos, but you cannot purchase.

Every now and again, I will bring a collection out of the vault. This is often the case when a new season or sequel of a show or videogame drops. It is, for example, currently planned for a new collar design to accompany the past designs when Moana 2's debut arrives later in 2024.

It is best to subscribe to the e-newsletter to get the most up-to-date notifications about collections. It is free, I do not send more than 1 email per month, and you get early access by 1 hour prior to any social media goes out about new products.

The width is the primary determining factor for the cost of a D2K9 CUSTOM collar due to how the edges are finished. I do not leave raw edges exposed, so I use more cork than, say, your average leather collar does. These fees never apply to semi-customs or limited edition collection collars - they are lumped into their listed price.

THICC BOIS

The widest collars can be made currently is 2.5”. There are only two ways this width is achievable:

1 - Double Layer Add On

2 - Buckle Collar Style

Martingales must taper to a minimum of 1” at this time due to the hardware available.

ADD ON: DOUBLE LAYERS

Double layers can be added to custom Quick Releases, Buckles, Martingales, and French Martingales. Most of the limited edition collections have these as an included selectable option if offered as part of their design. The largest loop on a martingale collar will have the double layer. The smaller loop will be 2” at maximum as it needs to slide through the hardware.

Double layers add .5” to the total width of your collar, so a 1.5” collar with a double layer will be in total 2” wide and a 1” collar with a double layer will be 1.5”, etc. The +.5" width is considered the "overall width" whenever you see it referred to in a product listing.

Double layers are different from the borders. Double layers function as a literal second layer that adds a visible depth and a tactile drop to the design. They sit behind the main panel (with the design on it) of the collar. It can turn a very standard looking collar into a particularly fancy one. There is about a 2mm drop from the main panel and the second background ("double") layer of cork.

Due to the use of a large section of cork to create the double layer, this add-on does increase the cost of the collar.

ADD ON: TAPERS

Tapering a collar means to gradually decrease the overall width. Whether or not this is possible or default is entirely dependent on the type of collar you have chosen.

I can currently only taper to the narrowest width I offer: 3/4”. Again, martingales can taper to a minimum of 1” and no narrower.

Tapering a custom (non-buckle) collar will result in an extra cost, shown on the detailing invoice.

ADD ON: LEASH LENGTH/CIRCUMFERENCE INCREASE

French martingales come with a 5’ leash attached as standard. If you’d like an additional foot or more, this incurs an extra fee due to the amount of braiding cord required. Likewise, I can braid a thicker lead if you prefer. The same fee applies as I require more cord to increase the circumference.