Okay, so my dog, Max, absolutely destroys his toys. Especially the rope ones. Buying new ones constantly was getting a bit much, you know? So, I thought, why not try making one myself? Seemed straightforward enough.
Gathering the Stuff
First thing, I needed material. Didn’t want to buy anything fancy, defeats the purpose, right? I went digging through the old clothes pile. Found a couple of old cotton t-shirts that were way past their prime. Perfect. Bright colors too, which is always fun for a dog toy, I reckon.
So, the materials list was pretty basic:
- Two old t-shirts (different colors make it look nicer)
- A good pair of scissors
That’s literally it. Simple.
Getting Down to It
Alright, time to actually make the thing. I laid the first t-shirt flat on the floor. Cut off the bottom hem because it’s thick and annoying. Then, I cut across the body, right under the armpits, to get a nice rectangular piece of fabric. Did the same for the second shirt.
Next, I cut strips. Starting from one side seam, I cut strips about, say, 1.5 to 2 inches wide, stopping just before I hit the other side seam. Didn’t cut all the way through that second seam – left it intact for a bit. Did this for the whole width of the shirt body.
Once I had all the strips cut on both shirts, I cut along that intact side seam I’d left earlier. This gave me a bunch of long fabric loops from each shirt. I then cut each loop open at one end, so now I just had long strips of t-shirt material.
I grabbed, I think, six strips in total? Three of each color to make it look decent. Lined them up, held one end together, and tied a really tight knot. And I mean tight. You gotta yank on it, make sure it’s secure because you know how dogs pull.
The Braiding Part
This was the main event. I separated the strips into three groups, two strips per group (one of each color in my case). Then, I just started braiding them. Just a standard three-strand braid, nothing complicated. Like braiding hair, basically. You just keep going, pulling it tight as you go along. Consistency is key here, trying to keep the braid tension even so the rope feels solid.
I braided down almost to the end of the strips, leaving enough length to tie another knot.
Finishing Touches
Once I had braided pretty much the whole length, I gathered the loose ends and tied another super tight knot. Same deal as the first one – pull it hard, make sure it won’t unravel the second Max grabs it.
I trimmed the dangly bits at each end after the knots, just to make it look a bit tidier. Didn’t cut too close to the knot, though. Left maybe an inch or so.
And that was pretty much it. Stood back and looked at it. Not bad! Looked like a proper rope toy, felt pretty sturdy too. The whole thing maybe took me, what, 30 minutes? Ish?
The Verdict
Gave it to Max. He immediately started thrashing it around, pulling on it. We had a good game of tug. It held up surprisingly well! Been a few days now, and it’s still in one piece, which is saying something for his track record. Definitely doing this again when this one eventually bites the dust. Way cheaper and kinda satisfying knowing I made it myself from old junk.
