How to make a DIY gathered ribbon dog collar poppy. For commemorations like ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day, we encourage buying a poppy for all of the human members of your family to support the fundraising efforts of your local veterans’ group. However, in the interest of sturdy safety, here is a DIY poppy craft for your furry family members. Ribbon poppies also make a cute broach or hair accessory for humans, and the DIY can be easily adapted with different colours for other floral flair. Human or canine!
DIY Gathered Ribbon Remembrance Poppy for Dog Collars
Supplies and Materials
To make a DIY gathered ribbon dog collar poppy like the one shown here, you will need:
- Red ribbon
- Black Button
- Green felt (optional)
- Scissors
- Thread and hand sewing supplies
Making the Gathered Ribbon Poppy
- Cut a length of red ribbon. Length depends on how full you would like your flower to be when finished. Since we want our poppy relatively flat (one ruffled circle), around 2x the finished perimeter of the flower is plenty. If you are interested in making fuller flowers, use a longer ribbon and spiral instead of just completing a single ruffled circle.
- Sew a running stitch along one lengthwise edge of the ribbon.
- Pull the thread to gather the ribbon into a circle. Take care to arrange the circlet neatly and evenly as you pull. Adjust if/as needed to ensure that both ends finish on what will be the back side of your flower, where possible.
- Sew the loose ends to secure, concealing them at the centre where possible.
- Sew a black button (or small circle of black felt) to the front of your poppy to form a centre.
- Optional: Cut a small leaf from green felt. Attach it to the back of the poppy by sewing or gluing neatly in place to finish the back and add extra character. You could use a leaf trimmed from the stem of an artificial plant or flower instead, if you’d like.
Options for Attaching the Poppy to a Dog Collar
As cheeky Humphrey demonstrated in our rolled ribbon rosette dog collar DIY, good behaviour to go with good looks isn’t guaranteed. The best method of attachment for accessories depends on your flair and your dog. For a simple and lightweight decoration like this poppy, attaching a little loop of elastic that can be slipped over the collar works nicely for most pets. It may not suit your collar or your pet, though. You can use any method you wish, but make sure that it is secure. Accessories are for special occasions with you present, just in case. Safety is always more important than style. See our post on DIY dog bow ties for more tips on attaching accessories.
Pawnote from the Blog Dogs of Dalmatian DIY
On the subject of safety, remember that real poppies are considered to be toxic for dogs if ingested (mild to moderate). If you have real flowers or plants in the vicinity for ANZAC Day, please keep them away from any curious pets. If you’re planting poppy seeds on ANZAC Day for Armistice Day flowers, consider your dog’s safety when selecting locations. We’ve confined ours to the front garden as a just in case for still kind of curious garden pup Humphrey. Classic rosemary for remembrance is considered dog-safe in moderation, though. My boys quite like to rub themselves along the giant old rosemary shrubs in our neighbourhood. They smell great afterwards!
