I have not made my own leaders. I bought ones made of heavy duck/canvas and I use the Red Snappers to load the quilt. Before going that route, I made short leaders that attached to the longer ones with Velcro, the same idea as using zippers but easier to make and adjust. However - after using those for a few quilts I decided that I did not like having to baste the quilt back to the leaders! That was a lot more work than pinning. I then bought Red Snappers and have been totally happy with that solution. (I also tried the poor man's version - not nearly as good.)