How to Make a Male Dog Diaper

As your dog gets older, he may suffer from incontinence, which will lead to accidents in the house. A male dog diaper wraps around your dog's waist and protects your floors from accidents. And if you have a sewing machine handy, they're a snap to make. Cotton fleece is the best material to use for a diaper: it's absorbent and machine-washable, and it comes in fun patterns so your dog can strut around in style.

Things You'll Need

• Patterned cotton fleece Plain cotton fleece Tape measure Fabric marker Scissors Straight pins Sewing machine Pinking shears Velcro

Instructions

1. Measure your dog's waist from his back to just in front of his hind legs. Add 4 inches to the length of the diaper for the Velcro closure.

2. Measure the length of your dog's groin from the hind legs to the middle of his tummy. This will be the width of your diaper.

3. Mark the appropriate measurements onto the patterned fleece and cut out two pieces of fabric: one for the bottom and one for the top of the diaper.

4. Mark the plain fleece with the same measurements, except the plain fleece should be an inch narrower than the patterned fleece.

5. Lay two pieces of plain fleece on top of each other and then lay one piece of patterned fleece on top, face up. Take a few straight pins and pin the patterned fleece to the plain pieces. (Make sure you place the pins so they can be removed after you have finished sewing.)

6. Flip the three strips of fabric over so the plain fleece is showing. Place the other strip of patterned fleece on top, face up. Along the edges, straight-pin the patterned fleece to its partner on the bottom. Make sure the two patterned strips of fleece line up and that none of the fabric has shifted.

7. Sew all four strips of fabric together along the edges. Remove the straight pins, and trim the edges with pinking shears.

8. Cut out two strips of Velcro (one hooked and one looped) the width of the diaper and 2 inches long.

9. Sew the hooked piece of Velcro to the end of one patterned side of the diaper. Sew the looped piece onto the opposite end and the opposite side of the diaper.

Tips & Warnings

• Double-check all materials before sewing. Ripping out stitches is time-consuming. If your dog is a heavy wetter, you can sew more than two layers of plain fleece inside the diaper.

• Don't sew both pieces of Velcro to the same side of the diaper; the Velcro won't overlap properly.

References

• Belly Wraps
• Best fabric for cloth diapers

Resources

• Fabrics
• Diapers for sale