How to Sew a Dog Coat
Your dog is your companion and friend. You want to keep it as happy and comfortable as possible, especially when it goes with you out in the cold weather to walk. You can create a dog coat yourself at home inexpensively. Get some felt material to make the coat and a few other items from the craft department. Felt is warm and doesn't ravel, so you don't have to finish the edges. It's a simple process, which makes a big splash when you embellish the dog's coat with craft jewels. Your dog will be warm and beautifully attired.
Things You'll Need
- 1-yard felt fabric 60 inches wide
- Measuring tape
- Foot ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Velcro
- Large needle
- Thin yarn
- Craft jewels with holes for sewing
Instructions
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1
Measure your dog from the collar to 1-inch in front of the tail. Write down the measurements. Measure around the front chest where the dog is the biggest. Measure around the neck. Measure from the bottom right side to the bottom left side over the back. We'll make this coat for a dachshund that is
16 inches down the back, 12 inches around the chest, 10 inches around the neck and 10 inches from right side to left side across the back.
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2
Lay your felt, folded in half, on your work table. Measure the back length of 16 inches in the middle of the felt fabric and mark both ends with a pencil. Draw that line with a ruler. Draw another parallel line 1-inch from the first line. Connect the ends. This is the center back of your dog coat from neck to tail. This coat is all one piece connected to the back center 1-inch strip.
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3
Measure and mark diagonally at the neck end, the 10 inches by 1-inch for a felt neck strap. This creates a "T" shape. This make 5 inches to the right and 5 inches to the left.
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4
Move down two inches below the neck strap marks and mark diagonally again, the chest measurement of 12 inches by 1-inch wide, creating a chest strap drawing. There will be a 2-inch gap cut out of the right and left sides between the neck strap and chest strap. But all will still be connected by the 1-inch back strip.
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5
Mark the diagonal side-to-side measurement of 10 inches, butting up against the bottom of the chest strap. Five inches will hang to the right and another 5 inches will hang to the left of the dog. Now move down to the tail pencil mark and mark the diagonal side-to-side measurement of 10 inches. Lay the ruler down and connect the right side 10-inch marks and the left side 10-inch marks. This creates the loose coat blanket that lays over the dog's back. Your drawing is done.
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6
Cut out around all the outside edges of your dog coat drawing. Trace the dog coat template onto the second half of your cloth that was folded under to begin with. Your coat will be two layers of felt thick.
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7
Cut the bottom neck strap line to the edge of the 1-inch strip at center back. Do the same on the opposite side. The neck strap is hanging loose now on both sides. Cut out the two inches of blank space below the neck strap to the right and left of the 1-inch strip at back center. This 2-inch opening butts up against the chest strap line.
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8
Cut the line for the chest strap on the right and left side of the 1-inch center strip to the edges of the center strip. The chest strap is now hanging loose on the right and left sides of the coat. The edges of the back blanket part of the coat is cut loose now. Cut the second coat out the same.
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9
Lay the two layers of coat together and stitch the edges with your large needle and thin yarn. The two layers become one when stitched together. Make large whip stitches 3/4-inch long through both layers of cloth with the yarn all along the edges of both coat layers. The whip stitch goes under first, then over the edge, then under again, then over. This connects the layers and is also very decorative. Stitch the edges of the loose chest straps together and the loose neck straps together. Knot the ends to lock the stitches.
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10
Sew Velcro loop and hook squares to the ends of the straps for closures. Sew on large craft jewels all along the edges of the back blanket 1-inch apart. Put them 1-inch apart down the center back from neck to tail.
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References
- Photo Credit running dachshund image by Diana Mastepanova from Fotolia.com
