DIY Dog Coat - Easy To Make And Stylish!
It is so easy to make a stylish DIY dog coat! A couple of years ago, when I had taken Lady to the groomer, the owner was trying to interest me in a dog coat for Lady, our Maltese. She excitedly told me about the fashionable coats a lady makes and supplies to her shop.
Funny, I have sewn since I was a fourth grader and never even thought to make a coat for our own dog! As I looked at the coats she had, I realized the quality was not very good. If you sew, you know what I mean. Don't you always look at the seams and the way things are put together? Regardless of whether you like to iron or not, I believe it is imperative to iron everything as you sew and assemble a garment. It makes a huge difference in the final product.
That day, I went home and looked for inspiration on Pinterest. Several sites had free patterns for dog coats. I chose a site and made a copy of the pattern for a small dog. This pattern can be found here ►DIY Cozy Fleece Dog Coat. The fabric store also has patterns. When I found these on sale, I purchased a couple of those for future coats. The coats can easily be made in an afternoon.
Going through my fabric scraps I found a gray leopard print and some red velour knit fabrics. I think Lady looked pretty cute in these, but I decided the knit fabric did not lay as nicely or have as much body as I wanted it to have. A tab runs under her belly and that has Velcro on it, which holds nicely. The pattern called for the Velcro to hold the front together around her neck, but it came loose too easily.
I went to the fabric store and found some large snaps. One heavy duty snap sewn to the front tabs worked perfectly.
Yes, Lady is a pampered indoor pup. She does not like the cold or the heat. The little coats come in handy in the dead of winter.
In this picture, it is clear what the coat looks like laid out flat. You can see the big snap in the picture. To camouflage it completely, you can see a big sparkly button was added. The original pattern was without much style, so I added pockets. (My family laughed at me.) I added velvet bows on the pockets.
This houndstooth fabric was also in my scraps. I decided I wanted a quilted fabric to give the coat a little more body. There was some black satin in my scraps and I had some lightweight, fusible fabric lining. To make the quilted fabric, I cut a piece of fabric big enough for the collar and the body of the coat. Then cut the interfacing the same size and ironed it lightly onto the black fabric. Using the quilting guide attachment, I quilted a square pattern over the entire piece of black fabric.
Then it was just a matter of cutting out the pattern on the quilted fabric and the houndstooth. Before the fabric and the lining were sewn together, I made the pockets, lining them with the black quilted fabric, too.
The cut pieces of fabric and lining for the pockets were just sewn right sides together, leaving a small opening for turning. Then, they were turned right-side out and ironed flat.
To be sure where the pockets would look best, I laid the coat piece on Lady and marked where they should be. The little pocket was stitched onto the houndstooth fabric on three sides leaving the top open. The black bow was handstitched onto the pocket front.
Next, was just putting the right sides of the large pieces together, and leaving an opening for the collar, sewing around the rest of it. That was turned inside out and pressed. The same thing was done with the collar, leaving the bottom open, and then turning right side out, and pressing. The collar was then sewn to the body of the coat and the lining was blindstitched to the underside of the collar. I also stitched around the entire coat, close to the edge, which you can see in the picture.
Detailed instructions for this are on the Compulsive Craftiness. I just added some fashion details. Hopefully, this inspires you to make your own DIY Dog Coat! It's Easy To Make And Stylish, too!
