How to Make a Dog Coat in "Ruffly" an Hour

The houndstooth sweater knit adventures continue -- now for actual hounds!   (I mean chihuahuas.)

I wanted to make a coat like this old acrylic one that Willy has outgrown, only a crewneck rather than a turtleneck.



First, I measured Willy.  I knew I'd need the coat to be approximately 12" long and 12" around.  I stitched my fabric edges right sides together to make a tube, serged the seam allowance, and turned the tube right side out.





Next, I added a neckband 1-2" narrower than the tube opening and stitched it (and then serged just past the seam allowance like I did for my sweaters) to one end of the tube.  I tried it on Willy to make sure it fit.



I cut two holes for his front legs a few inches below the neckband.  Then I cut and stitched my leg bands.



All the bands for these sweaters are, of course, two layers (each piece is folded in half).  I stitched them into the holes and then serged just past the seam allowance.





Using the blue knit coat as my guide, I cut a U-shaped piece out of the underside of the coat, just below the leg holes, and trimmed the top outer edges to make them curve smoothly.  I then tried the coat on Willy again.





Finally, I cut a narrow waistband and attached it to this curved outer edge and the U-shape below his chest.  The band is slightly taut to hold it over the edge of his hind legs.  As you can see, it leaves plenty of room for him to pee.



The fit is good, Willy seems very comfortable wearing it, and the cuteness factor is high.  What more can you ask?





Willy even wore it on this afternoon's walk!





How fortunate that, like me, Willy is a summer.

Have a great day, everybody!