Doggy vest (sewing)

I'll be honest, when I see pets, especially dogs, dressed walking down the street, it makes me laugh by how silly this looks. As a fellow dog owner, I should have seen a different meaning behind that kind of behavior. It is simple love and care for the pet in cold winter days. To make clear, I don't approve it if a pet wears it at 10 degrees Celsius, its fur should be enough for that, unless it is hairless animal or so. Minus 10 degrees Celsius is big difference and all we owners want is comfort for our pets when we take them for a walk or snowy playground.

For me, I had an idea to make one vest for my furry darling for a while now, ever since I started sewing. I wasn't confident if I can make it and actually had no idea how to even start and make it the right fit. I also doubted if my darling would be ready to cooperate in this project. My doubts were actually meaningless. Some of you saw my video on Facebook and know when I say that he was more than a good boy.

I had piece of sweater among my fabric storage that didn't fit anyone of us anymore. I knew it should be enough for him. So I put it over him and started measuring where I want the vest to be, marked with clips and needles. The boy was so calm I can't believe it. Once I made changes, I called him again and again like six times or more for new measurements.

Once I had basic idea how it should look like, where holes for front legs are, I took another, thinner fabric and made same piece that would be for the inner side. At that point I thought also how would the piece hold on him and searched through my zippers for one that seperates. Perfect.

I alligned the inner and outside parts together with right sides, added also zipper to it then sewn it all together except the leg holes through which I was able to turn the whole piece right side out. I did more measuring, changed leg holes a bit then sewn them as well (inner and outer side together). Lastly I stitched all around on the body piece when it was turned right side out and corners nicely poked out.

I had small problem with neck part. It became too wide and hung weirdly. Fixed that by inserting elastic on his neckline. Perfect, I love it! He can feel warm now when we are outside, he can pee and all without staining the vest as well. It turned out better than I thought. Again my worries were for nothing. Below is my model again, posing for me.

Anny