Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Little Fleece Coat for a Pup

I actually made this little doggie coat a little over a month ago and never posted about it.
I know, all you people who are shaking their heads right now. "Who puts clothes on their dog?" I used to think the same way you did. That was until my family got a small dog.
We had a medium sized French Bassett hound named Lucy during my growing up years. A hound dog, especially a sedentary breed such as the Bassett, is not the kind of dog you would think of needing to put clothes on. Lucy had a thick, almost oily water resistant double coat, as many hunting breeds do. Plus, Bassetts spend a majority of their time sleeping, and don't need much exercise to regulate their metabolism, so there wasn't as much need for added warmth for going on walks.
More recently, as we had to become used to the needs of our Yorkshire terrier Sprinkles, I have come to understand the utilitarian necessity of a warm jacket for some breeds. Many small dogs just don't have the body fat to stay warm on their own when outdoors. In addition, Yorkies don't have a thick double coat like many larger breeds do, and in fact have fine hair instead of coarse fur. So in order for little Sprinkles to stay warm during a wet-and-windy Washington winter walk (Alliteration! KA-BLAM![Who else remembers the show "Ka-Blam!"?]) she really does need a coat. Anyone who has ever tried to shop for a decently warm dog coat has, like me, experienced some serious sticker-shock. I decided I would just make one myself.
Enter Butterick 4885:
This pattern has a variety of cute, tailored features in a range of sizes. Most importantly, the pattern includes an option for a hood.
I finally decided to sew it up in a low pile fleece, and doubled it up by using the same as the lining.
I selected view C, minus the pockets and substituting the hood from version B instead of the fold-back collar.
Here is the result:
The hood ended up a little big. In fact, it totally covers up Sprinkles head when it is up, so, yeah, not useable. However, it looks really cute and overall the coat is nice and warm. I would make it again, with some adjustments to the hood.
What do you think? Have you ever sewn anything for a pet?




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