Isn't that what they say on the "big quilting blogs" when they talk about something outside of quilts (or in my case, art?). "Look ma, I'm just like the cool kids!" ;)
Anyway, I just wanted to show you this little winter jacket I made for Tyler 'cuz I think it's super cute - and as it's the first dog coat I've made I'm pretty chuffed with it!
Have you ever bought a winter coat for a dog? Me neither! lol But Tyler gets really cold, so when we first got him early last spring, we bought him a couple of sweaters and a rain coat. Thinking ahead, at the end of season sales, I bought Tyler a coat for this winter at slightly more than half off, and paid $25 for it. We got Tyler at the pound, and they told us he was two - four years old, so full grown, right?
Well no. This fall, one of his sweaters, his rain coat and his brand new, never worn winter coat, were all too small. By a LOT. We thought Tyler had a lot of "puppy behaviour" but didn't realize he was actually still a puppy. (We think now he's probably about 18 months old.)
Anyway - the new coats are out now, but cute as they are, at $50 - $100 there was just NO way I was spending that much money on a coat for a dog when there are so many families who can't afford coats for their children - and $100 would buy coats for two children. I decided I would donate the money for the dog coat to Sandy efforts and make my little prince a fine coat instead.
The red sweater pictured above which always a little too big for him, now fit him quite well, so I very carefully took it apart, and used it to make a pattern.
I had lots of wool scraps and had originally intended to use either a royal blue plaid or an emerald green plaid that I had, but when I saw this bright orange and turquoise plaid, I couldn't resist. (Who could resist an orange and turquoise plaid? [Likely, many people, but I'm not one of them!]) ;)
For the lining, I decided that fur would be just the thing for our boy - most of the winter coats we had seen had silky or were reversible with plastic-y waterproof linings and I thought those would be pretty cold at first. However, I had a lot of fur scraps which would prove just the thing. However, this "bear" fur was little too scratchy feeling...
And though these "chinchilla" and "ocelot" bits were beautifully soft, I didn't think they they went well with the plaid. However, I had almost enough black "fur" to do the trick, and I thought with some well considered additions, I could make it work.
A special consideration was the harness that Tyler wears - unlike a collar around the neck, his coat had to accommodate a harness whose leash attachment was halfway down his back. To do that, rather than "cut one on fold", I had to cut two pieces.
But I didn't like the resulting seam up the middle, so I had to make this little "placket" to cover it. And then, 'cause it seemed to need something more, I added the little pockets - one for a treat, one for a little baggie, and the little orange and yellow buttons for no reason other than cuteness.
I figured I wouldn't be able to make the sleeves the right size to accommodate the fur, so I made the sleeves with the same fabric as I made the front and back plackets and pockets out of - a scrap of cashmere/wool blend (this is one luxe coat!), but lined the sleeves with the same wool plaid and some cotton batting for warmth. But when you turn back the sleeves, the super cute lining shows!
What I hadn't considered was how much space the fur would take up, so when I tried it on Tyler, it was a bit tight. I alleviated that with a front placket, made out of that same wool/cashmere blend, and rather than use velcro as a closure like the original (which sometimes got caught on his fur); I used three sets of hooks and eyes.
The collar flips up and covers 3/4s of his head - wool on the inside of the collar...
And here it is flipped up on the outside - a nice fur trim.
Yesterday, it was 70 degrees and sunny*, so it's a little warm for Tyler to be wearing his coat just yet.
But I'm sure he'll look adorable when we finally get some snow!
*Yes, that IS unseasonably warm for Toronto in November - we broke a record with that temperature!
Global warming is here...
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