Dog jacket tutorial

I have made my dogs some dog jackets lately and was asked for the pattern, since all dogs are different sizes that is difficult to do, but I am going to do a tutorial showing how I did it.

This is the pattern for my medium sized dog Henry the Cockapoo, I have laid it on my cutting mat folded in half and lined up with the inch marks so that you can copy the pattern onto a grid if you would like to try this:


And this is the pattern for my small Maltipoo Ebony again it is folded in half and lined up on the inch grid so you can copy it if you would like to:


Once you have created a paper pattern you can lay it over your dog to determine if you need to enlarge the pattern or decrease the size to suit your own dog.

Then you need a piece of fabric and some batting. Any scrappy patchwork or UFO you no longer want will do fine for this or you can take the time to create a patchwork design that suits your dogs personality.

  1. Spray baste the top to the batting
  2. Lay the pattern on top and cut out the pattern shape from both the top and batting layers:





3. Quilt the two layers as desired, I have done a simple straight line diagonal crosshatch with this one.




4.  Use the pattern to cut out a piece of lining, I have used a piece of flannel because it is soft and warm for my dog:


5.  Lay the quilted top and lining right sides together and pin leaving an 8 inch opening at the rear. Stitch a 1/4 inch from the edge. (I stitch around here twice just to be sure it'll hold up to doggy wear and tear)


 6. Snip the point at the neckline being careful not to snip the sewing line


7. Snip the curved seams allowances the same way about 1/4 inch apart the entire way around each curve


8. Turn the jacket right side out by pulling it through the 8 inch opening you have left at the rear of the jacket. The snipping will ensure that the seams will sit flat once we turn the jacket right side out.



9. Iron the jacket taking care to flatten out the seams at the edge and folding the seam allowances at the opening inward ready to sew:




10. Top stitch 1/4 inch from the edge of the jacket all the way around being sure to add a 3 inch long piece of wide elastic to one curved side of the jacket neckline (reversing several times to secure the elastic in place):


This picture shows placement of the elastic




11. I have cut a 30 inch piece of strapping and placed it as shown, with only a small amount of overhang on one end. You will need to measure around your dog to ensure that this length gives you the diameter of the dogs tummy plus at least 6 to 8 inches of overlap!


12. Pin a 6 inch long piece of soft velcro lined up with the edge of the jacket, stitch the strapping and velcro to all layers of the jacket:




Be sure to reverse several times at each end of the velcro to secure it:



13. Stitch the 6 inch long piece of hard velcro the the other end of the strapping about a 1/2 inch from the end:


14. Stitch the other end of the elastic to the other side of the neckline (this can be a little tricky):



15. Then carefully use a flame to singe the end of the strapping to stop it fraying


Like anything we create the sky is the limit in terms of design possibilities, I intend to make some seasonal jackets:

  • Christmas
  • Halloween
  • Thanksgiving
  • 4th July
  • Australia Day
But so far I have just been playing with scraps to perfect the pattern:


Ebony in pink squares and stripes

Henry in scrappy squares


The two dogs modeling different variations
Ebony modelling her scrappy stripes version
Ebony's scrappy stripes was done as a quilt as you go project. In this case I cut the batting first then applied the strips one at a time. This was faster than making a separate piece of patchwork and then quilting it, so you may want to try this some time too.



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