[Dailydrool] More on dog suits

[Esther Strom]

Val, I'd love to see a photo. Basil uses a belly band right now, but I'm
interested in making one of these. I think I understand the pattern, but a
photo would help.

Thanks,

Esther


On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 8:22 PM, Valerie <vlbzwick at yahoo.com> wrote:

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> I have now made six sets of "dog pajamas" for Bo. these are all one piece
> suits that zip along the spine, covering all but the dog's head, four legs,
> and tail. I put Poise incontinent pads in the crotch, and they are working
> perfectly and seem quitE comfy. It's been a trial and error process and
> each suit has worked better than the last.
>
> I started out using boy's hoodie sweatshirts (size 16 for Bo, who is a
> fairly small Basset: 23" spine, 50 lbs. weight); but have moved on to
> altering women's size XXS track suit jackets. I've made one suit for Diane
> Emerich,s Annabelle and one for Bev Szaton,s Nigel. Annabelle's suit fit
> well. Nigel's was way too big and didn't fit at all. I'm giving a second
> try to Nigel's suit.
>
> And I have some news to share--for the non-sewers among you, if you would
> like one of these suits, Jennifer Martin (Browyn the Fairy Princess) is
> going to streamline the design and start offering them custom-made on
> Etsy.com.
>
> For the seamstresses among you, I wanted to share how to make them.
> Measure your dog in four places. 1. Top of shoulders to base of tail along
> the spine. 2. around the dog just behind the shoulders over the rib cage
> and under the dog up to the starting point. 3. a second girt h measurement
> just in front of the tail around the dog's hips then under the belly just
> in front of the back legs up the other side to the starting point. and, 4.
> last, from the middle to the dog's chest along its side to the middle of
> the rump.
>
> Now go to your local discount clothing store with a tape measure. Look for
> sweatshirts or track jackets that zip Totally open. the length of the
> zipper should equal the length along the spine.
>
> Next check to make sure there is enough girth. Measure the width of the
> shirt. It should be half of your dog's girth (and will in most cases be
> larger, but don't worry aboUt his). buy the shirt and take it home.
>
> to make the suit, first cut the sleeves off the jacket at the seam at the
> shoulder. cut outside the seam and you won't have to finish the armholes.
> set the sleeves aside for later use.
>
> zip up the jacket and lay it on its side so that the zipper is at the very
> top and all the fabric is below it. Measure from the zipper to the "belly".
> this measurement at the front of the garment should should be half of
> measurement 2. as described above, at the front/neck of the jacket. and it
> should be half of measurement 3. as described above, from the bottom of the
> zipper to the bottom of the shirt (the back.)Believe it or not, the XXS
> women's jacket is exactly right for Bo. (28" front, 32" back), He is an odd
> shape--pot-bellied and low hanging. Many bassets will be straight across
> and measurements 2 and 3 will be the same. for dogs tucked in at the waist,
> measurement 2 will exceed measurement 3. That's why you need both
> measurements for a good fit.
>
> But if your jacket is not exactly right, and this will almost certainly be
> the case if your basset is long and large, fold the excess fabric inside
> the suit at the bottom edge to get the measurements correct, front and
> back.Nigel needed a men's 2x jacket to get a long enough zipper, so there
> was way too much girth and I needed to fold in a few inches worth. Sew a
> seam where you have tucked in the fabric so that the girth is correct front
> and back. You can cut off the excess on the interior of the suit if you
> like. I just sewed it down. My sewing style is kind of Frankendog.
>
> Now you are ready to do the back section. take the two sleeves that you
> have cut off. Make a capital "T" out of them, with the sleeves
> perpendicular to one another. The finished end of one sleeve meeting the
> middle top bar of the other. sew them together at the T bar. Yes, I know,
> they are both double thick. That is fine. It will give the back more heft.
> I sewed a square so all sides of the intersection were sewn down.
>
> Now you are going to attach the T to the rear end of the sweatshirt (where
> the zipper starts). Zip up the jacket again. And lay it on its side again
> with the zipper running along the top edge. Pin one side of the top T-bar
> about 3/4 of an inch below the zipper start so that the T bar is
> perpendicular to the sweatshirt back edge and parallel to the zipper. Pin
> the other side of the Tbar to the other hip. this is going to be the rear
> end of the suit. Measure from chest to the middle of the T stem. this is
> measurement 4. Adjust the T until the suit is the right length. In my
> suits, only about an inch of the Tbar on each side was showing when I had
> the Tbar correctly positioned. sew the sides of the Tbars to the hips where
> pinned.
>
> there is a lot of the T stem just hanging down at the back. zip your suit
> up again and lay it on its side again. Take the stem of the T and bring it
> straight down, curving it at the bottom to tuck into the bottom middle of
> the suit. Think thong. Sew it in place on the underside of the suit so that
> what you have created is basically a sleeveless zip-up shirt with a thong
> attached on the back. (Or a slightly tailored sack that zips along the
> spine with neck and leg holes in the front and slits towards the back for
> rear legs and the tail sticks out between the top of the thong and the
> beginning of the zipper.
>
> To use the suit, put incontinence pads in the crotch, position dog over
> suit (remembering that it zips tail to neck), put dog's legs through leg
> holes, pull up sides and zip.
>
> anyone who wants to see a photo, email me. I plan to have my husband take
> one in the next few days. and remember--Jennifer Martin, once her foot
> heals, plans to make an improved version of these.
>
> Semper fido. Val and Bo, CIC PBF and problem-child-in-chief, looking very
> dapper these days
>
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