Homemade Dog Raincoat

A homemade dog raincoat is a snap to make!

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Rain or Fine Dogs Must be Taken for T...




We've used the homemade dog raincoat I made for Comet during the past three years and it has held up well.

It saved us quite some time toweling him dry when we were caught in Florida's deluges, and prevented him from catching cold this past winter when we moved to a much colder area.

Note that the pattern for this waterproof dog coat was modified from the one created by Ruth Morrison of Oklahoma.

You will need to reference it to follow the instructions below. Click here for her article, which ran in the Sept/Oct 2006 issue of Handwoven magazine for weavers. Note that this is a .pdf file.

Keep in mind that you can make this dog raincoat with either a fixed or removable hood, or leave it off altogether.

HOMEMADE DOG RAINCOAT



Comet as "Little Blue Riding Hood."

MATERIALS
  • Vinyl upholstery cloth or a suitable waterproof cloth
  • Length = Length of your dog from head to base of tail
  • Width = circumference of your dog from the neck down to behind the front legs and back up to your starting spot
  • Scissors for cutting cloth
  • A black marker or other fabric pen for marking cloth
  • Velcro, 1-2 inches (25-50mm) wide; 14 inches (355mm) long
  • Needle and thread to match the outside of the cloth
TIME AND COST
  • Two to three hours
  • Cost to be determined (we used leftover items from other projects)
MEASURING AND DRAWING FOR THE COAT

  • Measure from between your dog's shoulder blades to the top of the breastbone
  • Measure along the dog's back from the collar to the base of the tail
  • Adapt your dog's measurements to the pattern: each square is 1x1 inches (25x25mm)
  • Comet's were easy, being exactly twice the inches shown
  • Draw the grid on the underside of your cloth with a marking pen
  • Transfer the design to your grid, block by block

You should now have a fairly close copy of the pattern on your cloth to make a doggie raincoat

CUTTING OUT AND FITTING THE COAT

  • Cut out the design
  • Have your dog stand, using a helper if need be
  • Place the cut out design on your dog
  • Fold the flaps the way they will be when fastened and use tape to hold them
  • Note any adjustments that need to be made with your marker
  • Do any additional cutting needed
  • Note: The chest plate did not appear to be necessary for Comet so we cut that part off
  • Fold the edges of your material over and sew a 1/4 inch (6mm) seam all the way around
ADDING VELCRO TO THE COAT

  • We cut pieces of Velcro 2 inches (50mm) long and trimmed the corners to make oblongs
  • Feel free to cut your Velcro patches the size and shape you want
  • Attach one half of each patch in the places shown, either from the photos or the paper pattern
  • Sew them on, even if the Velcro is self-adhesive
  • Pin the other half of the Velcro patches in the proper places and try them out. Sew them on once you're sure of correct placement
Well, that's the first part of the homemade dog raincoat. Here's the final touch:

ADDING A COLLAR OR HOOD

  • There's one more step to making a homemade dog raincoat and that is to add a collar or hood
  • For the collar, copy the paper pattern, adapting the size to your dog's measurements
  • Hem the edge, then either sew the collar onto the coat body, wrong sides together, or add Velcro (See * below)
  • For the hood, copy the design from the photo or make up your own design
  • Hem all the way around
*Applying Velcro:
  • Apply Velcro in three places, on both the wrong side of the coat body and the hood
  • Apply Velcro on the right side if it blends in nicely with the vinyl. Our Velcro was a dirty yellow so we hid it on the wrong side

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