How to Make Homemade Dog Clothes

To start things off, get the basic measurements of your pet. You want to measure across their shoulders, the length of the dog and around their waist primarily, and also the length of their legs if you plan on adding sleeves to your dog clothes. Write these measurements down, so you always have them on hand when making dog clothes in the future.

With your measurements in place, create a pattern for yourself. Lay your fabric flat, and with a pencil, lightly mark the pattern with the various measurements. Starting at the top, place a horizontal line that measures the same as the dog's neck, measure across for the shoulders, gently marking the place on either side (what would be the edge of the garment), and do the same for the waist. To start you might want to go sleeveless for your dog, and work up to that later. Cut out your pattern. If the pup is handy, you can try this on to make sure it fits correctly. It should go onto the animal like a jacket, which is easiest for you and the most comfortable for your dog. Make sure there is room for the animal to breathe, but also make sure it's fitted enough that it doesn't cause your dog to trip.

Now that you have your pattern, you can either repeat that process every time you make clothes for your dog, or you can save this pattern to use for future projects. After you have the base of the garment ready to go, you can work to make it as simple or as eclectic as you want. While fabric stores are a fantastic place to get your materials, also consider scrapbooking stores. They often stock many dog-related goodies, some of which will work for your dog clothes. These details will make your dog clothes special. You can sew on details by hand (since it's a fairly small job) or with a sewing machine, if you have one.

Don't go too crazy with details. You want the dog clothes to be cute, but you don't want to put anything on them that could potentially harm your pet. Iron-on designs are a good idea, as is trim that lays flat such as ribbon or ric-rac. Buttons are optional, and really it depends on the animal. Some dogs must discover everything new, and some just let things be. Snaps are a good substitute for buttons, and also make it quick to get the garment on and off the dog for you. Place the snaps down the center of the garment. Applying these will have to be done by machine to make sure they're absolutely secure. This jacket style of dog clothing is simple to make and also easy for your pet to wear, without the torture of putting on complicated pieces.

While the above is the easiest and fastest way for a novice to start, if you have knitting skills, be sure to lend them to your dog clothes. You can even merge the two techniques, creating knit sleeves to attach to your base pattern, or adding a "skirt" to the end of the garment.