Every dog who has short hair and no double or undercoat should have a snuggly fleece jacket to wear, especially if winter temperatures get frigid where you live. Pet supply stores and online merchants have an abundance of high-fashion clothing for dogs, but you can make a simple fleece coat for your pooch, and you don't even have to be an accomplished seamstress. Using your dog's measurements, it's easy to give it a custom fit.
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One Easy Piece
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An easy-to-make fleece coat for your dog won't have numerous pattern pieces. The most simple coat can be made with a one-piece pattern that is pinned onto folded fleece material. It's long enough to cover your pup's back from the base of his neck to the base of his tail, and curves down slightly at the front to accommodate his neck. The pattern also tapers down approximately one-third of the way back from the front into a strip that's two inches wide. This piece will wrap under your dog's chest to help hold the coat on his back. You'll just pin the pattern to the material so that the edge that runs down your dog's back is right on the fold, then cut it out.
Customize the Fit
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Custom-fitting a coat for your dog might sound like a job for a professional, but it's one of the easiest aspects of working with a simple pattern. Just get your pooch's measurements: the length of his back from the base of his neck to the base of his tail; behind his front legs around his chest; and around his neck. The chest and neck measurements will be cut in half since your pattern piece fits on the fold of the material to create a doubled piece once you've cut it out. By using your dog's own unique measurements, you'll ensure a perfect fit every time.
Fleece Means No Finishing
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If you were going to make a coat for your dog out of cotton, canvas or even knit you'd have some hemming to do because all of those types of material will unravel if you don't finish the edges. Fleece is a fabric that doesn't have the unraveling problems that the other materials do so you won't have to spend time finishing the edges of your dog's coat, another aspect that makes fleece coats easy to make.
Minimal Extras
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If you want to stick with simple and easy, you won't need to embellish your dog's fleece coat with extras. No zippers, no buttons, no epaulets -- just a strip of Velcro at the neck opening and on the piece that wraps around his chest will hold your pup's parka in place. If you use self-adhesive Velcro, you'll only have to remove the adhesive's backing and press it to the appropriate positions on the coat. However, the Velcro will be less likely to come loose if you stitch it to the fabric once it's in place, either by hand with a needle and thread or with a sewing machine. Of course, you can feel free to sew on patches, trim and other decoration if you have the time and the inclination.
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