If you ask a guinea pig what she'd like to wear on a Saturday night, you probably won't get much response. Guinea pigs don't necessarily need clothing, but they are very sociable and enjoy handling and spending time with their human friends, so making simple clothing or costumes for a guinea pig is not only a great craft project, but it offers the opportunity for interaction and play with your little buddy.
Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- Felt
- Scissors
- Nontoxic paint
- Velcro
- Needle
- Thread
- Yarn
- Crochet hook
Instructions
A Holiday Vest
Measure your guinea pig using the measuring tape. Measure around your guinea pig's neck, and the distance between her front legs, from the top of her left front leg, across her back, to the top of her right front leg. Measure from her front legs around her chest in the same manner. Measure the distance from her neck to the top of her leg, and her neck to an inch or 2 above her tail. Note these measurements.
Choose your fabric. Felt is easy to work with, and you can fashion a cute holiday vest from red felt.
Measure out your felt according to the measurements you took in step 1. You'll want to make sure your front leg holes are positioned properly, and you have enough felt to wrap around your guinea pig's body with an inch overlap.
Cut your felt according to the measurements you took in step 3.
Cut a small piece of Velcro to close the vest. You'll need both pieces of the Velcro so it will attach.
Stitch one piece of Velcro on the top side of the fabric, and the other piece of the Velcro on the underside of the felt that overlaps. This should allow the vest to close properly.
Using the fabric paint, create snowflakes or tiny snowmen on your holiday vest.
For Chilly Days
Measure your guinea pig using the measuring tape. Measure around your guinea pig's neck, and the distance between her front legs, from the top of her left front leg, across her back, to the top of her right front leg. Measure from her front legs around her chest in the same manner. Measure the distance from her neck to the top of her leg, and her neck to an inch or 2 above her tail. Note these measurements.
Using your yarn and crochet hook, create one row of single crochet stitches equal to the measurements of your guinea pig's neck. Check this with your measuring tape.
Add another row of single crochet stitches to connect your first row together to create a neck opening. After you create your second row, add a third, but skip two stitches where you'll create each leg opening. You'll also need to skip two stitches in your fourth row, which should create an adequate opening for your guinea pig's legs.
Continue your single crochet until you've created enough rows to cover your guinea pig's body, ending approximately 2 inches above your guinea pig's tail. Make sure your yarn is tied off properly. Don't leave hanging threads that your guinea pig might want to chew.