sewing projects

 Something a little different today. The lockdown projects that have kept me busy and stopped me from going insane.  I got my sewing machine out a few months ago and I have been pretty busy making a variety of things. First thing on my list of projects were face masks for the family and  a couple of friends. Then 100 mask extenders for the NHS. 

Hubby was looking at dog coats online with a view to buying one for our dog, who is a real mud magnet, but the prices were ridiculous. They didn't cover much of the under carriage. So I decided to make her some coats as we were experiencing some really wet weather and the dog was coming home wet, cold and plastered in mud. She was needing a bath every time she went out. I think we got to a point where the dog was having more showers than we were.

 The coat she is wearing here, is her dry but cold weather coat. As you can see, she has managed to get muddy feet and legs even on a cold dry day.

To make this coat I downloaded  Martha Stewart's  small dog coat pattern and adapted it to fit our springer. It needed to be 6 inches longer to cover her butt. I also put a couple of darts in the bottom to make it curve round her bum. 

 I needed to make it wider and lengthen  the bellyband to cover as much of her undercarriage as possible. Taking care not to make it too restrictive or uncomfortable. 

I  put a couple of darts along the neck line to pull it in close around the neck. 

This coat was made from a coated cotton which has been in my fabric stash for years. it was a remnant so it only cost one or two pounds. The coat has a quilted lining, which I cut out of my old work coat. So she stays warm when it's cold, and it has been really cold of late. 

She now has two  hi vis coats which I made from my old hi vis work coat, one is for warm wet weather and that has a light weight lining, and one is for cold and wet weather which is lined with one of hubby's old  work sweatshirts.  

I used Kam snaps rather than velcro on the neck strap and on the undercarriage band so if she ever got caught up on anything the snaps will pop open.  

She has a total of three coats and I didn't have to spend a penny to make them. What's even more satisfying is she likes wearing them and she only needs to have her legs and part of her undercarriage washed when she gets home.