Even More Crochet Projects

I crocheted a different style of beanie.  I was following a pattern for a cloche, but it was too short and too small, so I customized it to be another beanie that fits my head.

I decided to turn my piles of granny squares into vests.  I made the first one from a picture I saw on the Internet, but I somehow spaced out on the number of rows I needed and made it way too wide.  It's more of a shawl with arm holes now.

For the second vest, I used up the squares to lengthen it.  It fits much better.

I tried to follow a pattern for a dog coat that was online but struggled to comprehend the directions and ended up just making it my way.  Xander immediately tried to chew through it to get out of it, so I'll have to wait until he is more mature and has all of his adult teeth before letting him wear it unsupervised.

This was my first crocheted dog coat.  I normally make them out of quilting fabric and batting with a third layer of flannel on the inside.  I have to choose bright neon colors so that I can find the dogs when they wander off into the woods.

Xander's first fabric coat had a fake sheepskin fabric on the inside so that I could skip using batting and flannel.  He loves to rip stuffing out of stuffed animals, and I didn't want him ripping the batting out of his new coat.  Unfortunately, he figured out that the other dogs have stuffing in their coats, so he's been undressing the other dogs and shredding their coats.  His baby teeth are razor sharp so all it takes it one solid bite and whatever he bit into is destroyed.  So, I have to train him to leave the coats alone before I can make replacements.

I also tried my hand at making slippers.  I followed a YouTube video and was disappointed that the sides of the slippers were so low.  The slippers were more like toe warmers, so I added my own custom design to get a little more warmth and turn them into booties.  They can be worn three different ways.

I used "baby Bee" soft & snuggly Splish-Splash yarn from Hobby Lobby and it was a delight to work with.  So far, the majority of my projects have been with acrylic yarn.  I love how soft this yarn is and that the hook slides easily through the loops.  This yarn is designed more like a pipe cleaner, so there are no smaller twined strands to get caught up on.  Of course, the first night I wore these slippers to bed, the puppy got under the covers and tried to shred them right off my feet.  I have to keep reminding myself that the pleasure is in the process and not the finished product.

Neo Gets a Jacket

Of course, most jackets only go down to the waist, but I figure that dogs' butts get cold too.  Amazingly, they don't pee or poop on the fabric because they lift their legs and tails when they do their business, which moves the fabric out of the way. 

I managed to put Neo's jacket together in a couple of hours.  I took his measurements and did some calculations, but I miscalculated how much fabric I'd need for the hem, so this jacket is a bit big.  I had to add more Velcro to the straps to wrap them tighter.  Oh well, at least he's got room to grow into it.  When I made a jacket for Stewie when he was around Neo's age, he immediately grew out of it and I had to make another one.

I picked out a couple of fabrics and laid them on the floor.  I asked Neo which one he liked, and he stood on this fabric.  I didn't even realize it, but both Neo and Stewie's jackets have butterflies on them.  I think they are both Hoffman fabrics.  I've been saving them for quilting, but I came to the realization one day that even if I lived to be 100, there wouldn't be enough days left in my life for me to make quilts out of all of the fabrics in my stash, so I may as well use them for other projects as they arise.

Small Dog Coat

A couple of years ago I ordered a custom dog jacket for my Chihuahua/Min Pin mix through an Etsy store.  Stewie wore it for two winters and it has served us well.  Recently, I saw a pattern for a dog coat and bought it to see if I could make a new one for him myself.  The pattern I used was Simplicity 1239.  The examples are super cute, such as a dog coat made to look like a football and a camouflage dog coat with pockets or saddle bags on the sides... 

Any time that I sew, my goal is to use my existing fabric stash, because I'm pretty sure that even if I lived another 50 years, I wouldn't have enough time to make something out of all that fabric I've bought, washed, and stashed throughout my lifetime believing that "some day" I will make something with it.  After perusing my shelf full of dusty fabrics, I decided to make my dog look like a butterfly...

And I found some bright colored flannel to line the inside of the coat.  The colors match!

My only issue with Stewie's first coat was that it was too short and didn't cover his bum, so I made sure that this coat did that.  Still, I probably could have made it even longer...

I followed the pattern exactly, but the neck turned out to be too tight, and the material is constricting in the shoulders, so I'm going to make some adjustments on the pattern that include the following:

1.  Larger, deeper neckline.
2.  Less hang over the shoulders.
3.  Longer from neck to tail.
4.  Longer straps at both the neck and belly.

It's hard to see, but I sewed a D-ring onto the back to hook a leash up to.  I had fun making this.  It's quick and easy.  I think if I get really good at it and feel confident adjusting patterns to custom measurements, I might open my own Etsy shop selling these creations.  Of course, right now is not the season for it, so I've still got a few months to practice.  I'll also have to find some creations to make and sell that aren't dependent upon it being cold outside.