Tuesday, October 10, 2017

How to make an easy skirt for your dog this Halloween

I'm not big on costumes, but there is something amusing about a dog in a puffy skirt (like a tutu).

So when I had to come up with a Tinker Bell, I knew I needed a skirt. But I couldn't find one in the stores, and I didn't want to buy one online.

Turns out making a skirt is pretty easy!




What you need:
  • Elastic band (I used a one-inch wide band)
  • Tulle fabric in the color or colors you desire. Tulle is a net-like fabric that you can find at Jo-Ann Fabrics or other fabric stores. (I needed two yards of tulle. You might need more or less, depending on the size of your pet. The fabric cutters can help you measure.)
  • Needle and thread (or sewing machine)
  • Fabric tape measure
  • Scissors
  • Pins

1) Measure your dog's waist. It's best to do this in the middle so you have good room for the skirt. Make sure the band is comfortably snug.

2) Next, measure the length from your dog's waist to the tail. This will be for the individual "petals" you're going to make.

3) Cut your elastic to size, giving yourself a little wiggle room in case you need to adjust.

4) Now, we stitched the band together first, but if you are worried you'll have to make a bigger adjustment, you can make until the end of. I found it easier to stitch the band first.

We used my sewing machine and stitched a zig zag stitch, going over it a couple of times so it holds tight. This is so the stitch won't break if I have to stretch the elastic. If you don't have a sewing machine, you can hand stitch it, just make sure it's definitely tight. A zig zag stitch is better for elastic.
* You could also glue it. But you need to make sure that glue is pretty strong. I don't think I trust it.

5) Next you are going to measure out and cut your tulle. Remember that length measurement you took? You want to take that size and double it. You're going to fold that length of fabric in half. Like below. If you fold your tulle right, you should have two pieces of folded over tulle like so:

Next, cut two-inch strips of tulle. We actually use a paper pattern for this, since I'm not exactly a neat cutter.

6) Once you cut your strips, you're going to tie them onto the elastic.


I believe this is called a Larks Head Knot. You're going to take your folded tulle strip, place the loop at the elastic, then take the two ends of the tulle and pull them through the loop so they wrap around the elastic.

Doing it this way will create two layers of petals.

7) As you're tying your tulle the elastic, make sure to push each strip tight and close. This will give it its puffy effect.

8) If you already stitched the elastic before adding the tulle, then put it on your dog and adjust accordingly (you may need to trim the tulle, particularly in the underside). If not, stitch the elastic together using a zig zag stitch and then make the adjustments.

I paired Lulu's skirt with a green Thundershirt and Tinker Bell wings! She had her tail up the whole time, so she liked it.








2 comments :

  1. Love this idea! Lulu makes a great Tinkerbell!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love Lulu's Tinker Bell costume. This looks so easy to make and you can adapt it well for different types of costumes. Thanks for sharing!

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