How-to: Dog Blanket

Last February, I posted a photo of the blanket coat I made for Abby from a military blanket. Now that winter is fast approaching, it seems that entry is coming up for a lot of people who are searching Google for dog coat patterns, or dog blankets for sale, especially for large breeds.

I've been meaning to write a how-to entry about making dog blankets for some time, and since I just made a new blanket for Abby before Halloween, I took step-by-step photos of the process, which have been saved to my computer ever since.

This past weekend we went to Washington, DC for the 25th anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Wall, and because it was cold and wet, Abby wore her blanket to that. I've had a lot of people stop and ask me where I'd gotten it and whether they can buy one / I will make them one, which reminded me that I really need to get this How-to up and running.

So here we go.


STEP ONE - Making the Pattern

I don't use any store-bought patterns for my dog blankets. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the main ones are that the dog "coats" they sell patterns for are often not that smartly designed or include useless features like hoods or collars; and that they don't tend to fit too well since they're generic sizes small through large rather than a custom fit.

To make your pattern, you will need:

1. A piece of scrap fabric that is long enough to cover your dog from chest to tail, and wide enough to cover your dog from spine to tummy. The color and material of the fabric don't matter. I'm using an old hospital sheet for this purpose. If you have no scrap fabric at home, you can buy old sheets at the thrift store for about $2, and they're great for this purpose and pattern-making in general.
   
   
2. A very sharp pair of scissors.
   
   
3. A brightly colored marker. You'll want a marker in a color that really stands out on the scrap fabric, and you'll want to use a felt-tip type marker because it requires no pressure to "draw" your outlines when creating the pattern.
   
   
4. A very patient dog - or a very patient human to hold your dog while you're drawing the outlines for your blanket pattern. You can work on this in very short increments, but it's always best if your dog knows "stand" and "still" commands, or if you can have someone to hold your dog in a standing position for a few minutes while you draft your outline.

Let's get to making our pattern.

You will want to work in a room where you have space to move around and lay down your pattern, especially if you're making one for a large breed dog. The room should be well lit, of course, so you can see what you're doing.

Have your dog stand normally (with someone holding him if there's need), and drape your scrap fabric across his back. The fabric should extend from the top of the tail (the very end of his back) to his shoulders, with enough fabric left in front to wrap around his chest. Don't pull the fabric over your dog's head - most dogs don't like that. Just bunch the extra fabric up at the shoulder for now.

Making sure your dog is standing straight, smooth the fabric out from his withers to his tail, and then trace his spine along the top line, marking the start and end. I use a + to mark the ends. That gives me a starting point for tracing the neckline and sides.

You should now have something that looks like this.


My next step is to start working on the outline for the neck and front closure. The way the blanket is designed, it will close at the front using Velcro and/or buckles, so I need a piece on either side of the chest to come around and meet in the center.

If you have a lot of fabric bunched up at the withers, cut about an inch above your "withers" mark and create a half neck hole. This will allow you to pull the fabric forward around your dog's chest to mark your chest piece. The side of your blanket should cover all of the dog's shoulder and most of the chest, similar to the way a horse blanket fits on a horse.

After you've done the front, now mark the blanket's bottom line from where it starts in front to where it ends at the tail. You will want to take your dog's build into account for this, as well as how much movement you want him to have in the blanket. Horse blankets, like the one pictured above, tend to hang very low, but a dog blanket should allow your dog to move freely. My design has a cut-out over the elbow to allow for easy movement.

What you have now should look something like this:


Now it's time to give your poor, patient dog a bit of a break. Take the pattern off your dog by grasping it at the withers and tail markings, so that your scrap fabric is folded in half at the top line (the dog's spine) that you marked in the first step. Place it flat on the ground or any other level surface, such as a table.

We'll work out the "kinks" in the design now. Most peoples' top line doesn't end up perfectly straight, but by folding the blanket in half between the withers and tail point, we're now creating a nice straight line. Adjust your outlines and lengths where you think it's needed, then cut out your pattern (while the fabric is still folded in half). Make sure you leave about 1" to 2" to the outside of your lines so that you can make adjustments after trying it on your dog.


Your pattern should now look something like the image above.

After cutting it out, bring your dog back into the room and ask him to stand still for one last fitting. Drape the pattern over your dog as if it were the finished blanket - place the withers at the dog's withers and see if the length of the blanket works out. Fold the front flaps over the chest to see if they match up or whether they are too long or too short. Adjust anything that needs to be adjusted.

Once your adjustments have been made and all the kinks have been worked out, cut out your final pattern and voilà - you now have a perfectly workable pattern for a dog blanket, sized and fitted custom to your dog!


STEP TWO - Creating your Blanket

Now that you have a custom blanket pattern for your dog, it's time to create the actual blanket. There are many, many ways in which you can be creative and unique in creating your own blanket - from different fabrics to different buckles and decorations on the blanket. I'm just going to walk you through the one I made - but I'd love to see the ones you guys come up with, too!

I wanted a fairly simple but very functional design for my blanket; and since she may be wearing it to recruiting events in the cold months, I also wanted it to look somewhat military. Determine what you will use your blanket for, then use that as a starting point when considering different types of materials.

To create your blanket, you will need:

1. Outer layer fabric in your choice of material, design, and color. The outer layer is what people will see when they look at your blanket. I am using a heavy-weight olive drab military wool blanket for my outer layer. The reasoning behind this is that wool is warm but breathable, and it's also good at repelling the elements.
   
   
2. Inner layer fabric in your choice of material, design, and color. The inner layer is what will come in contact with your dog's fur and skin. It's your "liner". I am using a very soft orange fleece from a $5 fleece blanket I bought at Big Lots. A soft fleece is a good choice in lining, especially with short-haired breeds, because it won't irritate their skin or make them itchy. I liked the orange because it's a really nice contrast to the olive drab outer.
   
   
3. Mid-layer fabric, if you want to add a third layer. Since you will not actually see this layer, the color doesn't matter. I chose to add a third layer between the inner and outer fabric to add an extra level of weather protection. My mid-layer consists of rip-stop nylon fabric, which is windproof.
   
   
4. Single-fold bias tape in your color of choice. Bias tape, also known as "edge binding", is sold at sewing stores in many varieties and colors. In my project, I am using single-fold black cotton bias tape - two packs of it, or about 6 yards with some left over.
   
   
5. Velcro - both the hook side and the smooth side - for the front closures and belly closures on the blanket. For most professional results, you should use a color of Velcro that matches the materials you're working with, or a neutral color such as black. In my project, I used some sage green and brown Velcro that I had left over from other projects, which doesn't look so great but if the blanket's on the dog, you don't see it anyway.
   
   
6. Nylon webbing in your color of choice. I am using approximately 3 yards of yellow 1" wide nylon webbing for my blanket. If you have a smaller dog, the 1/2" width may work better for you, and you'll need less. The webbing is used for the front and belly buckles. If you use just Velcro, the front tends to come undone on dog blankets when the dog is running.
   
   
7. Plastic 1-piece slide-release buckles. These are sold in various colors and widths, and any place that sells sewing supplies will have them individually or in sets of two. Make sure you get the correct size for the size webbing you're working with. This project requires three of them.
   
   
8. Thread. This is kind of a given, but I'm putting it into the list because I want to point out that much of our sewing will be top stitching. In other words, you will see much of the stitching on the finished blanket. That means, you can go in one of two directions - use a color that blends with the materials so you won't see the stitching unless you're up close (which is preferable if you're new to sewing), or use a contrasting color that will really stand out. If you sew gorgeous straight lines, contrasting top stitching is great. What you will see when the project is finished is the thread used to stitch down the webbing, as well as the edge binding.
   
   
9. Scissors.
   
   
10. Pins.
    
    
11. Sewing machine.
    
    
12. Cigarette lighter. This is used for melting the edges of your nylon webbing to keep them from fraying while you're working with them. Melting them down nicely after cutting can save you quite a bit of frustration.

You will want to gather all of your materials in a space that allows you to work without constantly loosing your tools or having to move things around. I tend to spread my fabrics out on the floor when I cut out patterns and pin them together because it allows me to have ample space to work. I still constantly loose my scissors underneath fabric, though.

Well, let's get started!

First, we will need to use our pattern to cut our fabrics to the right shape. There are two ways you can do this. You can lay the pattern flat onto a single layer of fabric, or you can fold the fabric in half along what will be the top line, and cut two layers at once. Either way, pin the pattern in place securely to save you from a lot of frustration in the cutting process.

If you do it this second way, which is what I'm doing in the image below, make sure you DO NOT cut the top line that will lay along the dog's spine. That should stay one solid piece.

Please make sure you're cutting the correct side of the fabric, too, especially if you work with fabrics that have a right side and a wrong side. When in doubt, lay everything out the way you would put it together and see if it looks right. If it doesn't, it probably isn't!


You may notice that I have changed my pattern before starting to put it out. I've added a chest piece to the bottom of the blanket, which will wrap around my dog's chest and secure to the inside of the blanket on the other side. This helps keep the parts that need it the most, her core, nice and warm. If you want to make changes to your pattern, make them before you start cutting your materials.

Once you have cut all of your fabrics, you get this...


At this point, I took my outer layer and attached the Velcro that will go underneath her belly as well as one of the Velcro closures for the front. Then I took the inside layer and attached the opposite side of the Velcro for the belly band and for the front to that. The reason I'm doing this prior to assembling the three pieces is that I don't want that stitching to go all the way through the layers in the finished product ... I want them to be hidden. You don't have to do it this way, but it looks nicer when it's finished.

Let me stress again that if you're unsure where anything goes, especially when it comes to attaching the Velcro, put it together. Try it on your dog if you need to get a visual picture. Taking this extra time saves you from having to remove it and redo it later.

Now that all the Velcro is attached and the pieces are lined up the way they'll be put together, you'll want to securely pin all three layers in place. Since there'll be a lot of "loose" fabric in the center of the blanket at this point, you can also pin it along the spine which will help it be more secure while you're sewing.

(In case anyone is wondering, I added a dart at the lower spine to account for the way my German Shepherd's back slopes. This will give the top line of the blanket a slight curve at the croup. All three pieces had the dart added before assembly.)


With everything pinned securely in place, we'll now get to do some actual assembly on the sewing machine. We'll be sewing the three pieces together into one blanket. You'll want to seam the three pieces using a plain old straight stitch, following closely along the edge. The color of your thread doesn't matter in this step because we'll be covering the edge with bias tape for a nice, professional-looking finish later on. This step mainly serves to hold everything in place before we finish it up nicely.


After stitching everything in place, lay your blanket flat again. Now it is time to lay everything out for the final steps of our project. We're going to be finishing the blanket with bias tape ("edge binding") along the edges.

If you have never worked with bias tape before, lay it out in front of you first. The single-fold kind has a fold that is slightly off-center. The larger side should go on the underside of your blanket and the shorter side on the top. Pin one end in place and then follow the blanket outline, pinning the bias tape in place as you go. Make sure to make nice "corners" where there are 90 degree angles.

At this point we'll also add the two chest straps since they are secured under the bias tape I'm using along the top line. There are two reasons I'm putting bias tape along the top line. Well, three if you want to be technical. It looks nice; it secures the three layers of fabric at the top; and it anchors my webbing.

In this case, I'm anchoring the "long" straps on the right side of the blanket at the top line, and the short ones on the left where the belly band starts. If you want both sides to have two web straps, use two long pieces and sew the center down with the bias tape. Oh, and the non-adjustable side of the slide-release buckle needs to be attached to the webbing before it's sewn down!

If you anchor webbing this way, it must be in place before you start sewing down your bias tape or you will hate yourself forever when you have to undo it all to fix it!


When you have the bias tape pinned into place, it will look very messy and unfinished like in the photo above. Don't worry about this. It'll look nice once you've sewn it all down. I used a double seam for this since the bias tape is pretty wide. An "outer" seam that follows the outline of the blanket, and an "inner" seam that follows the inner edge of the bias tape.

Once that's all said and done, the only thing left to do is finishing up your webbing. In our case, that means attaching the nylon web to the front of the coat for the chest closure, and adding the buckles. To add nylon web to the blanket without an anchor such as the bias tape, fold the end of the web under and pin it in place, then stitch it securely to the blanket. That gives a very nice finish.

When everything is in place, your final result will look something like this. (In my case, the adjustable ends of the nylon webbing are held securely in place with electrical tape. It's always a good idea to secure them somehow because they can and will slip if wet.)

Top / Outside View:


Bottom / Underside View:


For good measure, here's a photo of Abby wearing her blanket coat at this past weekend's anniversary of the Vietnam Wall. (I'll write more about the photo I cropped this from at a later point in time since it warrants its own entry.)


And there you have it, one dog blanket.

I'm actually planning to turn Abby's blanket into a patch blanket.

A patch blanket, or patch quilt, is originally a scouting tradition. Scouts would take the patches from all the events they attended and sew them onto a blanket as a keepsake of their time in scouting. There's a very impressive patch blanket in the New Jersey Scout Museum (scroll about halfway down that page to see it).

The concept here is the same, except that the patches won't be from scouting events, they'll be from events we go to with Abby and from groups or agencies we work with. This weekend we actually got our first patch for Abby's patch blanket - we were given a (reproduction) Vietnam-era Sentry Dog School patch.