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Fleece Dog Sweater

I made this pull-on sweater for my dog to wear while laying around camp after a wet day of hiking. The design features a band collar (mock turtleneck type), large leg holes for free movement, and a shirt tail to cover the rump. Although the pattern can be scaled to fit your dog and fleece is stretchy, the tube-type construction of this sweater makes it hard to put on and take off of large dogs. This pattern is more suited to medium-sized and smaller dogs. For larger dogs, I suggest using a coat-style pattern that lays like a blanket across the back and closes with straps under the tummy and across the chest. Look in Other Resources for such a pattern. Many of the sweaters for greyhounds have this type of construction. Size: This pattern fits a 40 lb short-haired female mixed breed with

Neck circumference: 17" Girth at chest: 27" Waist circumference: 21" Body length (collar to tail): 24" Chest width (shoulder to shoulder): 5"

Materials:

1 yard of polyester fleece material, 200 weight thread to match Optional: matching or contrasting lycra material for binding

Cut: One of each pattern piece Instructions: (seam allowance is 1/4" for a plain seam or 1/2" for a top-stitched seam)

With right sides together, stitch BACK shoulders AB to CHEST shoulders AB. Match BACK side CD to CHEST side CD and sew right sides together. Repeat 1st and 2nd steps for the other side of the sweater. With right sides together, fold COLLAR crosswise and sew ends EF together. Turn COLLAR to right side. With the right side out, fold COLLAR to match raw edges. Match COLLAR out side to sweater body right side and sew together. Finish the sweater with either a 1/4" or 1/2" hem or a lycra binding.

Suggestions:

If you are making this sweater for a male dog, you may want to make the curve deeper on the tail end of the pattern to expose more of the tummy area.

Pattern Pieces:

Seam allowances are NOT included. Grid Scale: 1 square = 1 inch BACK

CHEST

COLLAR

Traditional Terry Cloth Cool Coat

This is the traditional cool coat made out of an old towel. It's best to use the cheap towels rather than the over-sized, luxurious ones. Rumor has it that the velour towels will hold more water, so will keep your hound cooler for a longer period of time. When selecting your towel, be sure to choose a light color so the sun is reflected rather than absorbed into the coat. The stomach straps are a full 10 inches wide, providing evaporation action in the chest area. Since the blood runs closest to the skin around the chest, throat and ears, this is an important cooling feature.

Materials Needed:

1 small bath towel (try to find one that is 22" or 24" wide and 40-some inches long) 10" piece of velcro (I usually use the 2" wide, but 1" will do) 2 yards of extra wide, double-folded bias tape (or 2 yards of 1" ribbon folded and pressed lengthwise)

Directions
1. As shown in the diagram below, fold the towel in half lengthwise. If there is fringe on the towel, cut it off. Decorative borders are fine and do not need to be removed. Measure down 5 inches from the fold on the short side and make a mark. Measure over 7 inches on the long side and make a mark. Draw a line between the two points and cut through both layers of toweling to form a V that will be the neckline. Cut the coat to a length of 28 inches.

2. Fold the bias tape over the raw edge on the tail end of the coat and top-stitch in place. 3. Fold the bias tape over the raw edge of the V that forms the neckline and topstitch in place.

4. Fold the coat lengthwise with right sides together. Stitch a seam along the front chest closure as shown in the diagram below.

5. From the leftover toweling, cut two rectangles to be used for the stomach straps. The rectangles should be 10 inches wide and tall enough to allow the coat to be fastened under your hound's belly. (I subtract the width of my towel from 34 and then divide that number by 2 to get this measurement for my hounds. For example, if I have a 22" wide towel, I'd make my straps (32 - 22)/2 = 10/2 = 5 inches tall. It's better to make the straps too big than too small.) Take advantage of the finished edges of the towel when cutting the straps. It will mean less edgework for you. 6. For each stomach strap, fold bias tape over any raw edges and top-stitch in place. Leave one long edge of each rectangle raw. Stitch the scratchy side of the velcro to the right side of one strap. Stitch the fuzzy side of the velcro to the wrong side of the other strap.

7. Try the coat on your hound and find the position for the stomach straps. They should go just behind the front legs. Place the stomach strap on the coat with right sides together in the correct position as shown in the diagram below. Stitch along the raw edge of the strap. Repeat on the other side of the coat for the other strap. Remember to place right sides of the toweling together so that the velcro will meet when you're done. 8. OPTIONAL: Use the leftover towel scraps to make pockets to hold sponges or ice. Remember that the chest area is a good one to cool. In the flowered sample below, I added an ice pocket with a velcro closure stitched in place on the front chest area. I cut two 5" squares of toweling and sewed three sides. Then I turned it right-side out and added seam binding along the top edge. I added a small bit of velcro on each side to hold the pocket shut when filled with ice. Then, I made a straight stitch just under the seam binding on one side to hold the pocket in place on the front of the chest. There are really no rules on the pockets. Just make them the size you need to hold sponges, sports ice packs or loose ice cubes.

There. You're done. If you know you're going to be in a hot situation with your hound, just soak your coat and put it in a zip-loc bag. You can even keep it in your cooler. Be sure to bring lots of extra water to pour over the coat as the water evaporates and the coat dries. Your hound will be calm, cool and collected even in very warm conditions.

High-Tech Synthetic Chamois Cool Coat

This cool coat uses high-tech, very absorbant synthetic chamois. It's available in the car washing section of discount stores like WalMart and K-Mart. It's rather pricey. I paid $8 for the 3 1/2 square foot piece used to make this coat. It is very lightweight and compact, though, and would be a great addition to a first aid kit for your hound. It could be soaked and put in a zip-lock bag and kept in the first aid kit, ready for any heat-related emergency. You could also use regular chamois, but it is more expensive. Also, since it's a leather product, your hound may want to chew on it. The synthetic chamois is advertised to be twice as absorbant as natural chamois, so should keep your hound cool for twice as long.

Materials Needed:

1 piece of synthetic chamois (found in car care section - a 3 1/2 square foot piece will do) 4" piece of velcro (I usually use the 2" wide, but 1" will do)

Directions
1. As shown in the diagram below, fold the chamois in half lengthwise. Cut 4 1/2" off of one end, leaving 19 1/2 inches for the main body of the coat. From the 4 1/2" strip, cut two 7" pieces and one 6" piece. Cut the 4 1/2" x 6" rectangle down to be 3" x 6"; this will be the chest strap.

2. Sew one 3" side of the 3" x 6" rectangle to the front of the coat. Turn the coat inside out and sew the other 3" side to the opposite side of the coat as shown in the diagram.

3. Sew one side of the velcro to each of the 4 1/2" x 7" rectangles. Place it 1/4" from the edge of the rectangle. These are the stomach straps. 4. Go try the coat on your hound to find out where the stomach straps should be placed. You want them to go behind the front legs so that your hound can walk easily. Mark the position. 5. Place one stomach strap on the body of the coat as shown in the diagram below and stitch in place. Repeat for the other strap on the other side of the coat. Remember to place the velcro so that the two sides will meet properly when wrapped under your hound's chest.

Now you have a lightweight, super absorbent cool coat that can be used to keep your hound cool. Fold it up and soak it throughly with water. Place the soaked cool coat in a zip-lock baggie and add it to your hound's first aid kit.

Experimental Cool Snood

While researching cool coats and how they work, Traci Hilbert and Ellen Schneiderman pointed out that the traditional coat that hangs on the back really isn't hitting the key cool-down areas of the throat, chest and ears. After experimenting with a few "apron" designs, I stumbled onto the idea of adapting Leslie Nichol's snood design to use for cooling rather than warming. The problem was going to be the thickness of the fabric. While accidentally wandering through the cleaning aisle of WalMart, I found the solution--HandiWipes! They're lightweight, they breathe, they're absorbent, they reflect the sun, they're washable, they're pretty durable and they're cheap ($1.50 for a package of 5).

It's not warm enough here to test them out for real yet, but they sure seem good in theory. If you try one of these and can report on the cooling properties, please do. Your hound will look a little goofy, but you'll be hitting all the key cooling points.

Materials Needed:

1 package of 5 HandiWipes (available in the cleaning aisle) 12" piece of elastic (1/4" - 3/8" wide) 48" of ribbon for the ties (or you can use shoelaces)

Directions
1. Take three of the HandiWipes and sew them end-to-end on the short sides to form a very long rectangle. Fold this long rectangle in half with right sides together and stitch along the three open sides. Leave a small area open to allow turning this right-side out. This will be the portion of the snood under the chin and will extend into an "apron" that covers the chest. Turn the rectangle right-side out and stitch up the hole you left for turning. Optionally, press the piece.

2. Take the remaining two HandiWipes and place them together. Stitch around all four sides, leaving open a small space to allow turning the piece right-side out. Turn the piece right-side out and stitch up the hole you left for turning. Optionally, press the piece. 3. Place the longer rectangle on the table with the long side on top. Place the smaller rectangle on top of it with its short side on top. Align the upper left corners. Stitch along the top edge as shown in the diagram. Repeat for the opposite sides of the rectangles. Now you have a tube with an apron extending from one portion of it. This apron will cover your hound's chest. Turn the piece right side out.

4. Stitch all the way around the tube about 1" from the edge on the side where the two rectangles are aligned. The channel you are forming will be used to hold the elastic which will hold the snood up around your hound's ears. 5. Clip a small slit on the channel and feed the elastic through it. (I attach a safety pin to the end of the elastic to make this job easier.) After feeding the elastic all the way through, sew the two ends of the elastic together to form a loop. Then let the elastic slip back into the channel. 6. Cut your 48" piece of ribbon into two 24" sections. Sew one piece onto each corner of the apron. These ties will go up around the ribs and tie at the top of your hound's back. 7. OPTIONAL: The entire snood is a double layer of HandiWipes. You can sew square shapes into any area to hold a sponge or sports ice pack. A small slit will allow you to insert the sponge. Then stitch the slit back up.