A new and hopefully better doggie coat.

I recently tried my hand at sewing a coat for my granddog Duncan.

I didn't have much success.

I did what I always do the first time out, and that's follow the directions.

After altering the pattern to accommodate Duncan's big pit bull chest and small waist, I whipped up a coat that I was happy with. Then I saw Duncan wearing it, and what a huge disappointment.

I should have known that one single layer of fleece would stretch out of shape in a heartbeat (but remember I followed the directions!). Then the little stinker kept yanking at the upper piece of Velcro near his neck so it would end up gaping open.

The whole thing looked cheap and homemade.

Taking a picture of Duncan is very difficult. I get him to sit still, focus my camera, and just before the flash goes off, he leaps and jumps all about.

Like here.

Just before I took each of these pictures, he was posing very nicely.

Really.

See how the neck of the coat is slipping down his back? That's because the front neckline is open.

There he goes!

Here's my wild man! See how the top is undone? I think he wants to change his name to Guido, wear gold chains, and hit the clubs.

So today I made a new coat, and this one is for a friend's dog. This time I didn't use a pattern and I used two layers of fleece with two layers of quilt batting in between.

This gave it great structure and makes it much warmer too.

There is a strap that goes under the belly, and a strap that goes around the front of the chest from shoulder to shoulder. I'm using buttons for the closures and not Velcro!

Here it is lying flat.

Now pretend this pillow is a dog (at least it sits still and I don't need to walk it!) and you get the idea of what I'm trying to accomplish.

However, I'm not sure how happy the dog owner will be with this choice of fabric.

Our 'Stillers' have been a bit of a disappointment this year!