DIY Dog Accessories

Today, Earl is a hillbilly dog in his gingham bandanna! In this post, we are going to show you how to make your dog a homemade bandanna, of whatever pattern, colour and style you wish! We will be demonstrating with the blue and white chequered - one we made earlier.

You will need:

Earl's Tip:

Woof, all! I hope you have fun with our bandana making method! You can sew by hand if you don't have a sewing machine by the way, or simply if you want to. And choose the right size scissors for your paws hands. If you don't have an iron, clasp the material in a heavy book or sit something heavy on top of it and leave it for a while. If your OK at maths, you can use a smaller ruler but have more working out if you lack a ruler of around 30cm! Obviously different sized dogs with different sized necks equal different sized rulers! You can do it without a guide bandanna also. Markers are very handy, as you can go in a straight line (using your ruler, BOL) but you can survive without. Who says wonky bandanas aren't as PAWSOME?!?! Oh, and one last thing… if you don't have a model dog, that's fine. You could make them to sell them even! Gain as much knowledge as you can however and make a variety of neck sizes if this is the case for you.

Bark, woof, snuffle, sniff, big licks,

Earl.

The method:

Firstly, choose some old and useless material. 

Secondly, cut a piece of material out of the cloth that will fit your dog's neck size.

Thirdly, iron the material to rid it of creases for the highest quality.

After ironing, place the guide bandanna (if you have one) on the material.

Use the ruler to accurately mark out the shape required (usually a triangle, larger than the actual size you will need at the end).

After this, cut out along the marked lines.

Now you should have a one piece triangle shape.

Iron this well.

After that, lay this on top of another piece of identical material you have just made, or use contrasting lining. Iron the next piece first of course.

Now, chop the corners off the pieces so they look like the following:

Its time to sew! Sew all the corners APART FROM one of the chopped corners.

Use the un-sewed corner to turn the entire thing inside-out.

Iron this out well.

Now sew up the open corner.

Now, fold over the top of the bandanna, large enough for your dog's collar to fit all the way through with the ends out.

Iron this down now so its easier to sew up.

Making sure that it is the correct size, sew it in place, leaving the correct size hole in the middle for your dog's collar.

You should now have this final result:

Its now time to attach it to your dog's collar! Take the collar off your dog like normal…

And thread the collar through.

Finally, put it back on your dog like you would do his/her normal collar!!

Yawning in anticipation!

Walla!!! Gorgeous!!

Job well done! *High paw*

Here's some snazzy walkies photos:

We went to the pet shop with Earl wearing this and got a lot of smiles - one of the members of staff from Pets At Home commented and gave Earl a big fuss! 

Now… what about the leftovers from the bandanna? Make something else cute!

We made a little doggie scarf - made out of the leftover elastic from the before 'useless' shirt.

All you have to do, is get a strip of leftover material, and tie it together at each end. Tightly tightly!! Double knot it, and stretch it over your dog's head. If it is elastic, like ours is, it should fit most size necks, however MOST DEFINITELY check so your dog is comfortable whilst wearing it.

No need to waste any material you know! Be eco-friendly!

If your dog attempts consistently to remove the accessory he/she is wearing, they may not like the feeling of it. Don't worry - you could donate it to a doggie raffle or treat a friend's or family's dog! Never leave your dog to suffer for your own benefit.

Also, we found one of Earl's old toys today whilst tidying out his cupboard section - his old red bone form the make of 'jw'! It squeaks and he loves it! It is now going to be one out in his toy box where he can get at it whenever he wants!

It squeaks!!!

We really hope you had fun DIYing with us today!! We worked hard - it was such a fun time!

We have made a page for Doggie DIY, which you can find by clicking HERE. We will list all the Dog DIY we have made before and links to the post which enables you to make it yourself!

Plus, a big thanks for everyone who joined in the February 2014 Pinch Punch Post Blog Hop.

And don't forget to vote on our 2 weekly dog polls at the bottom of this page! There's still some time to go, so don't hesitate! This 2 weeks its all about the quality of dog food brands - a very important subject to be debated about.

Please get in touch and tell us if you decide to follow the method of DIY Dog Accessories!

Earl and I.