Closet Core dog coats

Way back in 2021, I sewed Badger and Daisy each a dog coat. This was my first foray into using Vinted, the secondhand clothing app. I bought a secondhand Primark shearling coat to use as the lining, thinking it would be a cheap, easy way to source secondhand fabric. The coat was £2, meaning with shipping the whole purchase came to just over a fiver. Perfect as my first foray into using a new-to-me app and for sourcing fabric for a dog-related sewing project. I didn’t want to spend much money on this project, as there was a high probability the final coats would either be hated and refused to be worn, or instantly ruined with dog hair and mud.

The pattern used here is the Closet Core free dog coat. You gain access by signing up to their newsletter, which gives you a password to their members-only sewing resource library. It’s definitely worth signing up, in my opinion. For a free pattern, this one was definitely on the higher quality end of the spectrum. The instructions are a little brief, to be fair, but still better than some other free patterns I’ve used over the years. If you’re a confident beginner upwards, you can manage this pattern I think. The only part I struggled to visualise was the step involving connecting the chest plate to the front of the coat. It took a few attempts and some trial and error to get that part right.

You can see in the first photo above, the waist strap is too long for Badger, forming a small dorsal fin at the top. I have yet to remedy this, since the bias binding would make it a major faff to unpick, cut the strap short and reapply the bias tape. I made the bias tape, using scraps of navy jersey that nicely matched the navy fabric. The jersey element of the bias tape made it a dream to apply, stretching beautifully in all the right places. However, it would equally make it a nightmare to unpick, as it tends to holes where the machine needle has been inserted. Badger likes to think of himself as an apex predator so we like to think he enjoys this dorsal fin, like a land shark. You can equally layer the straps over themselves, as in the photo below, for a slightly less ridiculous look. I made a small hole in the centre back, for a leader to poke through, as Badger will often wear a harness on a walk.

I made these coats in December 2021 and Badger and I went on a solo trip to collect pine boughs for our flat. There had been high winds the previous day and we’d been on a family trip to the beach. We’d walked through the adjoining woodland and seen all the fallen branches so Badger and I planned to come back the following day to collect some for the flat. It was a good opportunity to test run the coat, after we’d been out in the chilly, damp weather. I like to think of it as Badger’s aprés ski outfit. He’s not a keen wearer of clothes, he’ll often go rigid and refuse to move when we put him in jolly Christmas sweaters. I’m also not a massive fan of dressing up dogs. As a vet in the real world, I know clothing can cause a host of physical ailments for animals and a large proportion of the time they’re completely unnecessary. However, on this particular day, we were both cold and damp when we got back to the van. I towel dried Badger and put the coat on him and he curled up on the front seat of the van and went straight to sleep. Generally, that’s a good indicator of comfort and it warmed my heart, to think of him cosy and warm. I drank a coffee and ate a brownie whilst he had a nap, before we headed home. I treasure these memories with him, he’s getting older now and I know the times we spend just the two of us will bring me comfort in the future.

The fabric I used was a navy upholstery wool. I originally bought it secondhand for Craft & Thrift shop, but loved it too much to list it. I used it for the dog coats and in a backpack project (yet to be blogged) and it was perfect for both. It had a polyester scrim backing, designed to give more structure and weight to the fabric and prevent it stretching out. With the weight of the navy wool, plus the shearling lining, I didn’t think it needed a batting layer. I was worried if the fabric was too thick, it might be too hot for the dogs to wear, and more difficult to accurately bind the edges.

Overall, this project was a real success. The dogs have both worn their coats in the winter time, especially when they’re on a lead walk and don’t have the opportunity to keep warm by running around. We often walk them in town to a coffee shop and it’s nice for them to have the coats to lie on when they’re under a coffee table. They look really smart together, a matching pair.

The fitting is slightly off on both of them, despite some tweaks made along the way. Daisy’s chest plate, which runs from her chest, through her front legs and then splits to form the waist strap, is too long, despite me shortening it. I also had to add front darts into Daisy’s version, as the fabric was gaping too much at the front.

The risk with over fitting a project like this, is you can end up with it only fitting if the subject stands still and never moves. I figured with both of these coats, it was probably better to err on the side of ‘too large’ to allow ease of movement and minimise the chance of any areas rubbing or being uncomfortable. Obviously this has to be balanced against an overly large coat causing its own issues, like moving around or legs getting caught in sagging fabric.

As you can see in the above photo, they wore these coats on a chilly, January day to the park. We took them off to let them chase balls, then put them back on whilst we drank coffee and watched the ducks. Both dogs felt cosy and warm inside the coats (I put my hand inside to test this theory!) and definitely made us feel less guilty for lingering outside for longer. I wouldn’t be in a rush to make more dog coats (what a faff all that binding is!) but I’m glad the dogs both have warm, snuggly winter coats for outside adventures.