How to Make a Reversible Dog Bandana
We're celebrating all things dog this week for National Pet Month, so of course we had to come up with a cheeky little pooch project for you! Pet bandanas are a cute little accessory that are easy to put together, and comfortable and safe for your dog to wear, as they simply slip over their collar.
How to Make a Reversible Dog Bandana
You Will Need
or
- Fat quarter of Must Love Dogs Red
- Fat quarter of Must Love Dogs Paws
- Gutermann thread - col 111
- Paper and pencil
- Ruler
- Fabric scissors
- Pins
How to Make
1. For this project, you will need to make your own pattern - but don't worry, it's really easy! You are going to make a triangle shape using your own dog’s measurements. First, measure all around the neck of the dog, and roughly halve that measurement. My dog’s neck was about 20 inches so I went for half, minus an inch, so it would cover most of the front of his neck, but not too far around, at 9 inches – he’s only little and I didn’t want him to be swamped
2. Decide how long you want the bandana to fall, based on your dog’s chest. I went for 5.5 inches for my small dog.
3. Now draw your pattern according to these measurements, on a piece of paper. Use the long edge of a piece of A4 to measure the neck measurement (9 inches) and then draw a vertical line halfway along, and measure down this line by your chest length (5.5 inches). Use a ruler to draw a straight line from the 5.5inch mark to the end points of your neck measurement, and you will have created a triangle!
4. Cut out your template and pin to the wrong side of your dog print fabric. Cut around it, adding roughly a 1cm seam allowance to the template. Don’t forget this fabric is directional so you need to place your triangle the right way with the point facing downwards!
5. Repeat the above step for your paws fabric.
6. Pin your two triangles together, right sides together. Now it’s time to sew! Using a 1cm seam allowance, sew across the longest side of the triangle, to form the top join. Don’t forget to back stitch at the start and end of your seams to give them more strength! When you are finished you will have a diamond shape with the join in the centre. Press the seams flat in the middle.
7. Fold in the corners where you have just sewn. This will create the hole where you will thread the bandana onto the collar, so bear in mind when folding. You will need to measure the width of your collar(2.5cm), plus the seam allowance (1cm) – then fold the corner in until the measurement from the middle seam to the edge on either side is the same as your width of collar + seam allowance (3.5cm).
8. Stitch over the edges where you have folded with only a couple of millimetres seam allowance. Trim the folded in corners down to remove some bulk.
9. Now pin your triangles right sides together once again. This time, you are going to sew down the diagonal lines of the triangle on each side with a 1cm seam allowance, making sure you leave a gap the width of your collar size (plus a bit extra if you aren’t sure) at the top of each. This will create the channel for the collar. Once you have sewn both diagonals, trim all threads and snip the corner to remove excess bulk.
11. Turn the bandana right sides out through either side of the channel you created, then press to finish. If you want, you can topstitch along the bottom of the channel for an extra bit of detail.
And here is the finished bandana on my cute little pup! Action shots too (he'd only pose for treats!)
Share your dog bandana makes with us!
