Well, I did manage to make Brude an outfit for fright night

Not up to the standard I'd have liked it to be, but being as crowded for time as I was, it'll do - and he seemed to like it - and it didn't shift about as some annoying dog jackets do :thumbsup:

Brude's Halloween Jacket (http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e393/SFStrix/SF%20Craft/Halloween%20Jacket/?albumview=slideshow)

I took one railway vest, and a pair of old nylon joggers, stripped the stripes off the vest, and hacked a leg off the joggers

I made spider and bat templates, and cut those out of the stripes (well the bats aren't done, but you get the idea)

I measured the dog from where I wanted the hem to his spine, and from where I wanted the collar to where I wanted the coat to end near his tail. This gave me 9" x 18". I picked a suitable section of jogger leg, decided on an appropriate cut line/angle, and snipped away. There's a pic of a test fit

I didn't like how the neck part was lying, so I separated some of the jogger seam along his neck, then attached a strip of vest over this split at an appropriate angle to bring the geometry back in line. It's a good job this dog learned to stand for show ;)

Struggling for time I had to get the spiders glued on NOW so they could be drying. I used fabric glue with a really fine nozzle so as not to splodge all over the legs. Any form of gunge on the stripes affects their reflectivity

There was no way any of this was going to be hemmed as it'd take too long, so I plumped for zigzagging all the edges to prevent fraying. The sewing machine I bought from Peaches has finally been christened! :D Thank god I did a test piece as this nylon puckered like crackers (well I know I was using the wrong thread, and it could have done with facing, and...). Having sussed how it was going to behave I gritted my teeth and wrestled the scrunching nylon through the machine. I trimmed the excess fabric away from the edge

The orange strips got the same anti-fray treatment, then were stitched onto the main part of the jacket. I'd carefully selected the fabric for the collar to include the press studs from the original vest :thumbsup: The collar is stitched closed, with a press stud for a chest strap to pass between his legs

To keep the jacket in place there's a second orange strip inside which fastens around his ribs. It is held in place only by a row of plain stitching an inch long along the spine, and again at the hem, then Velcro fastens it underneath. The chest piece is stitched to this bit too

:D That is looking really good, it's amazing what you can do with those nylon jackets if you try, I made Lucy a nice snug coat out of one from a pound shop, looks like you worked really hard can't wait to see it with the bats on it :thumbsup:

well the nylon joggers were supposed only to be a template for something more substantial, but that would have taken more time, hence the zigzigged edges instead of neat hems too

anyway - the main point was to experiment in a quick easy dog coat, that stays on, and I'll see if it's possible to do some for the pound from old clothes

Hehe look at that beagle:hihi:

Bless him, and you, that looks right cool on him:thumbsup:

You wouldn't believe this dog

I put this cloak back on him to decide where the bats were going last night, took it off again, and he sulked! Good grief. Dogs aren't supposed to like being dressed up :loopy:

I'm just making a couple of adjustments to my bat template :D