Bzzz.

[exquisitegeek.livejournal.com]

My dog really wants to be a bumble bee for Halloween. She told me. The problem with premade dog costumes is that they're a little pricey and that they never fit just perfectly. This results in my dog ripping them off and carrying them to some secret location in an attempt to eat them.

So I designed her very own bee costume.













We took it outside for some action shots. I wanted some cute pictures of her "smelling" flowers and doing other various bee things, but she was enjoying herself too much to tolerate such nonsense.


It's completely comfortable enough for some crazy wooshing.


And it's practical enough to still be functional during a game of fetch.




The tutu is my favorite part.


I think her tail blends in and looks like a little stinger.




The costume is a variation on a halter dress I created for her a couple summers ago after seeing one in the pet store that made me think I could make a better one.


The dress is just basic yellow fabric, and I sewed on black flannel strips to make the stripes. I left the edges raw, because I figured bees are fuzzy anyway. The wings are white felt. I did a few test runs where I sewed in different wingy designs on them, but I ultimately decided they looked better plain. The tutu is three layers of loooong spiderweb fabric. The body of the dress is completely solid so it slips up over her back legs and fastens gently around her neck with a little velcro.







And while it wasn't my initial inspiration, I couldn't get this out of my head the whole time I was sewing, and now I like to picture her frollicking in a field full of other bee-people:

I love Halloween, and I'm feeling a little giving. I think everyone deserves a fun Halloween costume, so I wrote a little tutorial (complete with illustrations drawn on paintbrush!) on how to alter my basic design so it fits your furry friend flawlessly.




This tutorial makes a halter dress. It's a little girly, but I'm sure that if you omit the ruffle and add some masculine features, it could easily be altered for a boy dog. The pattern is so simple that, depending on what fabrics you choose and what embellishments you add, you can really do millions of different things with it.

It's also not exclusively for dogs. I'm not sure how well cats tolerate being dressed up, but the design would really suit any animal of the four-legged variety.





Measure your dog around the biggest part of her ribcage. Measure loosely and add an extra inch or two. Take into account that there will be seams that will make it a fit a little tighter. Think of what would be comfy for your dog.

Now, measure from the biggest part of her ribcage to just above where her back legs are.



Pick a fabric for your dress, and cut out a rectangle that meets the measurements you took. You should end up with a long piece of fabric. Fold just a tiny bit of the two longest ends over and sew a little seam so the fabric doesn't fray. Make sure you fold toward the underside of the fabric so your seams don't show.

The shorter ends of the rectangle are going to be hidden eventually, but if you'd like to be neat, you can add seams to those ends also.

This will be the body of your dress. If you're going to add any embellishments like stripes for a bee costume, etc, you should add those now.



Ask your dog to come over for another measurement. This can be just a teensy bit tricky. Remember where you measured around your dog's ribcage? Measure from that part of her back up to about the base of her neck. Take that measurement down, and now measure the distance between her shoulder blades. It doesn't have to be 100% perfect, but use your best judgement. The up and down measurement is most important as far as fit is concerned.



Cut out a rectangle based on the measurements you just took. It should be small compared to your first rectangle. You don't have to, but I like to fold it in half and snip the top corners off. It just makes the whole thing look a little fancier when it's done.



Now sew seams allllll around the edges so the fabric doesn't fray. Remember to turn your fabric down to the underside so your seams aren't visible.



Now, find the center of your big rectangle. Sew your new small piece to the big rectangle. Or you can sew your rectangle to the small piece. It doesn't matter which fabric you put on top as long as you sew a nice little seam that holds the two pieces together.



Measure your dog again! (I realize you could do all these measurements at once, but it makes my step-by-step method more complicated to explain.) Measure loosely around your dog's neck. Do not choke your dog. Let your measuring tape overlap a little and think of what would be a comfortable collar length for your dog. It's always better to make it too loose than too tight. Loose doesn't make your dog sad, and loose can always be fixed.



Cut out two identical strips of fabric that are as long as the measurements you took. As far as thickness goes, it's up to you. For my small dog, I do maybe an inch or so. If you have a big dog, you'll probably want to do more. Pretend you're making a collar.

Sew seams around the edges of your strips so they look nice and neat.

Now take your strips and put them together so the pretty sides are facing out. Sew the two pieces of fabric together. (You can skip this step and just use one strip of fabric, but the underside of your fabric is more likely to show. I just think it looks a little more finished to double it up.)



Take your skinny strip of fabric. Center it and sew it onto your small piece.



It's optional, but I like to add a ruffle. You'll need to cut a strip of fabric that's longer than your big rectangle. If you want just a light wave at the bottom of your dress, just make the strip a few inches longer than your rectangle. If you want a big crazy tutu, cut considerably longer than your rectangle.

Sew the ruffle fabric to the underside of your big rectangle, bunching it up as you sew.



Fold the whole piece in half. Make sure the underside is facing up or your dress will come out looking funny. Right now, it should look inside out. Sew the two short sides of your rectangle together. (You don't have to sew the ruffle.) It should create a little tube.



Turn your dress rightside out! It should look like a dress now. Take the straps at the top, wrap them around like a collar, and attach a little velcro so they stay closed. You might want to do a fitting with your dog to get this just right.

If you want to add a bow (or wings, if you're making a bee costume) the small panel on the back is a great place to do this. You can sew it if your dog isn't known to destroy and eat things like a crazy beast. I use hot glue to make sure all the cute stuff stays put.



You should be able to step your dog's back legs into the top of the dress. From that point, you should be able to easily pull it up and gently fasten it around her neck. Tell your dog she's pretty.