Canine Couture - Continued

And what are you two working on?

Henry: "Uncle Zachary is making me a Sweater Vest..."

Zachary: "They are all the rage, today."

Henry: "... and then I'll run for President."
Zachary: "He he he"

Dog Blog Post #2398

Henry is lucky to have ever busy Uncle Zachary around to create his props, as I'm pretty sure Henry doesn't know how to sew a stitch.

Photography Assignment

Our Daily Challenge - April 2, 2017 - "Industrial - Industrious - Industry"

Daily Dog Challenge 1979. "Charmed Life"

After creating several (sigh) muslin prototypes by merging a pair of commercial patterns plus my own V-collar, then changing the opening to one of the side seams (after failing at both front closure (per one pattern) and back closure (an early modification)), this is where we stand.

I'm still not happy with the way it lays down the shoulder seam (it doesn't) but until I get the neck/back/belly right I'm not going to be able to fix it.

(Believe me, I've tried!)

After taking this picture, I finished applying the neck band - it's a very shallow V - and I must say this is my best effort yet in that problem area.

The front length is giving me fits, as their ruffs push the fabric forward, throwing off the arm holes and pulling the back down in the rear. If I make it longer, it bunches up when they lie down (the most common pose). If I try to tighten it up to overpower the fur, then it's too tight across the back/withers and they glare at me when I have them lie down.

The first two(?) prototypes were total write-offs.

For the third I ditched the back and just did a band collar and a belly band with a front strip in between. It wasn't right, but because there was less to it I was able to make good progress.

I then added the back and shoulders back in and basically just hacked strips out, sewed strips in, and made darts until it sort of fit.

(Henry really loved this part of the process, as he got lots of Cookies to be a Dress Form. Thankfully, he makes a very, very good Dress Form.)

When it wasn't horrible, I trimmed off all the extra bits (it resembled a crazy-quilt by then), compared it to where I started and found I'd lengthened the mid-back by ~2 inches, the front (undercarriage) by ~4 inches, made the arm opening MUCH more generous, shortened the total length, and made the back-neck higher.

I'd also made a slight V in front as a completely round neck doesn't look good with their ruffs.

I've probably spent... ~24 hours on the entire process, including all the prototypes, this sweater vest, and a not-yet-photographed outfit trying out the earlier mostly backless pattern with a Mandarin collar.

(FWIW: collar/front looked good, shoulders... didn't)

Sewing aside: Those little red things are "Wonder Clips" - and they really are wonderful. I shied away from sewing for years because I was always afraid of dropping a pin and having a pup step on it, using safety pins instead, which aren't a really good substitute. Wonder Clips are small but strong and I absolutely love them.

My other pin substitutes are large metal washers I picked up at the hardware store. Maybe 2" across? I bought a box of... 10? and I use them to weigh down pattern pieces for cutting. Work great.

Going Back In Time...

Saturday

Frankly my dear...

This is what happens when you let your dog pick his own costume on April Fool's Day.

Our Daily Challenge - April 1, 2017 - "Portrait Hands"

Daily Dog Challenge 1978. "Aprils Fools"

Well, I thought it was a good idea at the time.

FWIW: This is just a 4" wide cuff with lace attached, created specifically for this picture.

It looks just as bad, if not worse, in person as it does on camera.

Which is a shame, as it wasn't quick to make, mostly owing to the slippery / stretchy nature of the (cheap) costume velvet.

Next!

Friday

"Zzzzz"

Daily Dog Challenge 1977. "Flat"

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