How to make a dog costume for a child?

Traditionally, on New Year's morning performances in kindergarten or in elementary school, teachers and educators arrange performances with children, the characters of which are animals, including dogs, with their children.

If your child has such a role, then he will need the appropriate outfit. And do not rush to look for a salon where you can rent a dog costume. With your own hands for a child to make it is quite simple, just be patient and turn on your imagination.

What is required

The dog costume should consist of:

• shirts;
• spacious trousers with a tail;
• hats with ears;
• fur vest.

This will require:

• a simple, opaque fabric for trousers and a hat, for example, gabardine light brown, beige or light gray;
• satin or crepe satin for the design of the dog’s ears and appliqué;
• faux fur color matching the shade of gabardine, from which the vest, tail, ears and trim will be sewn;
• satin ribbon for collar;
• wide elastic;
• bugles and sequins for decorating the edges of the applique.

Where to begin

To make a dog costume, you will need a sewing machine and basic patterns of a children's vest (jacket) and trousers (shorts).

Next, using patterns, cut out the necessary details. It should turn out:

• 2 shelves;
• the back of the vest;
• 2 parts of the front and back of the trousers.

They are sewn together, as usual, and cuts are made so that the suit looks neat and you are not ashamed of your work.

We sew a dog costume: the procedure for making a fur vest

For sewing this part of the outfit, dogs proceed as follows:

• carefully so that the pile is not damaged, they cut the fur with sharp scissors;
• grind shoulder and side seams;
• the sides, the bottom of the vest and the neckline are tucked and hemmed on a typewriter or manually;
• sew a secret button to the shelves;
• make a loop for the clasp.

If you sew well, you can independently make a tunic with sleeves of the simplest cut. Otherwise, you can use a shirt, t-shirt or turtleneck of a suitable color, even white, but always without drawings or inscriptions.

Trousers

As for the bottom, it is made as follows:

• grind side seams of trouser parts;
• “bones” are cut out of a fabric of contrasting color;
• sew on the blanks of trousers, for example, on a typewriter "zigzag";
• if there is a desire, the edges are decorated with sequins;
• grind stepping seams, and then, putting the leg in one in the other, also the middle one;
• make a drawstring along the upper section of the trousers;
• the bottom is tucked and hemmed;
• an elastic tape (elastic band) is inserted into the drawstring.

Tail

When the trousers are ready, the dog's costume needs to be supplemented with the necessary accessory. It is a tail that can be made from the remains of fur. In order to make it, perform a series of actions:

• take a rectangular piece, fold it with fur inward along the length and sew it into a pipe;
• turn out and manually, using a needle and thread, give the workpiece the shape of a tail;
• sew in the back of the trousers.

Dog costume for baby: headpiece

To make it, you should use the pattern presented below. Then:

• transfer contours to the base fabric;
• cut up;
• sew a hat with a visor, placing a piece of cardboard of the same shape in it;
• 2 parts of the upper part of the dog’s ear are cut from the remains of the fur, and from the atlas, for the lower part;
• stack them in pairs with the front sides;
• grind and twist;
• the ears are sewn to the cap manually.

In order not to suffer with tailoring the headgear, you can take a ready-made baseball cap in black, coffee or dark brown with a not too large visor. Then they sew “ears” (see instructions above) and fix them on a hat with needles and threads.

Makeup

Having finished sewing a dog costume with your own hands for a child, it's time to think about how to decorate a face so that it resembles a muzzle. For this, usual eyeshadow and mom’s foundation cream are suitable, however, you should first check on the bend of the baby’s elbow for allergies to them.

If your child has sensitive skin, then a special safe face painting or mask is more suitable for him.

The muzzle of the dog is drawn like this:

• on the tip of the nose put an end;
• through it from the wings draw a horizontal line;
• the area below it is painted over in black;
• draw vertical straight lines from horizontal to eyebrows;
• the wings of the nose are tinted with a brown color of a darker shade, and the resulting strip in the middle is light;
• the upper lip is covered with foundation and painted over with a dark pencil;
• white paint is applied to the area above the upper lip;
• draw dots and dog antennae;
• around the left or right eye draw a contour of the "spot";
• paint it white.

Gloves

If you sew a dog’s costume with your own hands for a child, and you have old knitted gloves of a suitable color, you can make paws out of them.

To do this, 10 circles with a diameter of the phalanx of the child’s finger and 2 parts in the form of a triangle with rounded corners for each of the “hands” are cut out of a dense fabric, for example, from the flaps left after cutting the trousers. They are glued or sewn onto gloves in the right places.

Mask

A dog costume with his own hands can be supplemented with a mask instead of makeup. It is made of thick cardboard and colored paper, better than velvet, in several colors: brown, black and beige. Having cut out the necessary details, they are glued to the base and provide the mask with ties.

Dog collar

Such an accessory is not necessary, but it will add recognition to the image. To make it, you will need a silk ribbon and a metal ring of suitable diameter. A “bone” 5 cm long is cut out of a piece of white cardboard. Then it is hung on a collar in the form of a peculiar pendant. Two parts of the Velcro fastener are sewn onto the ends of the tape so that the “collar” tightly wraps around the child’s neck.

If you have a dog suit for a boy based on a turtleneck, then the accessory can be tied over its neck.

Now you know how to make a dog costume with your own hands. The tips presented can help you create your own version, for example, a Dalmatian dog outfit that requires white and black fabric.