Coats...
Living in Little Siberia is not easy for whippets.
How can I play with the paws touching as less as possible this white icy stuff ? It gets me crazy ! So I run, and I run, and I run to flee but no way - it still makes me (happily) mad !
As masters, we were deeply against clothing our dogs : it was ridiculous !
Two years ago, the pack moved to Little Siberia - not the real Siberia where you can lose both hands and feet if you miss your bus ! But, the place is quite empty (or free) from human presence, and you know why...
The whippets were shaking hard and warm coats were extraordinarily expensive.
We had to find a solution, a quick one, an effective one and a cheap one...
Our family had offered us a sewing machine for last Christmas, it turned out to be one of the whippets' best friends.
How can I play with the paws touching as less as possible this white icy stuff ? It gets me crazy ! So I run, and I run, and I run to flee but no way - it still makes me (happily) mad !
As masters, we were deeply against clothing our dogs : it was ridiculous !
Two years ago, the pack moved to Little Siberia - not the real Siberia where you can lose both hands and feet if you miss your bus ! But, the place is quite empty (or free) from human presence, and you know why...
The whippets were shaking hard and warm coats were extraordinarily expensive.
We had to find a solution, a quick one, an effective one and a cheap one...
Our family had offered us a sewing machine for last Christmas, it turned out to be one of the whippets' best friends.
Problem n°1 : the pattern
We searched the web for free ones that were sewable for the novices that we were. It was difficult to find something that could fit a slim high-limbed long-necked chilly dog...I drew dozens of patterns, flattening the last draft on the first whippet that was passing by. They soon learnt how to avoid their weird master that was obsessed with clothing them with paper.
Problem n°2 : the cloth
I didn't want to buy new material, I'm quite a stubborn anti-consumerist. So, where could I find the fabric I needed ?
I started to look in our own drawers but nothing was convincing : the dogs were too large.
I went to the local charity shop and looked for the ugliest coats I could find. The salesman even made me a price. He was too glad to be ridden of those stained unsellable clothes and watched me leaving with a pitiful smile...
Problem n°3 : the sewing
My brain was sizzling hot to simply understand how the different pieces worked together. I could feel new neurons sprouting as I was very slowing progressing.
(Just click on the pics to enlarge them.)
NB : Notice that sometimes the colours are awful - I choose warm materials at the charity shop but not the colours - but there is a big advantage to dress the dogs in ridiculous colours : they can't be mistaken with some game that a drunken hunter could joyfully fire at !
Needless to say that drunken hunters are not a rare species in our woods, and that they do enjoy firing at many things during winter - even themselves ...
We searched the web for free ones that were sewable for the novices that we were. It was difficult to find something that could fit a slim high-limbed long-necked chilly dog...I drew dozens of patterns, flattening the last draft on the first whippet that was passing by. They soon learnt how to avoid their weird master that was obsessed with clothing them with paper.
Problem n°2 : the cloth
I didn't want to buy new material, I'm quite a stubborn anti-consumerist. So, where could I find the fabric I needed ?
I started to look in our own drawers but nothing was convincing : the dogs were too large.
I went to the local charity shop and looked for the ugliest coats I could find. The salesman even made me a price. He was too glad to be ridden of those stained unsellable clothes and watched me leaving with a pitiful smile...
Problem n°3 : the sewing
My brain was sizzling hot to simply understand how the different pieces worked together. I could feel new neurons sprouting as I was very slowing progressing.
(Just click on the pics to enlarge them.)
NB : Notice that sometimes the colours are awful - I choose warm materials at the charity shop but not the colours - but there is a big advantage to dress the dogs in ridiculous colours : they can't be mistaken with some game that a drunken hunter could joyfully fire at !
Needless to say that drunken hunters are not a rare species in our woods, and that they do enjoy firing at many things during winter - even themselves ...