Baby Shirt to Dog Shirt

Growing up, my sister had a beloved little doggie named Watson. As he got older and older, Watson became less spry, less cheerful, and more blind -- but never lost any devotion to my sister. One year, when he must have been about fourteen years old (he lived to be SIXTEEN!), I gave him a little Valentine's t-shirt as a gag gift. It was bright pink and said "HOT STUFF" in sparkly letters. It turned out that Watson LOVED to wear shirts! It seemed to give him extra energy! He was very proud of himself and would trot around and be perky as he hadn't in years! Needless to say, he ended up with many more shirts to wear -- just because he liked it so much!

Today I will show you how to take a basic baby t-shirt (or child's t-shirt if you have a larger dog) and turn it into a custom-fitted dog shirt.

Start with a shirt that is a close match to the size of your dog.

STEP ONE:  Turn the shirt inside out and put it on your dog (or a closely-sized stuffed animal, if your dog is not likely to cooperate!).  Remember that the "front," or interesting side, of a dog shirt goes on the dog's back -- so put it on accordingly!

STEP TWO:  Pinch the excess fabric under the dog's belly and pin in place.  If you are doing this on a pet, use safety pins -- or, you could mark with chalk or a disappearing ink marker to with lines on either side to show where to sew.

You will want a close fit.

STEP THREE:  You will want to adjust the length of the shirt to accomodate for "potty time" as necessary.

STEP FOUR:  Carefully remove the shirt.  You will sew exactly along your pins or chalk line, using a long and narrow zig-zag stitch.  (A zig-zag stitch will accomodate a little bit of stretch.)  You will then trim away the excess fabric.  If you are shortening the shirt you can simply cut off the excess or do a quick hem.

Ta-Da!  Doggie's got a new outfit to wear on Valentine's Day!