Ruff Work

I love to make these dog coats. People have responded well to them and they are fun to make.

When I discovered Artfelt, I immediately had the idea of creating one-of-a-kind felted dog coats. Why shouldn't your beloved pooch where something beautiful and unique?

In addition to wool, I use glass cabochons, glass beads and mohair accents. Flip the collar up and you get an Elizabethan look. One of the projects on this list is to create matching human and dog coats. These would be custom orders since sizes in humans and dogs vary, of coarse.

The process involves drawing your pattern onto the Artfelt paper, laying out the design with a felting needle, then wetting it down, rolling it up in plastic, containing the log in a nylon stocking and then putting it in the dryer for 30 minutes or so. After the felting process, the paper is removed with boiling water poured over it and then the coat is steam ironed into the final shape. The glass cabochons are completely encased in wool and then cut open and finished to expose the glass after it is dried. The flowers are felted separately and then individually sown on with glass bead centers. The nylon strapping is sown on with heavy duty thread. Snap buckles are used for ease of getting on and off. A washable fleece strap cover provides additional comfort. Each coat takes about 10-15 hours to complete with all of the handwork involved.

So, a lot of ideas for more coats are in my head and now that Fall is coming, it's a good time to ramp up the inventory. You can see more coats on my Pet Effigy web site.