Bespoke Wiener Dog Coat

Wiener dogs are long - longer than other dog breeds, so unless clothing is made specifically for them it won't fit. I have two wiener dogs and one of them obviously does not like to wear clothing, but he has to because he has very little fur. He needs clothes that are super soft because of his lack of fur. I've found that commercial dog coats have very rough seams that irritate his sensitive skin.

• Cold wiener dog(s)
• Fabric - for this coat I used an old worn-out (the batting is showing in too many places) quilt that my Great Grandmother made. Just a factoid of interest: Granny Fricket used to quilt for other people and she would charge by how many spools of thread she used.
• Sewing stuff
• Measuring tape
• Velcro
• Binding
• Paper for pattern

Wiener dogs are an extreme case of selective breeding to create a dog strong enough to fight badgers and small enough to fit into a badger hole.

This is the pattern I made. PossumBean and OtterBean are both 14 pounds, so measure and adjust accordingly for your wiener dogs.

I made a binding from from fabric I cut on the bias and put through one of those binding folding contraptions made by Clover. I put a binding on because it really looks nice and being that it's a quilt it would be too bulky to hem.

You have to use bias-cut binding when you are using binding to go around curves. Otherwise you may use selvage to selvage cut fabric to make into binding strips. It is perfectly fine to use store bought bias binding instead of making your own. In the store it is referred to as "bias tape".

I used sticky-on-the-back Velcro for the tummy strap and neck strap, and I do not recommend it. The glue really gummed up my needle. The gummy gunk went up inside the machine and down into the bobbin case, it took a long time to clean and caused problems for weeks. Even if I had not taken the tape off of the Velcro it would've gotten the glue all over.

Even though it was days apart that I made these two coats for the dogs, strangely I made them just about identical. It was a coincidence that I placed the pattern on the quilt for Otter's coat in the same place as Possum's. Weird.

It's summer now but just wait, even Possum will appreciate his coat this winter.