Dog Sweater Out of an Old Hoodie (with Pattern)

I love making a dog sweater out of an old hoodie, because all the parts that you need are already there (e.g. sleeve cuffs, bottom ribbing, hood that can be transformed into the collar...). No need to buy anything extra or worry about things like cutting on the cross-grain for the cuffs/ribbing.

Thanks to that, making this sweater is easy and doesn't take long (around 1 to 2 hours, I'd say). On top of that, it's a nice way to repurpose that sweater you haven't worn in years.

1. Sewing machine
2. Yarn, needles, scissors, etc.
3. An old hoodie (can also be one with a zipper)
4. Printer to print the pattern

In attachment I have added few different sizes of this same pattern. To find the right size for your dog, measure from the neck down to roughly where the tail starts in standing up position.

Hopefully one of the sizes works for your dog. If not, please let me know in the comments, I can add more sizes if needed (these are automatically generated with a personal python project in Github, for more details see this Instructable).

I have made this pattern multiple times for different dogs and so far it has worked every time. I just needed to sometimes fit it on and make some small darts here and there to make it fit better. So far, I have made this sweater for...

1. My smaller dog Chip, around 37cm back length - S size
2. My slightly bigger dog Mandy, around 46cm back length - M size
3. The dog of a friend that was again slightly bigger, around 53cm back length - L size

In this Instructable I am making the sweater for Mandy, so I have been using the M sized version of the pattern.

I decided to use the sweater we were giving at my high school graduation (a VERY long time ago). I knew I would never wear it again, but also I can not throw it away because it has way too much emotional value for me.

If you are tight on how much fabric you are going to need, you can also choose to remove the thread and take the hoodie apart more elegantly. But since I do not need that much fabric for Mandy anyways, I just cut the parts I need. This means: cutting the arm cuffs, the bottom cuff, the sleeves and the hood off. Cut the hoodie so in the end you have:

1. Hoodie
2. Body part (back and/or front)
3. Sleeves
4. Sleeve cuffs (keep them circular!)
5. Bottom ribbing

If you are using a hoodie with a zipper, you could take the zipper out and keep it for a future project (never bad to have an extra zipper laying around).

Pick whatever part of the hoodie you like most and pin the pattern of the back and the front part on top. Beware that both parts have a fold! It's indicated on the pattern. Cut out with around 1/1.5 cm extra for the seam.

I cut the back part of the dog sweater out of the back of the hoodie and the front part out of one of the sleeves.

Put the front on top of the back with the good sides facing each other and pin the shoulders and sides to each other. Sew all 4 parts. Optionally, you can overlock the seams or use a zigzag stitch on the edges for a more finished touch.

I used a news paper version of the pattern and I completely forgot that it actually had darts (the little triangles). Luckily, I did found a picture of the last time when I did it.

If your dog looks similar to Mandy (see picture), sewing the darts would probably make it fit a little better. I usually make some darts around the armholes, the neckline and some on the bottom part to fit better over the rounded chest (see pattern).

You can follow the darts on the pattern, however, it would be even better to fit the body part you just sew in step 5 on to your dog and see where it could use some adjustments.

This time I forgot to make them, and it still works out and looks acceptable. But I think it definitely looks nicer with a little bit of customisation.

The nice thing of using the old hoodie is that the sleeve cuffs are basically ready to use. In my case they were a bit tight for the arm holes, but since the material stretched well, it worked out fine.

What I find helpful is making a small cut on the opposite side of the seam and then two more small cuts halfway in between. Then, if you make make four equally spaced cuts on the arm hole as well, it makes it easier to correctly pin the cuff and the arm hole together (cuts on top of each other).

Pin the cuff to the armhole with the good sides facing each other. This can be a bit difficult because of the stretch, but don't worry, you can pull the fabrics tight once you are sewing. No need to spend too much time pinning (I only used four pins).

Repeat this step for both arm holes.

Measure how long the circumference of the bottom of your dog sweater is. For me this was 82 cm. Since the ribbing stretches, we can make it a bit shorter than the full 82 cm. It will look better when it is slightly tighter.

I made the ribbing 90% of the bottom circumference (= 0.9 x 82 ≈ 74 cm) and I added 2 cm for the seam, since we will be sewing the ribbing together into a circle.

Sew the ends of the bottom ribbing together. Pin the ribbing to the bottom of the sweater (on the good side) and stitch.

Measure the circumference of the neckline of your sweater (same way as we did in the step 7 for the bottom ribbing). For me, this was 47 cm. Since the collar is going to come from the hoodie which has a fold (so it's a double layer), I measured that I needed to cut 23.5 cm + a little extra for the seam. I cut 25 cm from the hoodie to be on the safe side.

Note: if your hoodie still has a drawstring (unlike mine, sadly), take it out before cutting! We will need it in the last step. Since I am missing mine I will use some other string I had laying around instead.

Sew the ends of the collar together. For a more finished look, you can overlock the seam or use a zigzag stitch (as this seam might be quite visible). Pin the collar to the neckline (good sides facing each other) and stitch.

Cut small holes next to seam of the collar. Now take the drawstring of your hoodie or another kind of string that you have laying around, and attach a safety pin to one of the ends. With the safety pin you can easily manoeuvre the string through the channel of the hoodie. Do this until it comes out on the other side.

If you are still motivated, you can add an extra stitch around the seams of the bottom ribbing. Simply stitch once more on the good side of the sweater, around 2-3mm next to the seam.

I did it, because it stops the ribbing from curling up.

Now your dog can enjoy your new creation :)