Cuddly Couture

I like to call this one the "Going to Grandma's" skirt.  I do not have any kids, so instead, I have a rather silly dachshund.  She's about two years old now, and is smaller than our cats.  Since she only weighs about 10 pounds, she shivers and shakes if the temperature falls below sixty.  It's really quite pathetic.

And as it turns out, doggie clothes are somewhat pricey.  Twenty bucks for a sweater that's the size of a glorified sock?  I think not.  So shortly after I became a doggie mommy, I also became a doggie fashion designer.  I've knitted a few sweaters and such, that came out okay, but not great.  However, in the summer even my little weinie dog doesn't need to stay that warm.

Confession time: I dress up my dog because it's just frickin cute, and if that makes me a ridiculous Paris Hilton-esque dog fancier, so be it.

A few weeks ago, we were going to my fiancee's mother's house for Mom's Day, and being that she adores her 'grand-doggy,' I decided last minute to dress her up.

Usually, making very small clothes is actually fairly difficult.  This skirt, however, was a snap.  I took a foot-wide strip of lace fabric from the scrap box, and just folded it over, leaving the bottom layer a bit longer than the top.  This provided the tiered tutu look I was going for.  One seam up the fold, and the machine sewing was done.

The toughest part was threading the elastic through the waistband.  Since the fabric was lace, the elastic kept getting stuck on the holes, or pushed right through.  I ended up up digging out a crochet hook and pulling the elastic through with it.  It still wasn't the easiest, but it did the job.  A quick few stitches joining the elastic, and it was done.

I think getting it on my poor lil pooch took longer than making it in the first place!