Dog Jacket

John,

Since my pup has 24/7 access to outside (unless temps are slated to dip below 30 degrees overnight), I bought her one of these: http://www.orvis.com/p/dog-blanket/6l6x

Works great. I'd be happy to 'open it up' and take a photo if that would help with the design.

Doug, that jacket design is almost exactly what I had in mind. I didn't know Orvis made dog jackets.

A photo of it opened up would be a great visual to help with the pattern.

Not sure if they make them or just sell them, but they actually have a lot of dog products. I get a catalog just of their pet offerings! My pup, the queen, has two of their tempurpedic beds!

Anyway, if you need a larger photo PM me with your email address and I'll send a higher res one to you.

Edit to add: it weighs 12 oz. in a size large.

Perhaps more helpful:

Awesome! Thanks, Doug! I think I have a starting point now.

I would use silnylon for both the inner and outer. It's slippery so won't get caught on anything or pick up much hair. I'm not a vet but I would think the lack of sweating would mean you don't need to worry about breathability.

Alternatively, you could think about just making a small quilt for her. I know others have quilts for their dogs.

…

If I used silnylon for both the inner and outer shells, then I don't think the jacket would loft or compress very well (the only place for air to escape would be the seams). I would have to sew on a patch of breathable fabric somewhere.

In my stash of fabric from previous projects, I only have enough material in M90 and silnylon. I think I am going to go all M90 to avoid any issues with trapping moisture inside. And use 5oz Climashield for the insulation.

I don't think making a dog jacket is MYOG, unless the dog made it.

It's one thing to make something for a child or spouse, it's another to make something for another species. ;-)

I believe I have a pattern made up now. The design is inspired by my current dog jacket, the jacket Doug posted pictures of, and some pictures of a dog jacket that And E made that he sent me. It simply goes over my dog's head, then a lower flap goes between the front legs (like a y-harness), and then it will attach via velcro to the upper layer on both sides. I am hoping it will give good back and belly coverage without being too constricting. I am thinking of adding in some elastic to the velcro side flaps, but not sure if it's necessary.

Here are some pictures of the pattern:

The top layer of fabric in this image is the belly flap while the bottom layer is the top of the jacket. The neck opening is formed by curving the two parts and then sewing along the left and right edges near the top.

Looking very nice. And what a sweet pup!

Cool project! I'm excited to hear how this goes as I was out recently with my dogs and the newest one is apparently a wuss when it comes to cold weather (started shivering when it was around 60 degrees). Living in florida this isn't a huge concern, but I prefer to do most of my hiking further north and had just started looking for a jacket for her to use on future trips. I may copy your layout here as it looks like a good design and not too tricky as I'm pretty terrible at sewing.

I may need to go with something a little more durable for the outer layer than m90 or silnylon though as my dogs are never careful with anything they do. Any thoughts on what a good fabric choice would be that is a little tougher and waterproof? Thanks.

I don't know about waterproof. I initially thought it might be good to use a waterproof material like silnylon, but concerns about trapping moisture in the insulation and concerns about it being unable to loft and compress made me choose a non-waterproof material. I plan on using M90 and 5oz Climashield simply because I have some small scraps left over from other projects (so the material won't cost me anything). That said, I think it should be fine for my dog's usage since it will mainly be worn in the tent when sleeping, and a couple small tears (if they ever happen) won't be the end of the world.

If I were buying new material, I would probably go with 1.9 oz breathable nylon with DWR for the outer shell, 1.1 oz breathable nylon or lighter for the inner shell, and still use 5 oz Climashield. If I felt like 1.9 oz nylon was not durable enough, I would likely just make the jacket out of some type of fleece, since the weight of all 3 layers would be approaching that of fleece.

Gotcha. I'll probably go with your recommendation. Thanks.

And E made a cool dog rain jacket out of this material:

http://diygearsupply.com/product/supplex-nylon-reflective-acu/

At 3.9 oz/sq yd it is getting kind of heavy, but I imagine the durability would be good, the water resistance high, and the reflectivity pretty cool. Maybe the weight difference between this and a lighter outer shell wouldn't be too significant for the amount of material a dog jacket would use.

Cool project John. Looking forward to the final product.

Ryan

I finished up the dog jacket yesterday using the pattern I posted above. I think it turned out pretty good. It fits my dog well and seems like it will be comfortable for her; it should be much warmer than her old jacket and it is much lighter for me to carry. Here is a material and weight summary, split up by the upper and lower halves of the jacket:

Upper part shell: black M90 (total weight = 1 oz)
Upper part insulation: 5 oz Climashield (total weight = 2 oz)
Lower part shell: gray M90 (total weight = 0.4 oz)
Lower part insulation: 3 oz Primaloft (total weight = 0.5 oz)
Elastic + velcro: 0.3 oz

Total finished weight: 4.2 oz!

All of the materials I used were just scraps from previous projects (M90 and Primaloft from my thru-hiker minima vest kit, Climashield from my MYOG quilt), so the cost of the jacket was low. I used Primaloft for the lower part of the jacket in order to save a bit on weight and bulk – my dog sleeps curled up in a ball, so I think bulkier insulation would just get in her way.

Here are some photos of the construction process (in case any one wants to follow) and of the finished product:

I sewed up the top piece in one go. From bottom to top, I layered the fabric as Climashield – M90 – M90 (put "good" faces of M90 facing each other). I then sewed around the perimeter (except at the top), then inverted the end product by pulling it through the top opening, and then closed off the top. Make sure to give yourself enough fabric allowance to invert it and account for the insulation:

I used the same process to make the bottom half:

I then sewed the top part to the bottom along the left and right edges:

In the middle of this great Fall day, I thought it appropriate to have a home-brewed pumpkin porter:

Here is the final product being modeled by my dog:

To secure the belly flap, I ended up using fixed elastic straps towards the front (they stretch enough to allow for some freedom of movement and to put her legs through) and then some velcro strips towards the back (3 inch horizontal strips, enough to keep the lower part loosely in place). It seems to work pretty well, creating a snug but not tight fit with minimal bulk:

General comments:

The fabric weights above show that a more durable outer shell would add around 2-3 oz (maybe less if you still used lightweight fabric for the inner shells)

Using less warm 2.5 oz Climashield for the upper would only save 1 oz

Main dimensions used to create the pattern were: length of dog, girth, and neck diameter

No cargo pockets?

Doesn't a dog need to be able to carry its own collapsible dog bowl and dog treats?

–B.G.–

This is seriously awesome. Really want to get a puppy now.
Maybe I could make something like that for my cats.

Looks awesome. Nicely done. I have never sewn anything with insulation or layers at all really. Is there any way you can elaborate on the layering/inverting it through the top/sealing it off process or maybe post a link that describes how this works. I think I get it, but I usually think the same when I start a project, only to later realize I was way off and spend way longer correcting my mistakes. Great final weight though and thanks for posting.

I don't remember where I learned that technique, but I'm sure it was somewhere here on the forums.

What I did was layer the material as shown in the picture below: insulation on bottom, then a layer of fabric, and then another layer of fabric. I made the "good" sides of M90 face each other. I then sewed along the pink line.

After sewing the pink line, I then reached in between the two layers of M90 (from the opening at the top), and inverted the whole thing. This leaves you with the insulation sandwiched between two layers of fabric and an opening at the top. To close the top opening, I just rolled over the fabric and sewed along the green line:

Thanks, that helps a bunch. Looking forward to giving it a shot.

Since making the dog jacket about a year ago, my dog's lost some weight, and now her jacket is a little too big (a good thing, vet said she was overweight before – her energy levels have skyrocketed now). I just finished sewing a Whitney Down Jacket kit from Thru-Hiker, so I decided to apply my new skills by making a down-insulated dog jacket: :) The down jacket is only slightly lighter than her synthetic jacket (which also used more durable fabric), but it packs down to 1/2 or 2/3 the size, which will make it even easier to carry. I might even be able to just stuff it in my sleeping back stuff sack. I initially anticipated she might be wearing the dog jacket outside the tent sometimes, but this never happened over the past year, so I think we should be okay using the lighter fabrics and down insulation. We'll see Some pictures: I think the down "wraps" better than the Climashield. With the elastic straps, the jacket fits snug but not tight. And, since I used scrap fabrics, her jacket now matches mine. Here's my Whitney down jacket kit (full-length #5 zipper, black M90 shell, green/yellow Membrane 10 liner, 5.7 oz 900 FP down, and 10.2 oz total weight): I messed up the collar somehow (think I sewed it on backwards), but it still works: