Pocahontas Puppy Costume Tutorial

Poca, our little 10 week old black lab puppy, is dressing up as Pocahontas for a pet costume contest on Saturday!  Isn't she adorable?  I snapped a few photos along the way in case anyone wanted to see how this was done.

My super scientific way of measuring Poca was to throw a kitchen towel over her back.  It was about the right width, and after folding it down some, I found the right length.  I then figured in parts for the neck straps.  Initially they were longer than this and after trying it on her we cut them down to the right length.

To sew on the fringe, I sewed the lighter fleece on in a bigger piece than I needed.  Cutting it afterwards was easier than trying to keep the two pieces lined up.

I cut the neck out and then flipped it over to cut the fringe.  Again, very exact measurements here... the fringe was about the length of my finger all the way around.  I just moved my finger along as I cut.

The bottom fringe was done in the same manner.  I sewed a piece on and then flipped it over and trimmed it to fit.

I used two KAM snaps for the neck and then put a snap on a piece of brown ribbon as well.  We pinned the ribbon in place and tried it on Poca to be sure it was going to fit well.

 She didn't seem to mind the outfit much, as it was comfy fleece.  You can see the snap placement here:

 I happened to have an Aqua Mommy Necklace that I threw on her just for a minute for the photo.  We had treats on hand to keep her from biting the necklace, and certainly wouldn't leave it on her unsupervised.  We had also considered finding her a turquoise collar as an alternative.

Add in her Kong Raccoon and she's all set!  Do you think she'll win?  Check back later this week to find out!  *She didn't win, but it was still lots of fun!  The kids got candy and apple cider, and Poca got lots of treats and some coupons to local dog stores.  We enjoyed seeing all of the creative costumes other dogs were wearing too!*