Handmade Holidays for Sophie: Cold Weather Dog Booties

DIY Cold Weather Dog Booties

It was cold -- really cold before Christmas this year.  -11F with -35F wind chills where I live in WI.   Even my well-endowed, snow-loving Newfie did not want to go outside for long in those conditions.  We take a much abbreviated walking route in inclement weather like that, but she still needs to go out ...  Even at 6F, she lifts her feet.  

A few weeks before, she found a lost dog bootie in the park and brought it home, as if to say, "Why can't I have these, too?"  So I embarked on the research to make her a set for Christmas.

Here is the video that seemed the most helpful--esp. since she claimed that her version stays on dog's feet:

 

How to Make the Best Dog Boots Ever by PetPrepper. 

She shows how to add the reinforcement fabric (Toughtec or ultrasuede) to the top and bottom.  It's good to have that on the top, too so the claws don't poke through.

She uses simple square / rectangle shapes for the patterns.  And she offers different cut sizes which is helpful when your dog is of unusual size.

Sher also offers help in fitting them to your dog, and advice on not making them too tall.

Making Dog Booties, a Sewing Tutorial - Stitches by Julia

I thought Julia had a nicely-shaped pattern, which I enlarged by 150% to make it work for a 120-pound Newfie.  I wanted a bigger target than the reinforced circle her pattern offered, which is where the PetPrepper pattern worked a little better for me and my very large dog.  Julia also offers some advice for getting your dog to wear them.

After doing the research (including taking some measurements from the Newfie herself that involved tracing her foot at rest, and in the splayed out sitting position), I gathered my supplies:  I went to St Vinnies, and got some affordable fleece, some ultra-suede from my mom's stash, and asked my husband for the velcro ties to tame computer cords -- which he had in abundance.  And then I retreated to my sewing room to put it all together.

2 Dog Booties:  The one on the left side shows the bottom view -- That would be the part in contact with the ground.  It has a bigger patch of ultrasuede for gription and reinforcement.

The one on the right shows the top view with the smaller reinforced patch on the top side, along with the velcro attachment point.

You can also see the tapered shape in this pattern.  The fleece stretches in the width direction with makes it a little easier to get them over a big foot.

We still need to try them out, but so far so good.  They fit!  Of course, now it's quite a bit warmer, and she doesn't need them, but they are here and ready for when it gets cold again--and it will!

Update on January 31: 

It's been frigidly cold again, and we had the chance to test Sophie's new booties.  The temp was about 4F.  We did our usual evening walk about 1 mile through the neighborhood.  I was amazed that 

1) She let us put them on her feet, and 

2) that they stayed on her feet for the duration of the walk.  She had a spring in her step and wasn't bothered by salty sidewalks or the cold.  At one point in the walk, we have a choice to take a shorter walk and go home or take the longer route, and Sophie chose the longer route through the park and snow.    

Bottom Line: They worked marvelously, and they stayed on her feet!

Day at Loon Lake Quilt is Complete!

 

Day at Loon Lake Quilt

 

Complete with the label in the lower right corner.  This style of label is easily readable by flipping up the corner.

 

 

On the label, I made note of the wool batting -- in case anyone int he future thinks they want to wash it. 

I have to say that I was really impressed with this Quilter's Dream Wool Batt.  I am looking forward to working with it again - on a bed quilt.

 

The pattern is by Nancy Davis Murty for Bee Creative Studios. 

This quilt has been at least 15 years in the making, so the pattern will be hard to find.

Here's a close-up of each block (for the record):

 

Quilting from the back side.

Other posts about this quilt:

Quilting Deep Water on the Loon Lake Quilt (2022)

Quilting the Elements: Air and Water (2022)

Next Steps on The Loon Lake Quilt (2022)

A Few Small Repairs on the Loon Lake Quilt: Replacing the Misfit Log (2021)

Day at Loon Lake Quilt Top is Complete! (2020)

Day at the Lake Quilt is coming along -Top Third is Done - Turtle and Perch Blocks Done (2020)

Progress on The Loon Lake Quilt (2017)

Thread Painting at Lake Lucerne Quilt Camp 2016 : Part 2 (2016)

Progress on Day at Loon Lake Quilt (2016)

Resurrection of Day at Loon Lake Quilt (2016)

A Christmas Surprise

My friend, Nancy made this lovely painted mosaic rock in response to the cranberry coverlet I posted a few weeks ago.  I love it!

It has a subtle texture where the paint dots are slightly raised. She studied the whig rose pattern, got out some graph paper and managed to translate a flat 2D pattern onto the curved surface of a 3D rock.  That is no small feat!  She said it was a challenge, but made it work.  I'm so pleased!

This my new favorite paperweight in my office at work.

Thank you, Nancy, for the thoughtful and practical gift.  I'm glad my arts-and-craft explorations are influencing your art.  That is the highest compliment!

Happy Holidays, My Friend!

Quilting Deep Water on the Loon Lake Quilt

 

 I was stuck on this project the last few weeks, wondering what to do with the underwater blocks.  I concluded that my first choice of water motif (a seaweed-y feathery design) was not going to work so well.   I realized the water surface and sky blocks seem to be to pressed down, not letting the puffy wool batt do it's thing, providing raised areas around the many objects in this quilt.  So I had to re-group and come up with Plan B.

Surfing the web one day, I stumbled across this commercial quilt, and I thought would be a good choice -- easy to do, and reflecting the water reeds and grasses.

 

So I laid out the quilt and took some thrums (leftover strings from weaving that are otherwise too short to keep, but still manage to be useful) and laid them out where I wanted the stitching.  

 

Then I chalked a line next to the strings.  Chalk is the best marking took in this case because it stays on long enough to get the stitching done, and easily brushes off afterwards, leaving no permanent marks.

 

The next task is to stitch on those chalked lines.  

Since these were more or less straight-ish lines with slight curves, I used a regular foot, though I think I would have been happioer with the good ol' free-motion foot. 

Here are some of the results:

 

Nice and open stitching, while allowing the wool batt to do it's thing underneath ...

 

... making it look 3D.

I also finished the gravel at the bottom of the quilt, so hopefully, I'll be able to do the binding during Christmas week!

Looking forward to another finish!

Compass Work Coverlet in Blue and White

One last coverlet!  I think this pattern is known as Compass Work.  This pattern is also sometimes called Patriot's Knot or Young Lover's Knot.  Although it's a circular motif, it's different from the Whig Rose patterns I shared earlier.

I'd be surprised if this one really does date back to the mid-1800s. It feels much softer, more like the 1940s coverlets.  But maybe ...?

I love the stripe along the border, but this appears on 1 side only. 

This shot also shows the front side contrasted with the back where the positive and negative values are reversed.  It's subtle in this pattern, but it's there.

 

It has a center seam about 1/3 from one side, but it's not in the center.

Also there's a spot where the blue yarns fell away.  This spot is immediately noticeable when I spread it out.  The seller failed to mention this in the ebay listing, but, oh well.  The rest of it is in remarkable shape, and this is only really visible on 1 side of the coverlet.

 

Here's a closeup of the damaged spot.

 

 

The damaged spot from the flip side, where is is not quite as noticeable.

 

 

Here is the damaged compass, next to a normal one.  You can see the broken blue pattern threads, and the missing middle values in the center cross.

 

Detail shot of a compass.

 

 

  The reverse side of a compass wheel in this coverlet.

 

Here's the pattern draft, if you wanted to weave this one.

I think I'm done buying antique coverlets and quilts for a while now.  I'm running out of room for storage and display spaces!  

Indigo Blue & Cream Antique Coverlet in 3 Panels

Antique Wool Coverlet in Indigo Blue and Cream

Yup!  Another antique wool coverlet purchase on eBay.  I'd been watching this one for a while last summer, not bidding, and not wanting to buy it outright, so I made the seller an offer that I didn't think would fly -- and then my offer was accepted and I got this one, too.

It was sold in 3 panels, I think because they don't quite match up if you wanted to sew them together.  That's ok by me. I am more interested in studying it anyway!  This is a lighter weight coverlet compared to the heavier double weaves-- but also heavier than the Goodwin Guild coverlets.  And scratchier like some of the older coverlets can be.

I have not yet identified the pattern, either.  Does anyone recognize it?  I may see the drafts in my travels, but it's hard to tell what it will look like woven up with the repeats. 

Each panel is about 25-26 inches wide.  That's about what I can do on my own loom.

  

I wanted to study it, so I don't mind that it's in 3 panels.   I believe this one is old. It's in  the classic indigo blue and white colors everyone recognizes.  In part -- I wanted to know if the indigo-dyed fibers smelled like indigo? [Not that I can tell at this point.  Sometimes you find a pair of denim jeans that has that indigo smell ...]

How well do the panels match up?  I was wondering if that's why this one was in pieces--because they did not match up very well, so the maker left them in pieces.  Or was it sewn together at one time, and the seams fell apart well before the weaving did?

How does the pattern repeat break in the panels?  The width of the panels seems to match my loom, so this is something I might have been able to do -- which is helpful when I'm trying to re-create something. 

As a side note: 

My husband asked me where this interest in coverlets came from.  He thought it came out of the blue ...  When I thought about it, it stemmed from  quilting, and going to Laura's quilt show and seeing the bed turning with the antique quilt tops that she and Pat S. and other collect ... I thought I could start collecting some of the key quilt patterns I may never get around to making myself ...  and in searching eBay and etsy, some of these coverlets popped up along the way.  

Also, making the bath towels earlier this year made me piece together panels in order to make it wide enough to be usable. That went so well, it opened up a world of other possibilities for me--like coverlets!

There are some important similarities between quilting and weaving coverlets:

• They both cover beds.
• They keep people warm.
• They are home made - though with weaving you can make ALL of it right down to spinning the yarn from the sheep you raised yourself.
• They can be valued as keepsakes and heirlooms.
• Some of the patterns in the coverlets are laid out like quilt blocks.

Someone on one of the Weaving Groups said that making coverlets in the early days was an act of dissidence against the English government and colonialism.  People did not want to be so dependent on England, so they broke the chains of economic colonialism by making their own homespun cloth and coverlets -- even though they could have purchased English textiles for much less.  It was an act of patriotism for American weavers to make their own textiles.  The technology for a time was tightly held by The English / British Crown, so that the colonies would not break out on their own.  See that dependence clause again?  The patterns that American weavers came up with were pretty amazing, too -- A blossoming of creativity -- and many designs for 4-shaft looms!  

I would like to bring some of these to Quilt Guild some night and show a coverlet during Show & Share, so that people can see how similar these two past-times are.  As far as I know, I'm the only quilter who weaves at LSQG.