During the cold season, clothing for the Yorkshire Terrier must be present so that the dog feels warm and comfortable in it. Despite the fact that the breed originated from the northern part of Europe, namely from England, where the average air temperature in January-February is 4-5° below zero, it is decorative.
The pet spends most of its life at home and is not used to being in the cold. Having a dog outside during the rainy and snowy season becomes stressful for your Yorkie.
Why do dogs need clothes?
Pets, especially toy breeds, are susceptible to various colds. To protect your pet from cold and bad weather, you should think about what to wear for your Yorkie when going out in the fall-winter season.
Also, clothing serves as protection from dirt. You can’t bathe dogs every time after going outside, but buy a light overall made of raincoat fabric that can be washed.
The market now has a huge variety of different fur coats, sweaters and overalls for four-legged animals, the prices of which sometimes exceed the cost of clothing for Yorkie owners. But there is another option - to sew clothes with your own hands, using a design that best suits a particular dog and its size.
Should I buy it or make it myself?
Despite the fact that specialized stores have a very large selection of a wide variety of sweaters, T-shirts, pants, shorts and overalls, many prefer to sew clothes for their darlings themselves. It is completely in vain to think that this is being done for the sake of economy.
Sometimes this is correct, but it does not always serve as the main incentive to start working. The first reason pushing you to make your own is the fact that clothes for a Yorkie, created with your own hands, will become completely unique and inimitable. When walking with your pet, you definitely won’t see a dog wearing the same overalls on the street.
Types of clothing for Yorkies
Clothes for Yorkies can be sewn not only in the off-season, but also as a holiday outfit. For example, it is possible to make a dress for girls, and a T-shirt for boys.
Also in a small dog’s wardrobe there may be shoes, a raincoat, panties, a sweatshirt, a down jacket (vest or jacket), clothes with a hood, with ears, and so on. Yorkie outfits are made from various materials, depending on their purpose.
The most acceptable fabrics for sewing clothes for dogs:
- Fleece - from which pietas and sweatshirts are made. The good thing about the material is that it stretches and wears out slowly. The animal will feel comfortable in it, even with wet fabric, the material retains heat in any conditions.
- Cotton is the most popular material used for sewing dog clothing. Its advantages are that it does not fade in the sun, is soft to the touch and is breathable.
- Satin, artificial silk - used for linings. Thanks to its sliding properties, it is easily pulled onto the animal, so it is hemmed under winter clothing. The downside of the material is the accumulation of static electricity, you will have to buy an antistatic agent.
In addition to the listed types of fabrics, microfiber, polyester, and antibacterial fabrics are used. For the internal filling of overalls and jackets, padding polyester is suitable. The outer layer of winter clothes is sewn from raincoat fabric or Bolognese fabric.
You can also make knitted items for animals with your own hands. The choice of yarn depends on the preferences of the owner, the main thing is that it does not wrinkle, is easy to clean, does not fade, is breathable and absorbs moisture. Color and style are chosen at your discretion.
If you sew things for a little Yorkie at home, it can be done from old things that are still in good condition. The yarn is taken from the owner's unraveled sweater. Before knitting, the threads are evaporated over boiling water.
For boys
Sewing clothes for boys is different in terms of life-size patterns than creating similar items for girls. The overalls for a male dog should not completely cover the abdominal area so that the Yorkie can relieve himself without ruining the thing.
To sew a suit, you need to correctly calculate the size of the dog and transfer the measurements to the pattern using a pattern. The clasp should be in a place convenient for the owner so that it can be easily used while dressing the dog (on the back).
An alternative to a closed jumpsuit is a blanket; it comes with a hood and sleeves. This product is suitable for both sexes and is easy to put on and take off. The clasp is located on the abdomen. The blanket can be decorated with a side pocket.
For a small Yorkie, it serves as an addition; you can put a bone from dry food there. The pattern of a blanket without a hood and sleeves consists of one element, which requires knowledge of the volumes of the chest, neck, and body length of the Yorkie.
For girls
Sewing a dress for a girl's terrier with your own hands is very simple. In appearance, it is essentially a T-shirt sewn to an apron or skirt. At the same time, the dog does not feel constrained; the Yorkie has free space for its legs and can move around easily.
Let's look at how to sew a simple dress model with a detailed description. Based on this version, you can come up with your own options, decorating the Yorkie product with stripes, ruffles, bows and other additions.
To create the outfit, you will need fabric large enough to wrap around the dog's waist with some leftover for an extended hem, a baby tank top for a one-year-old, elastic thread, a sewing machine, and ribbons to create the ruffles.
Operating principle:
- measure the Yorkie's waist and the distance from it to the tail;
- transfer the dog’s measurements onto the fabric;
- fold the material in half and cut out the design with scissors;
- decorate the resulting piece with ruffles. To create them, take three ribbons and sew on a machine with an elastic thread along the center of each of them;
- sew ruffles to the main pattern;
- for the top, take a children's T-shirt, maybe with a print, cut it in half and sharpen the edge;
- sew top and bottom;
- add a belt to cover the transition from the T-shirt to the skirt;
- the dress is ready.
You can also make a flared sun for a Yorkie girl. To do this, you need to cut out a large circle on the fabric, and inside it also outline a circle corresponding to the size of the dog’s waist. Sew an elastic band or a belt with ties to the inner oval. Sharpen the edges, decorate with beads, seed beads or lace. A smart skirt for a little fashionista is ready.
Basic jumpsuit pattern
Any step-by-step instructions describing how to sew a jumpsuit for a dog with your own hands are based on the basic model, that is, without sleeves and legs.
Materials:
Instructions:
This model can be complemented with sleeves and “pants”. To do this, we cut out 4 rectangles, slightly round one narrow part, and, stitching along the edges, sew them into the armholes. We reinforce the cuffs with an elastic band.
How to choose the right clothes for your pet?
If the dog owner decides to purchase a factory-made outfit for his four-legged friend, he should know about the intricacies of choosing dog clothing. First of all, you need to think about the comfort of the animal, and only then about beauty.
If it is not possible to try on clothes for a Yorkie, especially when purchasing online, then it is enough to know the dog’s parameters, including the following criteria:
- girth of the widest part of the Yorkie's neck;
- distance from withers to tail;
- the volume of the dog’s chest and waist (plus 5 free centimeters);
- length of paw to big toe.
When choosing clothes in a store where you can touch and inspect them, as well as try them on, you should heed the advice.
What you should pay attention to when buying an outfit for a small dog:
- Determination of fabric quality. You need to wrinkle the material and see if the design cracks. Low-quality dyes, when exposed to moisture and sun, stain the animal’s fur.
- Location of seams. The internal stitching should not stick out too much, rub or hurt the dog.
- Unnecessary decorations. It is better to exclude additional pockets, belts, and a hood that do not provide functionality from the Yorkie’s wardrobe; such accessories interfere with the dog’s walking.
- Choice of clasp. If the dog has long hair, it is better to choose clothes with buttons or Velcro, for example, Yorkie hairs often get caught in the zipper. For trimmed dogs, any type of fastener is suitable.
What you need
To successfully sew, it is enough to have minimal skills; school labor lessons will suffice. A lot of patterns for all styles and needs: from underpants (for girls during heat) to a decorative dress (in which you can even go to a fashionable exhibition) will allow you to create with your own hands any ideal image of a Yorkshire terrier.
Knitting
For knitting, it doesn’t matter too much which tool you use.
Mostly, warm thick sweaters, hats and jackets are knitted, and hooks are used to make lighter, summer and spring versions of the same dresses. With a little practice, you can even move on to boots and shoes with seals on the soles.
Knitted models are truly rare and you won’t find a quality item at a reasonable price in regular pet stores. By adding a little more creative imagination, it is possible to even try something complex and designer for the holiday.
Yorkies are not ordinary dogs; they have rather long hair that rolls off into ugly, sloppy hairs, causing discomfort to the pet.
So for a Yorkshire terrier, you should not use a clothing pattern for a dog of any breed. As a last resort, you need to mark and sew a small indentation for possible friction.
A nice plus is that absolutely any pattern is the same: both for sewing and for knitting with your own hands. This makes it possible to find a significant amount of clothing online, in addition to those described below.
How to train your pet to dress up?
In order for a dog to wear purchased or made clothes, the Yorkie must be slowly and patiently accustomed to this. An animal that has never tried on a suit perceives a new thing as a foreign thing and wants to get rid of it.
At first, the Yorkie may pull and bite what he is wearing, but over time he will get used to it and will accept the clothing normally.
Getting used to wearing an outfit is the same as the process of training a Yorkie. To help your dog get used to clothes faster, you should follow some tips:
- When putting a suit on a pet, the owner should behave with restraint, not be nervous and not tell the dog in an orderly tone to sit still. This will scare the little animal. A stern voice will be perceived by a Yorkie as if the owner is dissatisfied with the pet's behavior.
- If a dressed terrier freezes and cannot move, you should not calm the dog down. Such a tone will be perceived as approval of such behavior.
- To distract your dog from the discomfort, you can start playing with your Yorkie so that he does not react to the discomfort.
- The dog's first clothing should be sleeveless. It will be easier for York to get used to it. To begin with, it is better to let the dog walk around in a mini vest.
- When teaching a puppy to wear clothes, you should put on clothes for 15-20 minutes, gradually increasing the time your Yorkie stays in the outfit.
Couturier for four-legged fashionistas
Many needlewomen decorate clothes for their Yorkies with additional elements - beads, rhinestones, fabric bows, thereby turning their pet into a colorful fairy-tale prince or princess. Recently, there are even special fashion shows for small dogs, where you can see the most daring and original ideas.
Once they start sewing or knitting clothes for their pets, many can’t stop. In this case, you can easily organize your own tailoring shop for four-legged fashionistas. Moreover, the demand for it is growing every year. Who knows, maybe, starting with the necessary winter overalls, you will become a famous couturier and will dress celebrity favorites.
Clothing for Yorkies, regardless of whether it is knitted or sewn, should in no case hinder the movements of active children or interfere with the fulfillment of natural needs. Also, when sewing, you should use natural materials that will not cause irritation to sensitive skin.
Source
We knit and sew ourselves
Even complex wardrobe items for decorative dogs can be sewn or knitted yourself. To do this, you need to focus on standard patterns, adjusting the size of the animal.
Professionals can easily make a down jacket and trousers in three layers for a pet. And for beginners who decide to test their tailoring talents, we offer patterns for beginners.
You can sew clothes for your dog from old things. Making a t-shirt for a Yorkie from the children's version is very simple. You just need to adjust the size to the dog and reduce the chest part.
You can make a sweater for your Yorkie from an old knitted stocking by attaching short sleeves and a collar.
Pattern and sizes
By grasping the dog with a tailor's meter, you can determine its parameters yourself. But there are cases when the dimensions of the animal are established approximately or only the breed and approximate weight are known. A table of clothing sizes, which is used to purchase things through online stores, will help with this.
The sizes, as in humans, start with the smallest S and end with XXXL for large dogs. In this case, we need the size for the Yorkshire Terrier, based on weight, the dog falls under S, L and M.
Another definition system is designated by numbers from 8 to 18. Yorkie sizes correspond to sizes 8-12.
Having indicated the required length of the lines for the pattern, it is necessary to transfer the drawings onto tracing paper (preferably) so as not to spoil the fabric in case of incorrect calculations. Having adjusted it to perfection, transfer the drawing to the material. On the pattern pieces, indicate in letters the places that need to be connected: Sew A-B of one part to A-B of the other, and so on.
Ready-made life-size pattern diagrams for the Yorkshire Terrier.
Dog fashion: whim or necessity?
Among owners of large breeds of dogs and those who do not have animals at all, you can often find people who are quite skeptical towards owners of small and medium-sized pets: they say, dress up the animals like dolls! Meanwhile, this approach is not entirely fair. Artificially bred small breeds are very cold, and in the warm season they are more susceptible to insect and tick bites than others. Therefore, dog fashion is rather a necessity rather than a whim of loving owners. The most popular and comfortable outfit for a dog is a jumpsuit, and cutting and sewing it is easy even for an ordinary person.
Knitted clothes for Yorkies
In the world of craftswomen, there are ready-made designer models for creating dog things. You can knit any product, from a simple cap to a jumpsuit with a complex pattern.
First you need to decide on the yarn. It is better to use mixed types of threads, since each of them has its own disadvantages.
For example, knitted clothes made from 100% wool quickly stretch out and collect pills, synthetics accumulate electricity, and cotton is too cold on its own.
In order to calculate the required number of loops, you should make a small sample and multiply the resulting number of 1 cm by the desired length.
To knit a sweater, the dog needs to know the volume of the Yorkie's neck, chest, waist, distance from the withers to the front paw and the length along the back from the right leg to the left. First you need to make the upper part according to the standard pattern, then the chest. Next - sleeves, and at the end make a collar. The photo shows popular models for Yorkies.
Knitting a jumpsuit for a terrier is easier than it seems. First, the body is made, then the sleeves for the Yorkie’s limbs are knitted. When creating a jumpsuit, reaching the waist line, you should leave room for the genitals of the cable. Below is a diagram of a simple costume model for a Yorkie.
We knit a blanket for a dog. This type of wardrobe is the most basic. The entire part is knitted with a continuous thread, at the end you can extend the collar and decorate the blanket with buttons.
Creating stylish clothes for small dogs is a fun hobby that can be turned into your own business. Many owners of four-legged friends will be interested in purchasing elegant, warm and elegant wardrobe items for their pets.
Pattern drawing
On a large sheet of paper we draw the first rectangle - the future sleeves of the overalls, the sides of which will be:
If you want to make the sleeves wider, add 3 cm to each side. Draw a small smooth curve along the top of the figure.
We draw the following rectangle for a clothing pattern for Yorkies, which, in fact, will be the basis of the clothing. Its parties are considered to be:
At the same time, a few more centimeters should be added to the width, which will make the overalls freer and not restrict the movement of an active Yorkie. Next, across the entire width of the pattern, starting from its upper left corner and to its very bottom, measure the length of the half-circumference of the neck, add a few centimeters, thereby ensuring free movement of our pet’s head, and mark point A there. After this, divide the length of the back into three equal segment and measure one third from the lower right corner in the left direction, put point B there. We connect both points placed with a line, this line will be under the dog’s chest. In addition to point B, draw a line connecting it to the right corner. Near line AB we cut out holes for the paws.
T-shirt
More like decorative clothing for a four-legged animal, the lightweight T-shirt has a very simple sewing pattern and is suitable for training before more serious tasks. The easiest option for a Yorkshire Terrier pattern is to alter a children's T-shirt.
Having cut on both sides according to the size of the chest circumference (taking into account the processing of the seams), the T-shirt is sewn to the new parameters on the sides, altering the collar if necessary. In this style, there will be sleeves only for the front legs. The finished product can be easily decorated with rhinestones, sequins and similar elements.
Materials
A do-it-yourself dog costume is made from several parts, otherwise it can be complemented with accessories and decorations.
- Fabric membrane. This is a surface material that protects the dog from rain or snow. It is necessary, since the slightest getting wet in cold weather can lead to illness. For example, clothes for a Toy Terrier should be warmer, since they have little fat and hair.
- Lining. Both synthetic and natural materials can be used as lining. Sintepon is universal. Inexpensive, but hypoallergenic insulation that does not cause allergies or irritation in dogs. An incorrectly chosen lining can even cause fur shedding. Felt or fluff is also acceptable, but only if the dog can easily tolerate them.
- Clasps. These can be buttons, snaps, Velcro. But it is preferable to use a regular zipper. Buttons do not tear out wool, but at the same time it is not always convenient to fasten them. The buttons may open if the dog is active or overweight. Velcro quickly becomes clogged with hair and dirt, so they need to be cleaned constantly. The zipper allows you to fasten your clothes tightly and quickly. The only thing is that it can pinch the wool, so it is better to sew 2 pieces of fabric under it.
Additionally, you can sew in various accessories. Often, a dog costume for a boy is sewn by hand with an additional collar. This way it doesn’t get lost and is always on the pet.
Patterns for dogs of small breeds, especially those with smooth hair, should preferably be used with powerful insulation. Synthetic winterizer is not always suitable; here it is better to choose Alpolux. For the off-season, a single-layer fabric is suitable. In this case, you need 2 types of clothing: natural fabric and water-repellent. With them you can not be afraid of heat and rain.
Vest
Practical against dirt, bad weather and cold, easy to sew with your own hands and does not impede the movements of the Yorkie.
The most affordable option is a single piece of fabric on the stomach, fastened at the back. You will need measurements of the chest circumference at the widest point (immediately behind the elbows) and the length of the back. To create a lining, you will need to re-create a denser lining. All pattern pieces are overlocked along the edges and sewn so that the elements of the back and tummy match. If desired, the design can be modernized with sleeves for the front paws, an elastic band can be sewn into the base, a small knitted collar can be cut out, a hood with an elastic band - there are a lot of modifications, if you have the skills and desire to create a varied, colorful and multifunctional wardrobe for the dog.
blanket
The simplest clothing for a dog with your own hands is a blanket that protects the back and sides from strong winds and frost.
It would be practical to leave some space and sew on Velcro or fasteners for an insulated removable lining (this will turn the blanket into a demi-season option). To make it, it is enough to know the results of measurements of the back length and neck circumference. There are two options: a blanket made of two parts (sew along the measurement line, leaving a little free space for the seam), a blanket made from a single piece of fabric (in this case, the fold lines and the size coincide). At the withers, the back is sewn with a collar equal to the circumference of the neck.
A belt in the shape of the letter T, sewn to the lower edge of the collar, will hold the clothes on the pet; for a more reliable fixation, you can sew a smaller collar for the tail (you will need to additionally measure there too).
Knitted option
The knitted version of the blanket with your own hands has several features. You should start with a circular collar, 2-3 loops in each centimeter. Having finished the required length, you need to close about a third.
Necessary materials
To sew a jacket for a dog the size of my little wolf Jackusik (back length 30 cm, weight 7.5 kg), you will need the following materials:
- Membrane fabric (0.5 meters with a fabric width of 1.5 meters).
- Backing stitch (0.5 meters).
- Detachable zipper (along the length of your dog’s back + collar length). The length of my zipper is 45 cm.
- Linen elastic (0.5 meters).
- Round hat elastic (0.5 meters).
- Four small eyelets.
- Four latches.
You can see how to sew a jacket for a dog with your own hands on our YouTube channel. I tell you in detail and show all the main sewing points.
Step-by-step sewing instructions
To make a comfortable cut, just follow the step-by-step instructions:
- First you need to take all measurements. How to take them was described earlier.
- Now you need to make a pattern. You can come up with it yourself, but the ready-made solutions described below will also work.
- All edges need to be stitched. It is advisable to mark the seams before doing this so as not to make a mistake with the dimensions. If the pet feels well, you can go through the final line.
- Clothing is decorated to taste.
You can also make your own dog shoes. It is done similarly to the pattern. Often it does not have a sole, since dogs do not need it.
It is possible to make a warm jacket that is needed in winter. To do this you need:
- Take measurements and make a pattern.
- The hood is sewn to the back of the neck. It must match the size of your pet's skull.
- The visor is placed so that it does not interfere with the dog. Sheathed in an arc.
- Its straight part is sewn to the hood.
- On the sleeves you need to stitch the cuffs and insert an elastic band.
You can see photos of dog clothes below.
Small dogs are often found with young stylish girls; they are often carried in their arms or in a small purse. But for such a pet it is also necessary to have at least a minimum amount of clothing for different weather conditions. You can dress your Yorkie in stores, but it’s much more pleasant to make decorations for your pet yourself according to your taste. Therefore, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with a step-by-step description of how clothes for a Yorkie are made in various ways with your own hands.
Regardless of which model is needed, before you start working, of course, you need to take measurements.
