Repurposing a sweatshirt into a dog hoodie

One trip to Salvation Army, and 90 minutes later, Brooke has a new sweatshirt!

$4.99 GAP sweatshirt

 I started with a Medium sweatshirt from the Salvation Army. You could use an old sweatshirt in your closet from your college days, or whatever suits your fancy. You just need to make sure the neck opening is large enough to fit your dog's head through without being too tight. I took Brooke's measurements before we went to Salvo, and I measured sweatshirts while I was shopping :)

First, I took off the hoodie kangaroo pocket because dogs wear hoodies with the back showing, not the front. You can see in the "before" picture that I took it off and set it aside to reattach on the backside later. Then, I cut up the side seams of the hoodie because I was going to tailor it to fit Brooke's chest.

Cut up the side seams. You can also use a seam ripper, but I'm too lazy ;)

Next, I put the hoodie on Brooke, and using safety pins, I pinned the sweatshirt along the sides to fit Brooke. She has a very large chest and a very skinny waist, like most hounds. I also tailored the sleeve opening to fit Brooke's skinny legs.

Doesn't fit quite yet!

Use safety pins instead of regular pins--your dog and fingers will thank you!

During this fitting process, you're going to be taking the sweatshirt on and off your dog a LOT. Brooke let me do it without too much hassle, but you may need to bribe your dog to stand still with some peanut butter and a Kong.

After getting all the pins situated, I cut the sleeves to the length I wanted, and cut the cuff to sew back on later.

Make sure your hoodie is flipped right sides together so you have nice edges when you flip it back the right way. I also replaced the safety pins at this point with straight pins to make it easier to follow while I sewed.

Brooke's after I sewed the sides back together, following my trail of straight pins

Flip your hoodie back the right way and trim the excess fabric. You may want to do a zigzag or blanket stitch to reinforce the stitching if your dog is rough on clothes.

This part is tricky. Make sure you have everything facing the right way for turning.

Now you're going to put the cuff back on the sleeve. The only way I can think to explain how to do this (and I usually mess it up at least once and have to rip the seams to redo it...) is make sure the hoodie itself is the right side out, and flip the cuff so it's inside out, and slip it (cuff-first) over the sleeve. Then you will sew all the way around the outer ring.

Ta-da!

Lining up the lines of this hoodie was a bit hard, but it looks okay.

So after the sides are sewn back up and the sleeves altered, it's time to put the kangaroo pocket back on. This is optional, but looks really cute if you add it back on. Just follow the lines, and make sure to NOT sew the pockets shut ;)

The moment of truth: trying the final product on your dog. Be sure to put her head in first, and then her front legs.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my first tutorial--I hope it inspires you to repurpose items in your home or Salvo for your pups :)