tirsdag 10. april 2012

This might be an interesting journey!

I've been thinking of publishing this blog for some time. Many years ago I started writing a book about crafts and hobbies, but I never got quite serious about it. Now I'm embarking on a new journey with this in mind, together with you!
The starter of this particular journey was my desire to get som new friends since most of my very good friends had moved to other parts of the country. One consequence of this is that I've met a lot of nice, interesting and good hearted people that I love to spend time with. Along this prosess I've been persuaded by some of them to walk up (and down again :-) ) all the seven mountains that surround my city. Walking all of them in one go is considered the ulitmate manhood test where I live. For the "not so brave" ones there is a possibility to walk just four of them. I will walk them one at the time!
The first mountain was "Rundemanen" (568 meters above sealevel) and I had no idea of what I could expect. But I was told it was ok to bring my little dog, Poppy. Poppy is a chineese crested, so I thought this is a long walk, but it can't be too hard. I started to think I would like something else than a collar for my dog if she's to walk this far. Her neck is so thin and her skin so sensitive, I was afraid she would develop blisters  and that she would injury her neck since she's pulling quite hard on the leash... Yeah I know, I should teach her to walk properly on the leash! (That's another project).
So my first project became a harness for my dog!
Poppy's back is very long, and she's very skinny so nothing I've tried on her fits properly.
So, I went to the store and got my materials, thinking it would be cheaper than buying the ready stuff from the pet store, Oh'boy was I wrong....


Materials for the harness.
I chose to use denim for the outer shell of the harness, and some light cotton fabric for the lining. From the start I had a plan of making it a little "Hello Kitty" harness, but I wasn't quite sure of how that would turn out since Poppy is quite small.  At least I had materials for at least two pieces if the first attempt wasn't good... I also bought some pink and red bias tape to close the edges of the fabric with. For thread I chose the extra strong type for denim, I didn't want the harness to unravel on the top of the mountain







First step cutting the fabric. Previous to this I had made a pattern I thought would fit her quite well.
As you can see I've cut one piece of denim and one of light blue cotton. I've also made a strip to cover the base I used to strengthen the hold for the ring in the back of the harness.
One change I made later was to trim off the excess material in order to use the bias tape.




First attempt... I thought this collar was too bulky so I went looking in my storage cabinet  to search for some nicer fabric to use for the collar...








One hour later: This is a keeper!








The "skirt". I have a fundamental idea that my dog are not supposed to wear "human clothes". What she's wearing should be comfortable for her, and it should have a puropose! But, I couldn't resist the attempt to make this look like a cute little dress for her.




Almost there! Now I just have to close the bias tape and sew the edge to the fabric. I did this on the sewingmachine to get a stronger seam, even though I prefer to sew it by hand.
To finish this I put some broad velcroband on the front and on the strap going under her belly, making sure there was no pointy corners coming out to irritate her skin.




Finished! I'm quite content with the result, but I realized this would be no good for a long walk in the mountains... So, I had to make another, a little bit simpler. This time it would be very easy since I had already made all the mistakes with the first one!







This is "mom's little supermodel" seen in her new creation from the side. It's the first time ever she's been wearing a harness so she's a little bit timid, looking at me for some comfort :-)





The final result we used on the trip was this one without the skirt and collar. She moved beautifully in it and didn't pull on her leash as much as normal. Iwas pleased with her reaction, and the both of us were worne out from the trip.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this as  much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you like this blog I would like to see a comment from you. See you when I'm coming home from the trip to the second mountain.












3 kommentarer:

  1. Super start! Gleder meg til å følge den videre :-)
    Klem fra
    Anne-Mette

    SvarSlett
  2. Hei, så kjekt at du skal blogge! Selen er riktig søt ... Gleder meg til å se hva mer du tryller frem.
    Klem, Anne Lise

    SvarSlett

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