A Crafty Solution

I got a phone call from a friend yesterday. She was upset because her puppy, Jasper had to have a catheter put in for the second time since he ripped out the first one. (ouch!)  She tried to put one of the plastic E-Collars on him but said it just didn’t work.  I completely understood her frustrations as my two Rottweilers are ALWAYS able to somehow remove their collars and get at their compromised areas.  After explaining the situation she said she had a solution, but didn’t sew and would need help making it.  Of course my ears perked up. I always like a good challenge of making an item from scratch that I have never happened upon before.

The Mission, If I Choose to Accept It

The idea was to make a donut shaped doggy neck pillow that fastens. This way he can’t get to his catheter AND he is comfortable. I also might add, when my dogs wear the plastic E-Collar they lumber through the house smacking it loudly against everything and sometimes knocking things over. This “donut pillow” would solve that problem as well.  She sent me a quick picture via text about what she was looking for as far as the shape goes and some measurements of Jasper’s neck.

The Creation Comes to Life…After a Couple Tries

I set out that night with some silly left over fabric from the early 1990’s, a couple of small round key rings and my trusted sewing machine.  I first started out with a simple shape much like a Boppy nursing pillow. I realized after sewing it completely that it would be much too thin and Jasper would be able to reach right around it.  I trashed it and started over. I concluded that I would have to make it out of four pieces of rounded fabric rather than just two, so that it had more of a true cylinder shape.  I roughly drew the pattern right on the fabric, cut it out and got to sewing.  It turned out pretty good!  I added some finishing touches of velcro to keep the circle closed around the dogs neck and a D-Ring closure with a pull strap to tighten the circular pillow more and to act as a backup closure if the dog were to pull the velcro apart.  Here is a photo of the finished project as well as Jasper “the model” trying it on.

I’m glad I could help out my friend in need and her poor little pup.  It was a lot of fun figuring out how to make the pillow with my own “pattern.”  I like to know that I could make something like this for just a few dollars rather than have to buy it at the store for $20 plus!  Not only did it feel good to accomplish this task, but I am now prepped and prime for my next sewing adventure: transforming an old wedding gown into an heirloom flower girl dress once again using a pattern I drafted up myself! Stay tuned in for that one folks! ;)