Well, the dog is ready for Halloween. A few weeks ago we brought Tovi to the Connecticut Renaissance Faire, and everyone had such kind words to say about her Master Splinter Costume. We won tickets to return to the fair later this season, and I can’t have my pup wearing the same outfit twice.
Even though Tovi looks a lot like a giant martial arts rat, not a lot of people recognized her last time. I thought that maybe this time around I would make her a more classic costume; something widely known, and appropriate for a renaissance fair theme.
I came up with the idea for Little Red Riding Hood while on one of our daily walks, pondering my dog’s appearance and similarities to characters in popular culture. She looks like a wild animal. She kind of looks like a wolf. A big bad wolf? A wolf that ate grandma? She’d never let me put a bonnet on her head for more than a minute. But other’s have crossed the costume of red and the wolf countless times. Perfect. She would be Little Red. That hood is unmistakable and so easy to make.
But I couldn’t just make her a red hood. She needed a whole gown to go underneath it. I had just the right remnants of fabric for a doggie bodice and chemise with bias-tape laces and little bows to accent. The whole thing is of course one piece, and I made the arm holes extra big for easy on-and-off. Arm holes are her least favorite part of all the clothes I put her in. I had to taper the skirt to be more narrow as it got longer so she doesn’t step/pee on it. But you can’t tell when it’s on.
For the hood I was so lucky to actually already have a cape-let cut to this exact size and shape leftover from some other project, with enough extra matching fabric to make an over-sized (to a dog) hood. She’s got a lot of ear to stuff in there.
The tie in the front is faux, and the hood just slips over her head in one piece. No scratchy velcro or fasteners that might come undone.
When everything was finished and ironed, we had a little photoshoot, which she sat for moderately well with the help of a cookie bribe. This little girl is ready for a walk in the woods.
