Well we finally finished decorating our Christmas tree, so I’m happy to say that Santa can come now. December always seems to fly by, especially this year when I have an extra long list of crafts I want to finish by Christmas. To keep me in the spirit, I’ve been listening to a lot of Christmas music lately and “My Favorite Things” from Sound of Music is one that comes up frequently. A lot of the things she sing about seem so arbitrary yet so poetic. I have a similar list of arbitrary things that I conjure up when I’m feeling down or scared. Here’s a snapshot of mine.
- my sewing machine
- yoga
- laughing babies
- flannel friday
- fall
- the smell before a thunderstorm
- thunderstorms
- the full moon obscured by clouds
- pastures of cows
- fires
- meteor showers
- when you exchange glances and share a joke with a complete stranger without saying a word
- acoustic guitars
- mashed potatoes and gravy
- short legged dogs like dachshunds and corgis (one in particular)
I don’t know why but my list’s short legged dogs combined with Maria’s “girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes” had me thinking of Corgis with bows around their necks. So I decided to make Dany a festive Christmas bow for her collar. You could change out the velcro portion and attach a hair clip instead for a cute hair accessory. For a male dog you can omit the tails of the ribbon and make the width of the bow slightly narrower for a bow tie. For cats, scale down as appropriate.
Okay fine, here’s the bow.
Dog Bow Christmas Collar Accessory
- 1/4 yard of festive cotton material
- a few inches of string/ribbon
- 1 inch of velcro
- Cut a 15″x9″ rectangle for the bow, a 9.5″x7″ rectangle for the tails, and a 9.5″x3.5″ rectangle for the center.
- Fold the 15″x9″ bow in half long ways to form a 4.5″x15″ rectangle, right sides together. Pin and stitch along the open length.
Fold Bow in half, stitch long end.
- Open out. Pin and stitch the ends together to form a tube. The unfinished edge should be in the center of the tube.
Pin and stitch ends together.
- Take the 9.5″x7″ rectangle for the tails and fold it in half the long ways to form a 3.5″x9.5″ rectangle, right sides together.
Pin and stitch along the edges of the tail, leaving a 2″ gap.
- Pin along all 3 sides, leaving a 2″ gap in the center of the long side. Stitch all three sides except the 2″ gap.
- Clip corners, open out and press flat.
Turn inside out and press.
- Take the center 9.5″x3.5″ rectangle and fold it in half the long ways to form a 9.5″x1.75″ rectangle, right sides together.
- Pin and stitch along the open length.
Fold bow center in half and stitch.
- Take your bow tube and put the seam in the center back. Place the tail directly under the bow tube.
Line up bow and tails.
- Scrunch the bow tube along the center and the tail along the center and tie them together with string or ribbon.
Tie bow and tails together.
- Take the center rectangle and wrap around the string. Form a loop, pin and remove from the bow and tails. Stitch.
Form a loop to fit around bow and tails, remove from bow.
- Measure your dog’s collar width. Mine was 1″ thick. Double and add 1/2″ for your strap length. Stitch velcro on the back of the center loop you formed in 11. Measure one strap length from the center of your velcro. Cut.
Stitch velcro to loop.
- Fold under 1/2″ and stitch.
- Attach velcro to folded edge, making sure the velcro will meet the other side of velcro in a loop.
Stitch velcro to end.
- Attach the loop around your dog’s collar and show her off!
I’m such a pretty Christmas Corg!
I’ll show off my downward dog skills, oh and this bow.
You sure you don’t just want a picture of my face?
