Recycled Dog Sweater

A quick photo tutorial on how to make a dog (or cat! or lizard!) sweater out of a used thrift store sweater sleeve, an old sweatshirt or other human garment made out of warm, knitted fabric.

You might not find a sweater just like the one I used in these photos, but this should give you an idea of how to make one of your own and customize it to fit your pet.

You will need one sleeve, with a width that will fit the chest of the recipient.

Cut the sleeve off the sweater, but don’t cut off the wrist cuff – it will make a nice, finished neck edge.

Trim the cut end of the sleeve into a little saddle shape (as pictured above) then fold the cut edge under and hand stitch it down with yarn or thread, so the knit fabric doesn’t unravel or fray.

Cut front leg openings as pictured below, centered along the length of the sweater.
Fold edges under and stitch in place, like you did for the back edge.

That’s it! Our little Magpie loves her new sweater!