In this sewing tutorial I want to show you how to make a dog drying coat/towel. This is a very fast and easy sewing project even for beginners. Also, you can make the dog drying towel as a gift for a dog owner. If you would like to download the printable Unicorn template go to this link
6 reasons why personalized dog drying towels are so handy
Your pet won’t shake it off because it has a strong velcro closure - I will show you how to sew Velcro
The towel will really help to prevent water dripping all over the house
It’s easy to put it on the dog and the dog will not get annoyed by it because it’s lightweight and doesn’t prevent the dog from moving
The dog will stay warm while drying
The towel will absorb the water fast making drying your pet easy
The towel is great for grooming and traveling and will keep your dog warm, cozy and comfortable
And this hooded towel looks adorable. The hood isn't really that useful for drying the fur but it’s probably more a gimmick for the owner than the dog.
What you’ll need
Bath towel 100% cotton
Thin fabric for binding
Regular sewing tools (scissors, threads, needles, pins, etc.)
sewing machine (of course)
What size of the towel to use? Well, it depends on your dog’s size. But I think the larger the towel, the better. For my 60 pound dog, I used a bath towel 30” x 58”.
I think it’s important to choose 100% cotton - it absorbs water better, it’s pleasant to the touch. The fabric can be of different densities - I used a thick double-sided terry towel.
Step 1
First I made a pattern on vellum paper. I just draw it freehand - it looked something like this. You can make the same pattern.
Cut the towel using this pattern - 1 main piece on fold, and 1 piece for the hood. I used only one towel for cutting the 2 pieces.
Have in mind that when you cut terry cloth fabric you will have lots of little fuzzy bits. You can’t avoid that. All those little fuzzy cuts from the pile will fly around and go everywhere. Clean the table right away. Or keep the vacuum cleaner handy. Usually I go outside and give it a good shake so all the small bits go away.
Prepare fabric for binding.
If you will use stretchy fabric you can cut it perpendicular to the selvages but if you choose not stretchy woven fabric (like quilting cotton, for example) you will have to cut bias strips because the towel has a curved shape (not straight edges)
I decided to go with stretchy fabric and cut 3 strips 3 inches wide (the length is from selvage to selvage). It has to be enough to bind the whole towel and the hood.
Sew the strips together for the binding the dog drying coat
For this cut the selvages first and position 2 strips right sides together perpendicular to each other on a flat surface and align raw edges. You see that the edges of the strips make a right angle. Draw a line with a marker across the pieces to connect the points where they intersect, at an angle of exactly 45 degrees, pin them together and sew along that line. The diagonal seam makes the binding tape less bulky and less noticeable than a straight seam.
Connect all the strips. Make sure that there is enough length with a margin: measure the approximate perimeter of the towel + about 25 inches to bind the hood.
Fold this continuous piece in half lengthwise wrong sides together and press.
Step 5
Bind the hood on the straight side.
Prepare your sewing machine to sew thick terry cloth - use a thicker needle (size 90/14 universal), strong thread (that doesn’t break easily), make the stitch length around 3 mm.
Cut from the long binding the length that matches the length of the hood.
You should have a long ribbon left for covering the entire perimeter of the towel.
Pin the folded binding to the hood, stitch it with seam allowance ⅜ inch (1 cm). Wrap the binding around the edge and pin it so that the binding edge is going a little bit over stitches.
Step 6
Put an applique or an embroidery design on the hood piece (optional)
You can download a printable Unicorn template (in PDF)
Step 7
Place the hood on the towel and make sure that all edges are aligned and pin the hood to the fabric to prevent it from moving.
Bind the towel with the binding strip.
Sew Velcro for securing the towel on the dog.
For this towel I used wide Velcro strips - 2 inches wide. I made one strip 6 inches long and I cut the other one shorter - about 2 inches long.
Before stitching the Velcro to the towel attach them with fabric glue stick - it will help to sew them easily.
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