How to Make an Over the Collar Dog Bandanna

Dog bandannas are an easy way to dress up your dog. Regular bandannas that you tie with a knot can present a choking hazard to dogs if they get caught on something. This tutorial will demonstrate how to make a dog bandanna that slides over your dog's collar, which is safer for your pet.

Tools and Supplies

You will need a piece of fabric at least 12" square, a pair of pinking shears, pins, a ruler, a marker, a flexible measuring tape, a sewing machine and an iron.

STEP 1 - Measuring Your Dog's Collar

This tutorial show you how to make a bandanna for ANY sized dog, so for that we will have to measure the collar to ensure a proper fit.

First, measure the collar from the end of the buckle to the first hole of the collar. Take 2/3rd's of this measurement for the length of width of the bandanna. For example, with a measurement of 12", the width of the dog bandanna you will be making is 8".

Now you have to make sure that the dog collar hardware will fit through the sleeve of the bandanna. If the buckle measures 1" add 1/2" to this measurement to make the sleeve 1 1/2" so that there is wiggle room for the hardware to fit through.

STEP 2 - Marking Out The bandanna Pattern

Take your ruler and pen and mark a line that is 8" across.

To make the sleeve part of the pattern, take your buckle measurement and double it. From the BOTTOM of your sleeve mark, find and mark the center of the bandanna. From your center line mark, measure down the width of your bandanna and mark it off. Now make connecting lines from that mark to the bottom of the sleeve measurements.

STEP 3 - Cutting Out The Pattern

Cut out the pattern that you have just made with pinking shears. You can use regular scissors, but the pinking shears cut a zig zag pattern that will keep the ends from fraying.

STEP 4 - Hemming The Edges

With the iron, create a 1/2" hem on all sides of the bandanna EXCEPT the top. Use pins to secure the hem, if you need them. The top doesn't need to be hemmed since it will be sewn down behind the bandanna.

STEP 5 - Sewing The Hem

Sew a straight stitch seam, as close as you can get to the edge, all around the bandanna.

STEP 6 - making The Collar Sleeve

Fold The sleeve part of the pattern in half and iron it down.

STEP 7 - Sewing The Sleeve

Now sew a straight stitch seam as close to the bottom of the sleeve as you can get.

Karen Friesecke is the author of Bloggie Stylish a new blog dedicated to recipes and free projects for dogs. Please visit Dog Bandanna Pattern to see this tutorial, complete with pictures.