Boots for Billie

My little dog was not made for cold weather. And it’s been COLD this winter. Billie has a hard time going outside even to answer nature’s call, much less to take a walk. We both miss the walks. Hopefully we will return to more “normal” temperatures soon.

In the meantime, I tried to make some boots for my girl’s little feet. I’d bought some at the dollar store, but I couldn’t make them tight enough to stay on. There were patterns online of the same design, but that wasn’t what I wanted. Once again, I created my own.

I first made an outline of her paw; adding a seam allowance gave me the sole of her boot. I cut soles out of thick black fleece and “shelf liner” to give her traction on the hardwood floors (something she didn’t have with the dollar store boots). For the upper I used a small saucer to make a circle, then cut a smaller circle in one end, then removed about a third of the bottom. These I also cut from black fleece. I used ribbing for the leg part of the boot.

I folded the upper in half and seamed it. Then I seamed the ribbing along the length, folded it in half and sewed it to the smaller opening in the upper. I marked both pieces in quarters to have them sewn evenly together.

 

 

I then used the same technique to put the soles on. I sewed them right sides together so the seams would be inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I had all four made I tried them on the dog. She was not impressed! She wouldn’t leave them on her feet. The dollar store boots had Velcro strips to tighten them — I  carefully removed them and hand-sewed them to the new boots. Now she couldn’t kick them off so easily!

Not a happy camper.

She did perk up when I mentioned the T-word.

Billie doesn’t really like these boots (and I’m not sure they are a good design; I may have to try again) but we have walked further when she’s wearing them. We even had a short walk yesterday when it was -11ºC (-15º with the windchill) (12º/5ºF).