Appa Dog Costume Tutorial Part 1

To make an Appa costume for your dog I charge $50 plus the cost of materials and need specific measurements.  I do, however, know that I have people who have stumbled across this blog that may have a larger dog and are crafty themselves. :)

So, by popular demand, here is the free tutorial for an Appa Dog costume!

Materials needed:

1. Hot glue
2. A sewing machine (you can do it by hand, but it will not be as strong and it will take FOREVER!!!)
3. Paper to print the patterns on.
4. Stiff felt in 3 shades of grey if you can swing it and if you can't , get some stiff white felt and adhere the grey felt to it.
5. Brown material, about a yard of it, to be used for the tops of feet and the underbelly.  I usually use micro suede because I get lucky in finding it in the bolt ends of my local Hancock Fabrics store and because it has a silky side and a fuzzy side. (that and I like shiney things)
6. About 1 foot of grey material for the bottoms of the feet.  I used the same type of material as for the feet tops for consistency.
7. Material for the white bits of Appa.  I use a type of fake fur, but if it too warm where you live, you might want to swap it for something less accurate and more comfortable for your dog.  For the human costume for a child in cold cold Minnesota I used a teddy bear type material.  For the dog costume for the dog in hot hot Texas, I used a silkier airier kind that actually is used on the Appa plushie sold in stores.  It sheds like the dickens, but is far more comfy for fluffy puppies. I bought 2 yards for a corgi sized dog.
8. Brown fake fur.  I bought 1.5 yards for this.  It's not shear mass we are going for, but the ability to pick the right direction of fur in the length you want.  You will have leftovers.  If you are going the non fake fur route, you could probably get away with about 1 to 2 feet.
9. Elastic to secure hat to doggie head and to make doggie mitten minders if you so desire.
10. Buttons, I would suggest clear or white ones.
11. A saccrificial stuffed animal.  I tried to find someone selling doll eyes, but the only place I could find them were at places like American Science and Surplus, Ax Man , and the internet all of which would take a while for me to aquire anything.  I am an impatient person, so I just went to the dollar store and found a plush with the right eyes.  The newly blinded toy was sewn back up with bells inside and became a Saber toy.

I tried for a while to come up with my own pattern, but lets just say I had issues.  So, I based the body on this pattern: http://www.saunalahti.fi/glottis/raincoat.htm and the footies on this pattern: http://domestikgoddess.com/sew-your-own-winter-dog-boots/ .  For the boots it says to put the tip of the boots on the fold.  Since I wanted Appa toes to peek out of them, I did not put that on the fold when I cut them out.  Also, the base pattern for the Appa hat is here: http://dogclothespatterns.blogspot.com/2012/01/dog-cap-pattern.html

I find that I am better at working with existing objects and modifying them.  Seems to work the same way for  patterns.  That is all for tonight.  Assembly and additional pattern pieces to come tomorrow.  If you went the fake fur route,  make sure that when you cut out the fur, that it all goes the same direction.  I would suggest making the fur point down towards the ground when worn.  Make sure to measure your dog and scale the pieces to their size when assembling the pattern pieces.  From the rain coat pattern, cut the side and leg pieces.  Don't bother with the belly piece unless you want it to close in the same fashion as the coat.