DIY Ugly Christmas Sweater For Dogs

So your little furry one needs an Ugly Christmas Sweater for the Christmas party? Well if you happen to have a small dog like I do, I’ve got the easiest DIY Ugly Christmas Sweater for Dogs idea that you can do with last year’s ugly Christmas sweater, some imagination and a hot glue gun. Your little dog will be the hit of the Ugly Christmas Sweater party! Come on, let’s get ugly!

So, first of all, you know that ugly Christmas sweater you wore to last year’s company party? The one you couldn’t get yourself to throw away but you know you’ll never wear again? (I mean, come on, you already Instagrammed yourself all over in that sweater, right?) Go get that sweater out from under the tinsel and set it aside. Then you’re going to need some miscellaneous ugly decorations for that sweater, think googly-eyes, pom-poms, jingle bells, etc. I used a hot glue gun, but fabric glue could work as well. Gather up all your supplies, and create your work space.

Next, you’re going to need to measure your little dog. My little elf helper measured her from her neck to her tail more or less. I added a couple of extra inches for good measure, knowing I could always cut it a bit shorter if it was too long.

Pull out that old Ugly Christmas Sweater. You’re going to use the sleeve to make your DIY Ugly Christmas Dog sweater. The wrist of the sweater will be for the dog’s neck. Measure from the wrist to what you measured your dog’s back to be. and just go ahead and cut off the sleeve.

Now you need to just estimate where you think your dog’s front paws will go underneath the sweater. (If you notice, I repositioned the sweater sleeve so that the seam would run down the middle of the dog’s underside.) Just snip two small slits in the sweater for the front paws. Next, try it on your pet to see if you have the measurements right.

If it’s the right length, you’re going to want to cut out a rectangle section underneath so that it doesn’t cover up any pet private parts. Kinda like this:

Now here’s the fun part! Let’s make that sweater ugly! Remember, anything goes! My little elf helper was more than willing to help me with this part of the project, so I let him go at it.

Once he had everything positioned the way he liked it, I just put some cardboard in between the two layers of the sweater and used a hot glue gun to glue all the trimmings. (The cardboard keeps the glue from sticking to the other side of the sweater.) Too much fun!

Disco loved shaking her little bell-ringing ugly sweater around, and I gave her some Beneful treats (the Snackers are her favorite!) to award her patience of trying on the sweater and staying still for pictures. What do you think?

Ready to try to make your own DIY Ugly Christmas Dog Sweater? Show me! I would love to see your creations!