Not sure what to dress your furkiddo up as for Halloween? NHV is here to help! We have created an easy DIY Pet Costume so you can arrive at the #NHVhalloweendancepawty in style! Your beloved little food thief can dress up as the Hamburglar by following these simple steps.

This costume can be made from scratch or easily assembled if you already have similar pieces. The costume consists of a shirt, a cape, a hat, and a tie.

Part 1: The Shirt

Supplies:

• Black and white striped stretchy fabric (like a jersey knit or rayon)
• Black or white thread
• Sewing needle
• Scissors
• Sewing pins

Steps

1. Find a shirt sewing pattern that will work for your dog. These can be found online or in a fabric store. We used one from mimiandtara.com which are great for small to medium size dogs.

2. Measure your dog based on the pattern to figure out which pattern size will fit them and how much fabric you need.

3. Fold the fabric in half (backside facing out) and lay the pattern down along the folded edge. Pin to hold pattern in place.

4. Cut fabric around the edge of the pattern

5. Remove pattern from the fabric and unfold. Lie fabric face-down and fold edges in 1-2 cm, pin down.

6. Sew along cut edge to create finished hems and prevent the fabric from fraying.

7. Once all the edges have been hemmed, lay both pieces down with the front side facing in towards each other. Pin the sides and shoulders of the shirt together.

8. Try it on your pet to make sure it fits your pet. Be careful to make sure that the pins do not poke your pet.

9. Once the shirt has been pinned to fit your pet, take the shirt off and sew the sides and shoulders closed along the pins.

10. Once finished sewing, remove all pins and flip them inside out so that the front side of the fabric is out.

Part 2: The Cape

Supplies:

• Black non-stretchy fabric (like cotton broadcloth)
• Scissors
• Black velcro adhesive dots

Steps

1. Measure from your pet’s collar to their waist.

2. Cut a square of the black fabric that is the width and length as measured.
Tip: Check to make sure that the cape is not going to hang too far down on the sides. It should fall to the bottom of their torso and not be so long that they could trip or get caught.

3. Place a velcro dot on the top two corners of the square.

4. Lay fabric square on the pet with top corners on each side of the neck. Place matching velcro dots on the shirt to line up with the velcro dots on the cape.

Part 3: The Tie

Supplies:

• Red felt
• Hot glue
• Black permanent marker
• Scissors
• Black velcro adhesive dots

Steps

1. Fold red felt in half draw a half diamond shape approximately 1-2 inches out from the fold. Cut the shape out while still folded. This will make the knot of the tie.

2. On another piece of red felt, fold in half and place unfolded diamond at the top. Draw tie shape along the fold with permanent marker. Cut out along line while still folded in half. This will make the tail of the tie.

3. Unfold second felt piece. Glue diamond shape at the top of the second piece with hot glue.

4. Stick velcro dot at the top of the tie on the backside.

5. Place the matching velcro dot in the shirt at the center of the chest along the collar.

Part 4: The Hat

Supplies:

• Cardboard
• Yellow felt
• Black felt
• Hot glue
• Black permanent marker
• Scissors
• Box cutter or x-acto knife
• Black paint
• Paintbrush

Steps

1. Measure the width of your pet’s head from ear to ear.

2. Draw a circle on the cardboard that is approximately one inch smaller in diameter than the width of your pet’s head. Cut the circle out as closely to the line as possible. This will be the top of the hat.
Tip: If your pet has pointed ears, measure between the ears and make this circle only half the diameter of this space.
Tip: You can use a bowl or cup that has a similar diameter to trace a circle.

3. Draw another circle on the cardboard that is approximately double the diameter. Cut the circle out as closely to the line as possible. This will be the brim of the hat.

4. Measure the circumference of the smaller circle. Cut a 2-inch wide strip of cardboard that is 2 inches longer than the circumference measured. This will be the crown of the hat.

5. Use the hot glue to attach the top edge of the cardboard strip along the edge of the small cardboard circle. Tuck the extra 2 inches of the strip inside and glue to keep secure.
Tip: Use your hands to curl the cardboard strip before trying to glue it to the circle.

6. Glue the bottom edge of the strip down to the center of the large cardboard circle.

7. Once dry, flip the hat upside down and gently poke a box cutter or x-acto knife through the center of the large circle. Cut out the center of the large circle to hollow out the hat.

8. Paint the hat black. Once the top is dry, flip over and paint the bottom of the brim.

9. Cut yellow felt into 1-inch strips. Once the paint is dry, glue the felt strips along the bottom edge of the hat’s crown.

10. Cut 1 cm wide strips of black felt.
Tip: You can cut the strips to be curved diagonally to make them longer. Gently pull to straighten the strip.

11. Glue one end of black felt strip under the brim across from each other to create straps to tie the hat on.

Tag us in pictures of your furkiddo wearing their DIY Hamburglar costume! Don’t forget to enter our #NHVhalloweendancepawty on Instagram to receive a 10% off coupon and be entered into a giveaway! The last day to enter the #NHVhalloweendancepawty is October 21st, 2019!

It is really important to keep your pets away from chocolate.

Reminder: While Halloween can be really spooky and fun, it is really important to keep your pets away from chocolate. If your pet does eat chocolate, take them to the vet right away. After they have been seen by the vet you can give your pet BK Detox and Milk Thistle to help their liver process the toxins in the chocolate.