Twinkle’s Handmade Blue Polka-Dot Dress

Twinkle is my adorable little white fluffy sister. My family brought her home one day after April Fool’s day last year (02/04/11). I’m so blessed to have such a sweet and lovely companion that brought so much fun and laughter to my family. She is the best thing I’ve ever had and I will not exchange her for anything else.

My family, Twinkle and I just came back from our little family getaway. A 3 days 2 nights stay at Capella Sentosa (Singapore). My family loves traveling, and we always make it point to at least travel at least once a year. This year, we’ve decided to have our vacation in our homeland, simply because we wanted Twinkle to join us too. Sadly, dogs ain’t allowed on planes unless we’re migrating. I’m so glad we found another alternative. Capella is an animal-friendly 5 star resort that allows small dogs like Twinkle to stay. Having our short getaway at Capella is the best experience we’ve ever had. It’s Twinkle’s 1st Vacation with us and we’re so happy to see her enjoying herself; learning how to swim, relaxing, running around, playing and eating good food etc. We had so much fun! I will rate Capella 5 out of 5 stars for their amazing service, ambience and basically just everything!

The picture above was taken when we were having our last buffet breakfast at Capella. The Polkadot dress that Twinkle’s wearing is a handmade gift that I made a few months ago to celebrate our 1 year of friendship, companionship and sisterhood. She looks so adorable in that dress isn’t she?

This trusty sewing machine is probably more than 10 years old, passed down by my lovely Mom and is currently sitting nicely on my work desk in my bedroom. I’ve always wanted to learn how to use a sewing machine and I finally had the chance to. This polka dot dress is MY FIRST ATTEMPT as well as MY FIRST PROJECT done using a sewing machine. 

These are the materials I’ve used for making the dog dress (not including the blue zip and white lace). 

I am clueless on how to go about making dog clothing, needless to say how to sew using a sewing machine. So I’m definitely not a professional. But I went on with my instinct and this is what I did:

1. Measure my dog (inches or cm) - Length of Neck, Chest, Stomach, Arm Hole, and Body.
2. Mark out the length on a big piece of paper or any unwanted fabric.
3. Put against my dog to see if it’s the correct fit and if it’s how I want it to be.
4. Pin the paper or unwanted fabric gently to the polka-dot fabric that i’m using.
5. Carefully cut out the shape. Note: Be sure to cut out the shape slightly bigger than what I want it to be.
6. To prevent the sides from fraying, I cut out thin-long pieces of fabric and sewed them on the sides. (refer to picture below) 

I tried it on Twinkle and I realized I’ve made it too short. So I’ve sewed on 2 layers of cream colored lace overlapping each other at the bottom of the clothing, to make it look more like a dress than a shirt. Then I sewed 4 pressed-on buttons from the collar to the stomach area to hold the dress together.

And this is how the blue polka-dot dress turned out. What do you think? :)

Let Twinkle try it on! :) Somehow, she made everything look good on her hey? Haha. This picture was taken at our garden villa. Twinkle is on her comfy sofa bed, all dressed up waiting to go out and play. 

Brought Twinkle out for a walk in the morning and I asked her to do a few poses for me. 

Here’s Twinkle modeling her handmade dress. 

I love making handmade gifts. Just like the polka dot dress I made for Twinkle. It may not be a designer brand or have the best workmanship, but it’s the only one in this world. It’s unique, customized and made filled with love. I’m sure my little sister likes it. And I hope you guys like it too!

Handmade with Love, Rachel H

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