Domesticating Mom

Navigating home life, one mess at a time.

  • The Abode
  • The Kitchen
  • The Kids
  • The Life
  • The ‘Hood
  • The Soapbox

October 19, 2016 | 4 Comments

Pupoween! An Easy DIY Costume

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ThrowItBarkDogChow #CollectiveBias

Having a puppy means a whole new routine. Seriously. In the first few weeks, it was like having a newborn but harder. I mean, it was the same midnight potty breaks, except she could run away from you and pee in the corner when you tried to put on the leash.

2-ruthie-straight-on

But as she’s grown, we’ve all settled into an easy routine, our collective favorite part being our nightly walk around the block (with my 5 year old, of course). We always stop to play with the neighbors and their kids & puppies, and really, it’s helped us get to know our neighborhood. She’s opened our horizons and helped us connect with new people, not to mention that she’s made it really easy to make new friends. It’s really improved our life to not only have her in our home, but to give us a greater feeling of belonging in our new community.

Of course, this walk comes after dinner time when Bug and I settle in for a chat about our days while Ruthie digs in on her Puppy Chow. I love it because it’s made by dog lovers, for dog lovers, with all the nutrients my puppers needs to grow (21g of protein per cup – it’s a lot). It’s also really easy to find (we get ours at Target), so we never have to worry about the panic of not being able to find her fave food and the resulting messes in the days following. Seriously, it’s a thing.

photo-oct-02-4-20-59-pm

With Halloween approaching, I’ve wanted to make sure we include her in the festivities, even if it’s just on our walks. See, my puppy’s name is Ruth Bader Ginsbark. I know, it’s super nerdy, but when we first got Ruthie, she just had that spunk and sass, and it just felt right to name her after the Notorious RBG (aka Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg). Needless to say, her Halloween costume was easy to choose.

1-rbg

I know, it seems ambitious, but my abuelita would make us costumes as kids, and she even tried to teach me how to sew (even though I was terrible at it – really, I look at sewing machines and they break in anticipation). However, she taught us a sense of industry and pride, and it’s a tradition I still like to honor – even for the puppy!

So I made her a jabot – the ruffly collar like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is known to wear. While they can be sewn, I used a cool-temp hot glue gun because my ambition has its limits.

How to Make a Jabot

Supplies

tutorial-1

  • White Fabric (a square yard is more than enough)
  • A Spool of Wide Lace Ribbon
  • (optional) A Spool of 1/2″ Lace Ribbon
  • Scissors
  • Velcro
  • A Cool Temp Hot Glue Gun (cool temp is important! You’ll be pressing ruffles with your fingers) -OR- A Sewing Machine & White Thread
  •  Your Dog’s Collar (I chose black, because robes)

Instructions

  1. Cut 4 pieces of fabric, one as long as you want your jabot to be (your base), the next being about 2 inches shorter than the base (your backing), and the last 2 being half that length (your flaps). I laid them over each other to JUST cover the top of the ribbon below it (ya know, to hide any flaws).
    tutorial-2
    tutorial-7
  2. “Hem” the largest piece so the top is narrower than the bottom. This will be your base.
    tutorial-3
    tutorial-4
    tutorial-5
  3. Cut a length of lace ribbon and glue it or sew it to the bottom of the wider end of the first piece. It will be the base that hides the plain fabric below. FANCY!
    tutorial-6

  4. You’ll come back to this step a couple more times. Cut a length of ribbon about twice the length of the section you’re working on. Place a dot of glue about the ribbon’s width from the bottom of the piece, and place the ribbon down on it. Place the next dot about a half inch over, then pinch your ribbon down to make a ruffle.
    tutorial-8a
    tutorial-8b
    tutorial-8c
  5. Wrap the ribbon around the back of the base and secure it with a dab of glue. If you’re sewing, you’ll wrap it around before the previous step and just sew straight across to secure the back as well.tutorial-9

    At this point, it should look like this:

    tutorial-10

  6. Hem the next piece, then glue it onto the base – don’t shape it yet! (Unless you’re sewing it, then wrap it around the stitch straight across.)
    tutorial-11a
    tutorial-11b
  7. Repeat step 4 on this piece.
  8. Flip the whole thing over and wrap the fabric and lace around the back, then glue it down to seal it in place and keep the flapping to a minimum.
    tutorial-12a
    tutorial-12b
  9. Repeat steps 6-8; it should look like this when you’re (almost) done.tutorial-13
  10. Finish the top with a length of ribbon laid flat. If you still have additional space between the lace ribbons and the edge of the top piece of fabric, you can add another flat length of ribbon.
    tutorial-14
    tutorial-15
  11. “Hem” the backing, making sure the shape approximately matches the shape of the base of your jabot. Glue it down on the back of your base, covering the lace edges so they won’t lift. CLEVER, RIGHT?!
    tutorial-16a
    tutorial-16b
  12. With the jabot face-down, place your collar across the top of the backing. Fold the remaining top flap over to approximate placement for your velcro strips. (Yeaahhh, you can measure, but ya know.) Place your velcro at the edge of the top flap, and place the opposing velcro strip on the backing.

    tutorial-17a

    tutorial-17c

    tutorial-17b

    tutorial-17d

  13. That’s it! You did it!
    finished-jabot

I’ll be most excited by the people who get the reference, and I also love that this tutorial can be applied to a simple necklace or choker if you happen to want to dress up as the Notorious RBG yourself.

1-ruthie

If you love Dog Chow (or Puppy Chow) and adorable pictures of other people’s pups in costumes as much as we do, make sure to follow them with #ThrowItBarkDogChow or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or YouTube.

Purina is giving away five year’s long supplies of Dog Chow from Target! Enter for your chance to win one of these fabulous prizes for you and your furry best friend!
Purina #ThrowItBarkDogChow

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

by Resa | Resa

Subscribe via Email

Comments

  1. Lisa says:
    October 29, 2016 at 8:08 am

    What kind of dog is that in the photos of this article? I have one that looks very similar that I adopted and have no idea what she’s a mix of.

    Reply
    • Resa says:
      October 29, 2016 at 12:14 pm

      She’s a German shepherd-pit mix! It’s such an unexpectedly pretty mix, too.

      Reply
    • Della says:
      February 25, 2017 at 7:40 pm

      I went to tons of links before this, what was I thiignnk?

      Reply
  2. Gaby says:
    October 23, 2020 at 5:33 pm

    Oh my gosh, this is PERFECT. My baby girl, Nisha, is also a black shepard mix and now I know what she is gonna be for Halloween!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Oh, hey there!

  • About Us
  • Disclosure Policy
  • PR Policy & Info
  • Contact Me

Follow Domesticating Mom on Bloglovin'
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Get Email Updates

Current Obsessions

Popular Posts


Let's Talk Modesty

layered-jello-shots-recipe
Easy Layered Jello Shots

Decluttering 101: A Place for Everything, Everything in its Place
Decluttering 101: A Place for Everything, Everything in its Place

Community Ties

join the dyob: blog beautiful facebook community!


Blogger Network
Blogger Babes Influencer Network
Disclosure Statement: Domesticating Mom is a for-profit blog. To keep this blog running, I may receive compensation through affiliate links.

DomesticatingMom.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to [insert the applicable site name amazon.com.

I will only promote companies and products that I truly love.

Read my full disclosure policy here

Copyright © 2023 · Handcrafted with on the Genesis Framework by Eye Heart Creative.