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Saturday, April 25, 2015

A Crocheted Dog Harness for Your Tiny Dog ~ FREE Pattern

                            


Hi there,
It has been so long since I have posted in my blog. Facebook has been working great for me with posting any Pixie HeartStrings news.
But lately, I have been posting more and more patterns that I have come up with for various things.Using my Notes for those patterns is quite limiting in as to how I can share them with you. So I have decided to dust off the blog and put it to good use...
The other day, after searching high and low (and wasting $) for a harness that would fit my Rosie, a tiny Chorkie (Chihuahua/Yorkie mix), I decided to just make her one. Actually, it was more like a "Duh, why don't you just make her one!" moment...
I posted the first one I made on the Pixie HeartStrings FB page and I received several requests for the pattern. I guess there are quite a few teeny dogs out there who need a suitable harness. Although I was OK with the first one, I knew I could do better. 
First let me discuss size and weight. Rosie is a fully grown Chorkie, She weighs in at less than 5 pounds. She has an 8" neck and a 13" chest. By making my own harness I was able to customize it to perfectly fit her. You will be able to do the same with this pattern. You may however have to add or take away rows depending on your little one's size. I put the harness on and off her several times while making it to ensure I had a good fit. I will tell you exactly how many stitches and rows I used and then you can adjust as needed for your harness.
So here we go...

Materials Needed
Small amount worsted weight cotton. I used Bernat "Handicrafter Cotton". 
G Hook
2 Small D Rings
Small Plastic Pet Collar Clasp (optional)
Ribbons, Buttons, Crochet or Silk Flowers (optional)

Directions

1) Start with a triangle. You want your triangle to fit perfectly up against your dogs chest area. I chained 15 for my foundation row. Then SC in 2nd CH from hook and in each CH to end.  CH 1 turn. 14SC
2) SC in each stitch across. CH 1 turn. 14SC.
3) SC first 2 stitches together. Then SC across to last 2 SC and SC them together. CH 1 turn. 12SC.
4) SC across all stitches to end of row. CH 1 turn. 12SC.
5) SC Repeat row 3. CH 1 turn. 10SC.
6) Repeat row 4. CH 1 turn. 10SC.
7) Continue in this manner until you have 1SC on your hook. DO NOT finish off. 
8) Working down side, across bottom and up other side, make a row of SC. DO NOT finish off.

Triangle

9) SC in first 3 stitches down side as shown in photo below. CH 1 turn. 3SC.
10) SC in each stitch. CH1 turn. 3SC.
11) This will become the neck (collar) strap of the harness. Repeat row 10 until the strap is the length you need to fit your dog's neck. I made mine 29 rows long.

SC in first 3 stitches down side from top of triangle.
Repeat Row 10 until your strap will fit around your dog's neck. 
12) Slip stitch or whip stitch this strap to the other side of the triangle being careful not to twist it. Keep in mind, this need to be able to slip over your dog's head. It does not need to be too snug on the neck. Comfort is the key. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Your harness should now look like this.

13) Now insert hook in the 3rd stitch away from the collar on the side of the triangle (see pic below). Attach your chain and make a SC in that stitch and the next 2. CH 1 turn.

Insert hook here to begin new strap.
 14) Make this leg opening strap as long as needed to reach the top of your dog's leg. By the shoulder area. I made mine 12 rows long. Fasten off.

First leg opening strap made.

15) Insert hook in first stitch at the base of the triangle (see pic below). Attach yarn and make a SC in that stitch and in next 2 stitches up side of triangle. CH 1 turn. 3SC.
16) Continue as in first strap only make it 1 row longer than the first one. DO NOT fasten off.

Insert hook here for next strap. 

You now have 2 straps.
 17) Insert your hook into the first SC of other strap (see pic below) and make an SC in that stitch and in next 2 SC. You have now connected the 2 straps. Be careful not to twist them. CH1 turn. 6SC.

Insert hook here to connect both straps.

Continue to SC across other strap.
18) SC across all 6 stitches. CH1 turn. 6SC
19) SC the first 2 stitches together. SC in each of the next 2 SC. SC the last 2 stitches together. CH1 turn. 4SC
20) At this point you need to fit this on your dog to see how long this strap needs to be to make it reach the center of your dog's back. I made mine 4 rows long. So I had 4 rows of 4SC. Fasten off.

21) Repeat your leg openings on the other side, The only difference is you need to make the strap closest to the base first and the one by the collar last. DO NOT FASTEN OFF.

22) Make an edge of SC on the entire outside & inside of the harness to give it a nice clean edge and more stability. 

23) Your harness should now look like this. 

24) Attach D rings to the end of each strap with a whip stitch. I went over it several times to ensure it would not come loose.
You can embellish the top of the collar part of the harness any way you like. In this case I made a simple crochet flower and will attach with the little button. On the white one Rosie is wearing at top, I made a ribbon bow with a floral accent and sewed that to the top of the collar using dental floss.  

25) This part is optional. I had a little collar that no longer fit Rosie and I used the plastic clip from that to keep the harness clipped onto her when not in use. If you want to do this step fine. If not, when you clip the leash onto both D rings, the harness will stay on. 
You can see how the harness fits up against Rosie's chest perfectly here. 
So there you have it! A harness that finally fits your little dog! I hope you find this pictorial helpful. If you like it, please let me know here so I can decide whether to make more in the future or not. 
And feel free to share pics of your sweet baby wearing their harness on my Pixie HeartStrings FB page! We LOVE to see...


Have a fabulous weekend!
Pixie

65 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing. :)

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    1. I used this pattern for my dwarf Netherlands bunny and it worked perfect thanks so much

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    2. Would you make one for my bunny Please?!?! Would love to ❤️ have one for my baby.

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    3. I am happy to find your distinguished way of writing the post. Now you make it easy for me to understand and implement the concept. Thank you for the post.dog harness

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    4. I found the clips at Hobby Lobby.

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    5. Thank you so much. ❤❤

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  2. Hola este pretal me encanto!!! que buena idea y bello trabajo!!! saludos!!!

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    1. Thank you so much! I visited you Blog and it is quite lovely. I added you to my "Creative People" list... :)

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    2. Holaa!! Disculpa si no te conosco y te lo pido, pero si lo entiendes me lo podrias traducir??? Serias un angel sinceramente <3 te dejo mi email bb.bri@hotmail.com porfavor ayudame <3

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    3. Holaa!! Disculpa si no te conosco y te lo pido, pero si lo entiendes me lo podrias traducir??? Serias un angel sinceramente <3 te dejo mi email bb.bri@hotmail.com porfavor ayudame <3

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  3. What a nice halter for a pet. Thank you so much for sharing it.

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  4. Totally stunning and cute! I like your idea for Dog Harnesses. I will also try the same for my pet. Please share more, keep posting

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  5. Amazing! and moreover its too cute. I recently bought Dog Car Harness for my dog but after looking at your post I want to try such harness as well. Thanks for sharing your idea, I just love it.

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  6. I love this. Thank you for sharing. My four pound Chihuahua is my medic alert service dog. I would like to add wooden alphabet beads to say her name and service dog. I've spent a small fortune on vests that just don't fit. Thank you so much.

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    1. I was just gifted a 9 week old male Chihuahua. Nothing on the market fits him, soo I found this harness and am going to make it. My little one weighs just 2 lbs.

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  7. muy lindo aunque si pudieran hacer una mejor traducción al español por fa pues es dificil de entender

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    1. Yo también necesito la traducción por favor

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  8. What an awesome harness! Thanks so much for sharing...you are one talented hooker ;)

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  9. What an awesome harness! Thanks so much for sharing...you are one talented hooker ;)

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  10. Thank you for the pattern. I am just starting on crocheting it for my daughter's two dogs. The pics you included with the instructions are very helpful too. I'm doing two of your harnesses and a double leash so she can walk them together.

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  11. Merci pour ce genereux partage c'est grandement apprécié ☺

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  12. Wow! Thanks so much. Softer and more comfortable for my baby, Casey.

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  13. I have searched everywhere for a tiny harness. Thank you so much for this pattern I love it!

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  14. Has anyone attempted to do this same style harness but with different stitches? For either the straps or chestplate? Maybe even both. I want to make one with different stitch styles for my pit puppy but I'm just recently self taught & new to patterns & barely starting to venture into new stitches. I know they all consist of the ones I already know(sc,hdc,dc,etc...) but I don't know the math behind it.. basically I don't know exactly how the decreases would work to make the chestplate with any stitches other than the basic sc,hdc,dc,& triple.
    Is there anyone that could please please please help me out with that?
    Or something...
    Please...

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    1. I used hdc on both the triangle and straps.i then did a sc boarder on triangle....its for my kitty and it looks great, he loves it too! oh, also I used crochet cotton #3.

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  15. Thank you for sharing your pattern. I am going to make it for my cat..... :)

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  16. How much money did you sell it for?

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  17. Muy lindo.🌹 Yo tenía mi.perrito Ricky
    igual lo tuve 17 años . Y me dio todo y lo extraño x siempre. No pude tener otro sino lo hubiera hecho porque son lo más cariñoso y dulce. Gracias por recordarmelo. Le hubiera hecho con gusto éste trabajo 👍👍👍❤❤❤

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  18. We just got a new puppy and this was fast and perfect as we need to start leash training ASAP..little VERY busy and nosey Jack Russell..Perfect...and as fast and easy as this is I can simply make a new one each time she outgrows them..Thank YOU!

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  19. Thank you for sharing this awesome harness pattern! I adapted it slightly so i could make one for my daughters new kitten and it works wonderfully. Well, with the exception that Lucifer, (the kitten), is not exactly sure what to think of it yet! Again, thank you for sharing your talent and happy hooking!!

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    Replies
    1. This is too funny, I'm making one now for my cat named Satan! XD

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    2. ha ha ha made one for my kitty Boocifer lol....he loves it. we've been using a store bought one for 2 yrs. now but he LOVES this one.

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  20. I have to tell you, this is the best and easiest thing I've seen yet for my Chihuahua. He is an odd chest size and every single harness we've purchased has not fit! Thank you so much for this. By the way, your pattern came up first in the search results in Google for "crochet pattern for dog harness". I can't wait to try this!

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  21. Making this for my pet rabbits. I like them having free range in the yard, but need a bit of a tether to keep them out of the garden. This is perfect!

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  22. O love it, a friend asked forma me if i can make one for her cat, it was imposible to find on Internet till i came to your blog. Thank you for share with us. Kisses from Spain.

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  23. Thank you so much! Made one for my tiny chihuahua puppy.

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  24. Do you have a pattern for a coat?
    This so adorable

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  25. If not, when you clip the leash onto both D rings, the harness will stay on. dog harness with front clip

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  26. I'm working this up for a cat. Since my cats body is thinner and longer than a typical dog, I've found adding another row of sc across in the triangle works out perfectly!

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  27. DO you sell these? if so how much and how can I order?
    Toooo cute

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  28. Thank you! This looks AWESOME, hopefully not complicated, the pattern look easy and well explained. I have 2 chiweenies that it would work for my other 2 dogs I will have to make larger adjustments not much. One for a 35 pound reindeer chihuahua, she's has extra weight the other is 25 pound terrier chihuahua mix! Thank you so much!

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  29. I just made one and it was so easy. I will have to go to hobby lobby to get the d rings and clip, but only took me 30 minutes to make. AWESOME thank you for sharing

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  30. followed this word for word, exactly as instructed. way too big for my shih tzu. what did i do wrong?

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  31. I LOVE this,,,, thank you!

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  32. This is a fantastic tutorial on making this harness for my little fella. The pictures are truly worth a thousand words. However the combination of words and pictures makes this so easy to make. Thank you for the Excellence.

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  33. really liked the pattern, going t have to make some changes, my first harness turned out too big because i measured wrong. i will try again! ^_^

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  34. made it the second time and it was way better thanks!

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  35. Thank you so much for this! My sister is a wildlife rehabilitator and she just got a squirrel that has been injured and cannot be released. I tweaked your pattern to make a harness to fit him. It worked beautifully! Thanks again!

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  36. I highly recommend all you dog owners to get a dog clicker app too.

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  37. I love this! I will give it a try Looks easy enough to make for our tiny daschunds Thanks so much I love it

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  38. Thank you for sharing useful information with us. This is actually very helpful and knowledgeable blog for all of us. How To Train your pet. Read here

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  39. I love this pattern, its very easy and the size changes simply by using a larger hook!

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  40. Thanks so much for the pattern! Very easy to adjust the size! I made a red one for my fluffy pup!

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  41. Hi This is SRK i'm suggesting you this is app Eternium Mod Apk

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  43. Thanks for sharing this post with us. Prior to ordering the harness from the best dog harness manufacturers.

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  44. What an awesome and adorable harness!!!! I’m going to try to make this it looks like you have very good instructions I’m just concerned about the collar part is it easy to get over the dog head

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  45. I'm an advanced beginner (I'm guessing) and this looks perfect. It's great that I can add rows and stitches since my 2 12 lb dogs could really use one. They've managed with other step in ones that didn't have the extra part (that attaches to the color so one would manage to slip out of the leg section. They're not thrilled with trying things on but If they'll let me try it on as I go this'll be great and I'd love more patterns :D

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  46. I absolutely love this pattern. I still need to adjust where the straps go but in all it turned out great. I bought a Dollar Tree harness because it has the plastic buckle and D metal rings for leash hook. Btw it’s for my 3 year old Miniature Doberman “Katie”!

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  47. Thank you so much

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