DIY Personalized, Reversible Dog Bandana

Thanks to Expressions Vinyl for sponsoring today's post! Hey, y'all!  I have such a fun tutorial for y'all today!  I have teamed up with Expressions Vinyl to share a great pet project with you.  If you know me, you know I seriously adore my dog, so I jumped at the chance to create something for her.  I debated what to create for her, but I finally decided on a bandana, and, y'all, I actually sewed the bandana for her myself, which is saying a lot for me since I am so not a seamstress.  The coolest part about the bandana is that it's reversible, and both sides are personalized using my Silhouette Cameo and HTV from Expressions Vinyl!

This project is a really quick make, and it's easy enough for a non-skilled-at-sewing individual like myself to create.  To create it, you need a few supplies.   Please note that I am linking to some of the supplies below using affiliate links.  This is a fancy way of saying that if you choose to purchase anything using one of the links, you'll be helping to support my blog at no extra charge to you.  (Thanks!) Supplies:

• Fabric
• Rotary Cutting Set
• Coordinating Thread
• Sewing Machine
• Silhouette Cameo
• Vinyl from Expressions Vinyl: White StripFlock HTV and Pink EasyWeed HTV
• Iron
• Optional: Sewing Gauge

Step One:  

Cut two triangles from coordinating pieces of fabric.  My dog Daisy is a golden doodle, which is a large breed, but she's super skinny.  I cut my fabric triangles 14" x 11" x 11" to create a finished bandana size of 10" x 9"x 9".

Step Two:

Place the triangles right sides together and sew together on the longest side.  Use an iron to press your seam open.

Step Three:

Fold the corners of the triangle in and pin.  I folded the corners in two inches, but this wasn't enough.  (I told you I'm not a seamstress!)  My dog's collar is too big to fit through the finished opening.  I would suggest you measure your dogs collar and adjust your fold accordingly.

Step Four:

Sew across the fold you created in the last step.  Cut the excess material from the seam.

Step Five:

Fold the triangles right sides together again and sew the remaining two edges closed, being sure not to sew up the corner openings that you created in the previous step.

Once your last two sides are sewn closed, the bandana will look like the photo above.  Pull the bottom corner of the fabric through one of the side openings to turn the bandana right side out.  Iron the bandana flat.

Step Six:

Open the Silhouette Design Studio and type whatever phrase you'd like on your dog's bandana.  I typed my dog's name using Mercury Script Bold font.  If you're not using a script font, you can skip ahead in the tutorial to Step Nine.  If you are using a script font, the next two steps are really important.  If you look in the image above, if I left the phrase as is, my Silhouette would cut several of the touching letters separate from each other, which messes up the final look of the project.  The next two steps will correct that problem.

Step Seven:

Ungroup the phrase you typed.  

Step Eight:

Weld the letters together.  This ensures that your Silhouette cuts all touching letters as one shape instead of individual shapes.

Step Nine: Optional

Because my dog's name is Daisy, I decided that it would be cute to dot my "i" with a daisy.  I have a font called Botanica Ornaments, and the "e" of the font is a cute little daisy.  So I swapped out the daisy with the dot on the "i."

Step Ten:

Group the letters of your phrase back together and situate the phrase in the desired layout for your bandana.  Then to keep from wasting vinyl, draw a box around your phrase.  (This isn't a requirement, but like I said, it always saves me vinyl.)  Group everything together.  Then--this is VERY important--click on the "replicate" tool and mirror your image.  You MUST mirror anything you cut out of HTV because you are essentially cutting the image/phrase from the back.  Delete the other image so that only your mirror image is remaining.

Step Eleven:

Cut your HTV shiny side down using the recommended Silhouette settings.  I LOVE the Machine Settings Chart that you can find on the Expressions Vinyl website.  I use it every time I cut any type of vinyl.  And just to be extra sure the settings are correct for your blade and machine, always do a test cut.

Step Twelve:

Weed your vinyl.  This just means that you remove the excess vinyl from your phrase.

Step Thirteen:

Iron the phrase on your bandana using the HTV directions and the Heat Transfer Settings Chart that can be found on the Expressions Vinyl website.  Note: I like to use a sewing gauge to ensure correct placement of my HTV.
Of course, if you make a reversible bandana like I did, you'll need to repeat Steps Six through Thirteen to finish the reverse side of your bandana.  Once you do that, your dog will have a snazzy new reversible bandana!

I love how classy this side of my Daisy's new bandana is!

And this side is just too fun because Daisy is an expert sock thief!  (I'm pretty sure she's plotting to steal more socks as I type this.)

And because Daisy is so cute, I just had to add the photo above.  (Imagine my phone and camera filled with about 100 images of Daisy in various stages of movement because the crazy doodle can't sit still long enough for a photo shoot.  I don't know how those Instagram dogs do it!)

I hope you are encouraged to try a bit of sewing for your pet now, and I also hope that you are encouraged to personalize ALL. THE. THINGS. with Expressions Vinyl!  And before I end this, I have to ask: what word or phrase would you put on your pet's bandana?  :) Disclosure: Expressions Vinyl sponsored today's post, but as always, all opinions are 100% mine.
Related Posts:

DIY Graphic Tee using HTV