Two photos of Zoey in her little ladybug harness. Two photos of first harness pattern I made. Hope this works. Mary
Oh darn, they are too big, will try to do it right next time. Just noticed she is all dirty too, she is such a tomboy and has been into my garden again! Should have washed her face first! She weighs about 3 pounds.
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They are pretty. Did Zoey make fabric choices or you?
Thanks! You can't see it on the photo, but she has a silver ladybug charm so I found a ladybug fabric fatquarter. I'm not posting my pattern for this one because I want to sell them.
The pattern printout was made into a black and red ultrasuede with silver heart charm, and a pink altrusuede one with rhinestone trim. She's outgrown those alreadry so have to make more a bit bigger. They grow up in the blink of an eye. ha ha Mary
Oh she's growing that fast? How big will she get?
Maybe up to 7 lbs. the way she eats! We are hoping she stays on the smaller side, but you never can tell till they get there. Love having a lap dog, she has the softest hair I've ever felt, it's like silk. Of course she will need cute little coats for winter as Maltese don't have an undercoat to keep them warm. I have to wash her face and paws often and give her a bath about 3x a week. She loves to play in the dirt! ha ha, so much for a dainty little girl! Her looks are deceiving.
How wonderful. I had a shizoo (they edited the other spelling), two to be exact back in the eighties. A male and female. Princess and Precious. He was grey, black and white; she was golden tan and white. I loved them. They had puppies and I saw them being born. I gave them all to good families and eventually had to give the couple to a family with kids. They loved them and they had a yard and everything for them to play.
Love Zoey. She's an adventurous pup. She's still sweet, like most tomboys, she'll settle with age.
Edited 8/12/2008 11:02 am ET by rodezzy
My neighbor has a pair of black Shizoos, that's the first ones I've seen that are a solid color. They sure are sweet little pups too! I bet you really enjoyed them. Zoey will be quite a bit smaller. She loves going for rides in the car, I'm trying to teach her to wave "bye", she seems to think I'm nuts on that one though. ha ha
I loved them dearly. I miss them, yet today, when I think of them. Especially Princess, she was such a baby. Loved laying around in my lap (when I sat still). I was much younger then. he he. Precious was a man's man! He didn't like sitting in your lap. He was beautiful though. I loved his fur. It was soft and beautiful. Princess wasn't as pretty, but very, very loving. Oh, my heart is missing her, got to stop talking about her. ooohhhh
Oh honey, I didn't mean to make you sad! You are such a dear person, you deserve lots of love and laughter and happy hours! Mary
HI! Thanks. I'm O.K. But I wish I could have a dog now. We can have cats in our building, but not dogs. Oh well. I'm happy though. Was very busy yesterday at the JOB, but that's a good thing. Good luck with your project.
Thanks so much! Mary
Crikey you are giving her better than a royal treatment!
The harness is so pretty that you can clean it and sell it off.
Perhaps you could fit her with stretch material so you don't have to sew so often.
Thanks for your kind words. She's bringing me so much joy, she deserves the royal treatment! Mary
awww how adorable. one lucky puppy!
photos weren't too big.
I ALWAYS right click on the photos to open in new window. took a teensy bit longer to download but it did shrink on screen.
Thanks, they are fun to make for her, allways enjoy doing something different to keep the creavtive juices flowing.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try opening them in a new window next time. I pulled them from the CD instead of loading them into my computer. Am just learning how to play with photos on the computer. Mary
Thanks for the right-click hint. It works! And means I don't have to miss out on the too-big photos some folks post.
Zoey is adorable and love the Ladybug outfit.
Thanks, she's a bundle of love and laughter and full of mischief. She learned to sit and to stand on her hind legs already and isn't nipping our heels. Getting her to stay in one place to get a photo is a lark though. We took about 30 pics but most of them are a blur of white. Mary
Thank you for posting the pics Mary. Bunny would fit into one of these just perfect! He squirms his way out of the others. Zoey is priceless! how many cookies did it take to get her to stay still for that? Have you developed a pattern yet, I am definitely interested in purchasing it if you have one. Cathy
Very cute, Mary, both the dog & the ladybug outfit! You did a great job. The white harness looks like it was done by a professional shoemaker. Good luck in selling your patterns - I'm sure they'll do well.
G.
I had planned on just selling the harnesses first and then get into the pattern end of it later. I wasn't quite ready to share the patterns yet as it might be a good business for me. Had to retire from nursing because of illness so I need to do something that doesn't require much physically. Now maybe I'll just sell the patterns since a few people have shown an interest.
Thanks for the positive feedback and encouragement! The white printout was actually a pink ultrasuede harness and it did turn out to be nice and strong and works well. I also made it in red and black which looks good on the white dog. It seems a bit warm for summer though. I have some other designs in the works too for winter and summer ones.
Thanks so much! Mary
You're on a roll, Mary! Your creative juices are flowing freely, so have fun with this & see how far it goes - maybe you'll soon have a website to sell your wares. These items sell really well at dog shows, & you could consider a craft show, especially at Christmas (but it's a tiring day manning a table all day). You could also approach pet stores to sell your items or place ads in dog magazines, just don't overdo it or you'll be exhausted & not having fun anymore. Good luck!
G.
Thank You so much for your good advice and encouragement! It means so much to have all this support and positive feedback! Hopefully I won't be too shy to make this work somehow. Mary
All right now, shake off the cold feet. You are a very talented and wonderful person and the world is lacking your stamp on it. So go forth and prosper! None of this shy backing down. You deserve to be heard! Your personality alone will help you sell if you treat them just as sweetly as you treat us. Go girl!!!!!!
aw shucks, you make me blush. Thanks lady, I'll do my best and that's all I can hope for. I got some wider velcro today so they should go more quickly now that I don't have to put it on in rows like in my first ones. Mary
Bunny still needs a harness, one way or another...... better get a move on there Girl, quit doubting yourself. You need not go into full scale production right off the bat. Start with a few upscale samples, sell a few by word of mouth and keep building slowly. Make your business plan and work it. Have you ever checked into the stuff that people buy for their precious pets???? Cathy
PS (sorry, got this interrupted,) from the pics you took, you have excellent taste, fine sewing skills, and an amazing ability to just measure and work out something like that. Rodezzy is right, you got the stuff, and the personality.
Edited 8/14/2008 9:41 pm ET by ThreadKoe
You're not shy, Mary! Take Rodezzy's advice - she says just what I would have said, but better. Go for it!
G.
Okay, I'll give it a whirl. Then let's meet on the beach and I can sell them there! Maybe I'll make one look like a doggie bicini too. he he
There you go - your creativity is really flowing now! A doggie bikini - LOL!
G.
As long as I don't try to squeeze myself into one, never thought about living vicariously through a puppy. Why not? She has such a sassy zest for life and fun! Wouldn't it be great to be so carefree?
Don't even think of squeezing into a doggie bikini! You might do yourself an injury :) Aren't you glad you have Zoey now? She's brought so much fun & happiness into your life.
G.
No bicinis for me at this point in my life, but maybe in a few more years I'll be like that book "When I Am Old I Shall Wear Purple" oh oh
So true, she really brightens my life. There's never a dull moment, especially when she tears across the yard or a room and pounces on my big yellow lab's head and bites his ears! She is oblivious to her size but it terrifies me. I don't dare blink or turn my head. He is pretty patient with her, drops toys at her feet and plays tug of war with her now. At first he took her toys away and she'd nip his heels and he'd growl. I even caught him taking food out of his dish and dropping it on the floor for her yesterday, that's a no no as their diets are different. There is some jealousy, but not too bad.
The best thing I ever did was putting a large puppy pen in my kitchen so I get a break to do other things. Hopefully I'll get to sew several more harnesses this week. I have some marketing ideas thanks to everyone here too that I'd like to initiate.
When you 'shall wear purple', you'll have to join the Red Hat Society - I think it's for women 55+ & they have fun (pajama parties, mystery dinners, indoor mini-golf, etc.), besides their lunches out.
Aww - those dogs of yours sound so cute! The lab is obviously really trying hard to bond with the baby, eh? Obviously, too, he's really patient - but then, the baby has been teaching him to not take her toys - "So there!" - Zoey probably says, as she's nipping on the lab's heels.
There's never a dull moment in your house! Yes, do start the Kayla Kennington jacket - we'd all love to see it. (Besides, you need a break from the harnesses :).
Gloria
I cut out a denim harness today after practicing making larger patterns. I'm going to ask the Jack Russell owners and the poodle owners across the street to let me try them on their dogs to see if my method works. Maybe I'll make some sales by asking people to let me use thier pups as models. Guess I will ask permission to take photos too. Hope they agree and don't charge me for it. Mary
If you can find dogs of different sizes & measure them, you'll be set to sell to all dog-lovers. I can't imagine that anyone would charge you to take their pet's photo - or to measure them. I think they'd feel flattered. You could repay them by making one outfit for their dog to make sure it fits, take the pic, then let them keep the outfit. Most outfits in the pet stores come only in small, medium, large & extra-large - so you should only need to make 4 or 5 patterns (the fifth would be for extra-small dogs, like chihuahuas, for instance, compared you your wee one). You could be sneaky & measure the coats or whatever in the pet store, write down the measurements and, if asked by a salesperson, say that you are buying a gift, but not sure about the size & that you'll be back - or whatever. It would save you looking for different-sized dogs, measuring them & feeling maybe ridiculous, eh? :) On the other hand, measuring the various dogs, making them an outfit, would be good word-of-mouth advertising, save you advertising $, & boost sales.
Ah - the Kayla Kennington jacket in September - we'll be waiting.
Do you not have a Red Hat Society chapter in your location? They do have a lot of fun, but, like all groups/clubs, they can be just a cliquey as other groups - especially if the people in office remain in office for a long time (just rotating with their friends). Some groups don't require the whole outfit - as long as you have a red hat & purple top (& sometimes red shoes), you're in. Of course, for the pajama or toga parties, you'll have to make red & purple outfits :)
Gloria
Thanks for the ideas. Mary
You're welcome - happy planning, sewing & selling!
Gloria
Oh yes, the jacket, maybe in September, August is so chaotic here due to Grandma duties....but I'm not complainin'! Love the human kids too!
Red Hat Society..........hmm, I looked them up online once, it does look like they have alot of fun. I've seen them in some of the parades in Denver all dressed up in thier finery. La de da...antique little girls.
You so funny!
There are a couple of Red Hat Society groups here and they have a ball. They go on tours all dressed up in their hats and dresses. They look fab. Cathy
Okay, will do! Thanks for the encouragement! I love the creative end of this, just not the marketing/selling/business end so much. (Probably because I used that side of my brain up when I was a nurse and now I just want to create.)
I know what you mean about the business end of it - not only can it be stressful, but it takes time away from your sewing. Take it slow at the beginning & see how it goes - maybe just a table at a farmer's market, craft show or a dog show just for 1 day - usually the table isn't very expensive (not very big, either, in some cases), but you'll see how much interest there is in your products & patterns. Good luck!
Gloria
Thanks so much for your advice, it's very helpful. I must get some sewing time in today! Thanks for wishing me good luck too, I need all I can get! Mary
Oh, my goodness Mary; Zoey is such a little darling, and your harness is perfect! If you ever decide to sell the pattern, please let me know, OK? In fact, I'd buy one now if you want to get a head start. You can contact me through the email system.
My little Peche' boy was only two pounds when I adopted him, and he was with me for almost 17-years. He left me last October, and I vowed there would not be another, but my DH took me to the SPCA for a "puppy fix", and there she was ...a little 5-pound girl ...another poodle like Peche', but this time apricot. Someone had dumped her on the freeway, and she'd been attacked but survived. She is such a little love and I cannot imagine life without her.
Anyway, I think you'd be a great success with your harness pattern; go for it, my dear ...and good luck on a new business for you.
PS: Maybe the idea of selling your harnesses to some of us here before you actually started your business, would be that we could give some neat testimonials for your advertising. Just a thought ...
Oh thank you so much for all your kind words and encouragement! We do have to be careful here at Gatherings not to break the rules and advertise or sell so I don't want to get into trouble or kicked off the site. I will email you privately when I am ready to move forward, thanks so much!
I am so happy to hear that you have adopted a new little one to love. What did you name her? Those little Apricot ones are so adorable, I could see her in a little soft green with apricot accents, or a chocolate brown ultrasuede or velvet one.
Our little Yorkie was about 14 yrs. and was active and pretty healthy until her last week of life. I struggled with the decision to open my heart again too. Now I feel happy remembering her life rather than the pain of her loss. Zoey didn't replace her, but does bring fun, laughter, and love every day.
You are so welcome, Mary ...and I'm excited about a possible new business for you. While I can understand the "no advertising" on Gatherings, I would hope they could accept that we all become close friends ...or ..."friends we haven't met yet", as I like to say ...and friends most always discuss, encourage, share, etc. their lives and happenings with one another.
Now then, my new little girls name is Sophie. I cannot even imagine what she went through after being dumped on a freeway. It's clear she wasn't lost, as she comes when commanded and, after someone found her and turned her into the pound, they advertised on all mediums and no one responded. The vet said he thought she had been attacked by coyotes because of some of her injuries. She is a little 5-pound ball of love and I just love her to bits. She follows me around, and is always by my side. And, like you, I miss my little Peche' boy, and as much as I loved him, neither will ever take the place of the other. Each one - like my little Adam and Joshua, have a place in my heart.
Yes please, keep me posted as to your business and let me know when I might be able to get one of your harnesses.
There was a Husband and Wife team at our fleamarkets who sold embroidered collars and harnesses..
Their stall was set up so he, yes he, could "machine embroider your choice of designs - while you shop". didn't take him long and the work was great.
The small pups and large dogs loved it. the owners try on the samples and some go thru with the purchases.
can't remember now what he charged.
our stalls are set up in a showground with electricity available to stallholders who require it.
first time i've actually seen someone using a sewing/embroidery machine there.
That's great information to consider. Thank You! I do have an embroidery machine, but haven't used it on the little harnesses yet. I'm going to go on a hunt for stronger velcro than I used on the initial ones as it wouldn't hold with larger dogs. So many great suggestions and encouragement here from everyone is really helping me with this! Mary
Well done! You should do well selling these.
Thanks so much! I found some wider velcro today which should help things along. I love that saying, "follow your bliss" and wish we could do that more often. Mary
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