Make a Banana Split Dog Costume

Now it's Jersey's turn to be the model. She's far more tolerant of clothes than Dexter is.

It took me an hour & a half to make this costume and I spent $15 to buy the craft foam. All the other stuff I scavenged from around the house.

If you want to see more Doggie DIY goodness, please visit my blog.

Step 1: Tools & Supplies

You will need – Various coloured sewing thread, a sewing needle, scissors, yellow, red & brown markers, yellow, white & black craft foam, some cheap white cloth, some white fiber stuffing, 3 red pom-poms, a slide lock, some nylon webbing, a large piece of paper, a measuring tape, a hot blue gun and a sewing machine.

You can do all the sewing by hand, if you wish, but it will take a looong time to make the costume.

Step 2: Making the Ice Cream Scoops

Step 1 - Cut 3 12″ X 12″ square pieces of white cloth. Use your red, brown & yellow markers to create the look of “sauce”.

Step 2 - Sew a red pom-pom “cherry” onto the middle of the fabric.

Step 3 - Turn the fabric over and add a handful of the fiber stuffing

Step 4 - Take two opposite corners and tie them together.

Step 5 - Tie the other two corners together. Now you have your first ice cream scoop.

 Repeat the process for to make the other ice cream scoops.

Step 3: Making the Banana

Step 1 - Measure your dog and add about 12 inches to that length. Then freehand draw a banana shape & cut it out.

Step 2 - Depending on how long your dog is, you may have to use multiple pieces of craft foam. Place your paper template onto the craft foam and trace it.

Step 3 - You are now going to have to join the pieces of craft foam together. Put your sewing machine on zig-zag stitch and sew a seam. To get the foam through the sewing machine, you will have to roll up the foam that is closest to the machine.

Step 4 - Place the black craft foam under the end piece of the banana, trace & cut.

Step 5 - Apply a generous amount of hot glue to the back of the craft foam and press into place.

Step 6 - Measure down about 4 inches & make marks to act as a sewing guide.

Step 7 - Use the zig-zag stitch to sew the white foam to the yellow foam. Repeat for the other side of the costume.

Step 4: Putting the Costume Together

Step 1 - Take the ice cream scoops and sew them on by hand.

Step 2 - Zig-zag stitch the front of the costume together as close to the edge as you can get.

Step 3 - Zig zag stitch the back of the costume together. You don’t have to make a full seam, just make enough to tack the back-end together.

Step 4 - Thread the webbing through the slide lock and sew it closed.

Step 5 - Sew the slide lock with the cord onto the costume, about 12″ below where the white cross-piece is. Take another piece of webbing and repeat for the other side of the costume. You now have a tie to keep the costume from sliding around on your dog.

Step 6 - You're done!!

Things I Would Have Done Better

I wasn't happy with the size of the ice cream scoops. I would have made them 50% larger. I also would have made the "sauce" marks much bigger so they could be seen better.