How to sew a pet bandana

Treat a four-legged friend with Jen Smith's pet bandana compete with embroidery flowers

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Hannah Bellis

Published: May 15, 2021 at 1:45 pm

Is is okay if we say that our pets rule our hearts? Here at Gathered, we want to show how much we love them with our craft skills which is where this pet bandana comes into play!. Whatever size you pet, we've got instructions and particulars on how to measure them to get the right size of pet bandana, so however big or small your dog is, or even if you have a cat, rabbit or hamster who might cooperate and wear one, you can create a pet bandana for them!

We're decorating our pet bandana with some simple embroidery for a fine and jaunty finish. The dog modelling the pet bandana in the photo is designer Jen's pup, Disco, and we think he looks treat in his embroidered pet bandana. Even if your pet won't wear a pet bandana, how about any of your pal's pooches? The pet bandana makes a brilliant gift for stylish walkies and good pals.

If you need a bit of a brush up on the basics of embroidery, check our our Embroidery for beginners article, and you'll find links to walkthrough guide for all the stitches you need in our Pet bandana stitches section. The pet bandana was originally published in Love Embroidery magazine issue 4. You can see more designs from Jen Smith on her website.

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Pet bandana stitches

French Knots – see our How to do French knots article for instructions

Lazy Daisy – See our How to do Lazy Daisy stitch article for instructions

Straight Stitch – See our Straight Stitch sun embroidery design article for instructions

Pet bandana materials

Cotton fabric Stranded cotton: 1 skein each of green, pink, white

Basic embroidery kit

Pet bandana template

You will need:

Cotton fabric
Stranded cotton (1 skein each of green, pink, white)

Step 1

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Measure around your pet’s neck and add 30cm to this measurement to allow for the seam allowance, and for tying the finished bandana into a knot. Draw a square onto your chosen fabric with the sides measuring this, then draw a diagonal line across it from opposite corners. Cut around the drawn square and the diagonal line to make two triangles. One is for the bandana outer and one for the bandana lining.

Transfer the design from the pet bandana template across the right-angled point of the triangle of the fabric using your preferred method. We used a heat-erasable pen. Find our more about this in our embroidery for beginners article. Mount the fabric into a hoop, positioning it at least 5cm in from each raw edge so the embroidery won’t get caught in the seams later.

Step 2

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Using six strands of pink, work the petals for the flowers in Lazy Daisy. Make sure you work the end of each one in the centre of the flower so they are very close together. See our How to do Lazy Daisy stitch article for step-by-step instructions on how to work these stitches.

Step 3

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Once you’ve completed the petals, work one leaf on each flower as an individual Straight Stitch using six strands of green. You can also add more leaves to each flower at this stage if you prefer.

Step 4

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Add the centre of each flower as a French Knot using six strands of white. Wrap the needle twice round the thread or, for chunkier knots, wrap the needle more times for a more three-dimensional look.

Step 5

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Take the fabric out of the hoop and press on the WS to prevent you flattening your embroidery. Place the two triangles of fabric RS facing and sew together all around using a 5mm seam allowance but leaving a 10cm turning gap in the centre of one straight edge. Clip the corners to reduce bulk.

Step 6

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Turn the bandana RS out, fold the edges of the turning gap to the inside and pressso the seams lie right on the edges. Slip stitch the turning gap closed to finish.

More like the pet bandana

We’ve got more designs for pet lovers right here on Gathered! Try our Happy birthday to my dog pet printable or our cat and dog DIY notebook covers. You should also check our our cats cross stitch and cross stitch dogs pattern archives.

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Knitting Editor, Gathered

Hannah has worked on Gathered for 3 years, since our launch in 2019. At school Hannah learned to knit collaborating on dorcas blankets – now she edits our knitting section. She inherited her love of stitching and embroidery from her talented grandmother, and her passion for thread led her to be Editor of The World of Cross Stitching for six years, where she famously made all team members dress up as Paddington Bear to be hidden in the magazine pages. Card making is a more recent passion, developing from her position as editor of Cross Stitch Card Shop. She loves using kinetic techniques to make cards that move – she was editor of Papercraft inspirations magazine for over four years, creating loads of card making video tutorials at www.youtube.com/PapercraftTV. Her ever-expanding craft stash stretches to sock yarns and circular knitting needles, too. She has an allotment and loves harvesting and preserving her own produce – her office jambola is an annual event.