Gator, Dragon, Snake Costume for Dog or Prop.. Little Sewing, Light Weight, and Quick

So i actually used this wire technique for a huge snake head in an art project back in college.. Dont have any pictures but it was very cool.. anyways i wanted to enter a dog costume contest.. which i won 2nd place.. stupid store bought reindeer costume beat me.. which i still think was attributed to the teacup puppy factor...

anyways

i wanted to make something quick that can be later used.. since my wife is a Gator fan... Go gators!! lol
i decided to make a gator costume... kinda looks like a dragon.. and could be used to make a snake.. also this technique could be used as a prop, decoration..

I wanted to do it quick and with minimal amount of sewing.. also very light weight.. and without fillers.. we live in florida.. and my dogs are like 6 lbs... so i used this polyester 8.5 by 11 sheets to make the costume. i used the self adhesive white ones to keep it together.. and to attach it to the wires..

Materials

Green felt 9 X 12 squares or you can buy it by the foot.. depending on your dog size
Sticky white felt 9 X 12 squares
#14 solid copper wire.. by the foot or roll.. depends on your project.. and size of dog
black electrical tape
pair of googly eyes
tread and needle

Step 1: Wire Armature

This is where you will need tons of treats and a cooperative dog.. i pretty much eyeballed the armature.. hoped it fit... for my dog it was easy since i only needed 3 long wires.. for small dogs or props this wire is perfect.... for digger dogs.. you might have to double up the cable and add reinforcement to keep the form..

However, PLEASE make sure you buy solid copper wire... if you buy the regular type it wont hold it's form..

once you have the 3 wires formed.. use electrical tape to hold it together.. for bigger armatures. i used wire to hold it together reinforced with electrical or duct tape

the neck cut is so the dogs head fits in.. and then close it.. kinda like a collard ..

i tried to keep the fabric one long piece.. you can leave some excess fabric to allow some room to play with.. is better to have an excess of fabric than not enough.. and have wires showing...

As you can see you can cut extra triangles and give your alligator some scales... and turn it into a dragon... maybe add tiny wings using tiny armature? attached to the back? i might do that next year

or you can cut a UF and bring your dog to tailgates :)

Step 2: Putting Everything Together, With Minimal Sewing

So if you keep most of it in one big piece of fabric.. you can tell where you might need to do some sewing

i keep the stitching to a minimal as you can see on this pics.. the mouth wich would require the most amount of stitching is mainly held together with the sticky white felt fabric... as you can see in the pics .. the teeth are actually two triangles holding the two pieces of fabric together.. it just has some stitches in the corners

The neck has the most amount of stitching but it still very minimal..

once your dog has it on... the neck and armature will keep the costume in place... just add some safety pins to the two flaps you have on the chest.. and the costume shouldn't go anywhere

hope you guys like inscrutable