Today is Teddy’s 6th birthday and we are so excited to spend the day spoiling him! He has brought us so much joy for the past 6 years and we cannot imagine life without his sweet smile! We will be celebrating by taking him out and about in Baton Rouge. One thing we like to do for special occasions is have a special bandana made for the big day. Teddy is NOT a fan of clothes, but he absolutely loves to parade around town wearing bandanas or bowdanas for special days. Over the past few years, we’ve had a few special pieces made for him and today I wanted to share that process with you. We are joined by Pawpawrazzi Ready maker, Monique as she shares her process of creating a custom piece.
For each piece, I usually come to Monique with an inspiration picture. For Teddy’s 6th birthday bandana, I knew just the guy to look to for our inspiration… Mr. Harry Styles! Harry is known for his stylish and unique style, so he was the perfect inspiration. I usually look at men’s fashion, red carpet looks, or movies to find ideas for Teddy’s looks. Then, I send the pictures or general idea to Monique and she works her magic! She perfectly translates “menswear” to “dogswear”.
Now, let’s hear from Monique on how she creates a custom bandana!
One of my favorite things to create, are custom requests from customers. I enjoy communicating back and forth, sharing inspiration, and working together to come up with something special and one of a kind.
The moment I received inspiration pictures, for Teddy’s birthday bandana, I knew I wanted to try and recreate this look from Harry Styles. I could already visualize Teddy in this. I had to order a few of the fabric selections online, but thankfully they arrived quickly. I saved this picture, of Harry, to my iPad and frequently used it for reference.
The first thing I always do, is sketch out the idea. I write out any notes, for myself to refer back to. Things usually take a bit of time to plan out, but having a picture reference helps a ton!
I always draw and cut out a pattern for the project. You can see here the pattern used for the main part of the bandana, the bow tie and the hot pink portion of the suit. Once all the fabric is cut, then I lay the pieces out and determine how I will put it all together.
This picture shows it almost complete, but there are a few finishing touches that still need to be added. Sometimes, it isn’t until it’s all laid out, that I decide I need to add more, to give it some extra character. And that was the case with this bandana.
And here is the completed custom bandana! Now Teddy can rock his Harry Styles inspired bandana for his big day!!
Now that Teddy’s look is ready! Let’s coordinate my look!
You guys know that I love to try to color coordinate or match Teddy’s look when possible. I usually start with his look and look for something in a similar pattern or color scheme. I was so excited when I found this double striped tee from ASOS and headband from Amazon! The shirt has an oversized fit and is super comfortable. ASOS even has a feature on their website that helps you find the perfect size for you, which I love!
Let’s throw it back to other custom pieces PawPawrazzi Ready has made Teddy!
Last year’s 5th birthday inspiration was the velvet smoking jacket from The Kingsman movie! We opted for a purple velvet instead and love how it turned out!
Last year, we got to attend the Fur Ball, which is a fundraiser to support local animal rescue group, Companion Animal Alliance. It is a black tie event that welcome dogs as the guests of honor! The inspiration for this bowdana was my dress!
Last year we had the opportunity to be guest judges for an event with BREC called “Art Unleashed”. For this look, I just gave Monique the theme of the event and she designed this amazing art themed bowdana. The main fabric was paint brushes!
Creating custom bandanas is so much fun! If you are interested in creating something special for your pup, contact Monique at Pawpawrazzi Ready! You can find her on Etsy here, instagram, and Facebook. Of course, be sure to follow her adorable pack of pups here.
