That’s Shantee’s summer “office girl” look — conservative cuts but with the bright hues of summer. It’s the same dress she wore during her TV shoots with the Kulilits and Zooperstars crew. The summery colors just looked great on TV!

We got this dog dress from a shop in Tiendesitas for about Php150-200. I can’t remember the exact amount, but I do remember it being on sale. Shantee just loves it!!!

Of course, I made Shantee a gown. I couldn’t let her “walk down the aisle” an under-dressed bride!

The gown I made Shantee was made of scrap white satin and lace my mom had lying around. I added some bead and organza trimmings I bought from Carolina’s at SM Megamall just a few days back. I initially intended those trimmings for a different dog dress of Shantee’s, but it seemed more appropriate for this one—it made the dog wedding gown the accent it needed. Offhand, I can say that this is probably the most complicated dog dress I ever made for Shantee, even more complicated than her Christmas dog dress, or polka-dot New Year dog dress. But that’s still not the best thing about it…

I made it look like my own wedding gown!

I didn’t have time to design a really complicated one (my sister Joyce and I decided we’d dress Shantee up for the “wedding” just three days before the event), so I just settled for something similar to my own—something that looks very intricate, but really isn’t. Besides, isn’t it cute that we had the same gown?

Here’s the little bridezilla throwing a tantrum just before she got “married.”

She got really pissed when I left her on that chair to admire and take pictures of Gov. Chavit Singson’s mini horses. Shantee’s very jealous, you know

Shantee partied with the humans in welcoming 2008. So yep, I just had to make her a Polka-dot New Year dog dress!

I got the black and white polka-dots cloth from my mom’s stock. And luckily, I also found a red chiffon cloth I was able to use as a sash/belt for Shantee. Why polka-dots? Well, it’s because of this Filipino-Chinese tradition, you see.

It’s a common tradition here in the Philippines to welcome the New Year with fireworks and preparing round fruits. The fireworks are believed to ward of evil spirits and bad luck, while the round fruits and objects symbolize money or coins. It’s customary here to wear red (which is considered to be a lucky color) and polka-dots so you’d “attract” good luck, prosperity and wealth for the coming year.

I’m not much of a superstitious person, but hey, it wouldn’t hurt to dress up my dog in clothes that would attract good luck, health, prosperity and wealth, you know!

Anyway, I made use of a different pattern for this dress—one with ruffled sleeves. But it was a difficult trial and error thing, especially when you have a very frisky customer The sash around her “waist” is made of chiffon, sewn with three red Swarovski crystal beads—I still have quite a lot of these even with the dog necklace I made for Shantee before. This dog dress isn’t just for New Year celebrations—the neutral black and white with a touch of red gives it a dressy feel for any party my dog would be attending.

My husband Marc said that it won’t be long when he’ll have to build a wardrobe for Shantee with all the dresses I’ve been making for her. Hehe. That’s possible, you know, since I’m actually enjoying making these dresses for our little furry girl. You just wait when I get my hands on a sewing machine!

I made Shantee a red velvet dress with gold trimmings, which strongly reminded me of the Ghost of Christmas Past from the movie, “A Christmas Carol,” whenever she wears it. But my husband Marc calls it “Shantee’s Harry Potter Dress.”

The pattern I used for this dress is the exact same one as the dog dress pattern I used on Shantee’s purple checkered dog dress. The accents were a bit complicated—I made two holly leaves out of green velvet, and the red fruits were made out of five red Swarovski crystals bundled up together to form a “flower.” I also put simple gold bead work on the back area.

I’m proud of this dog dress! See? Even Shantee’s happy! She really likes wearing this dress. I suppose it makes her feel pretty

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

But look here, Shantee has a new purple girly dog dress!

Would you believe I made that? Really, I did. I honestly couldn’t believe I could come up with a dog dress like that myself. But yes, this dog dress was made by hand and with love! (Unfortunately, my mom’s sewing machine needed to undergo major repairs)

I was actually planning to make a Santa-type of dress for Shantee using some red velvet cloth I had lying around. But I wasn’t feeling too confident about my measuring and sewing skills, so I made use of some cheap purple clothe to practice on first. Turns out, it wasn’t too hard—except for the sewing part, it would have been way easier and less time-consuming if I had a sewing machine.

I made use of the pattern I saw in the HGTV website which featured step-by-step instructions on how to make a dog dress, but modified it a bit. Give it a try—it definitely beats having to buy expensive dog clothes any day!