Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO Gear Forum => Collars, crates, & other cool things => : Newf Lover September 25, 2005, 11:17:14 PM
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Has anyone ever thought about making a sweater out of their dog's fur? We get so much fur out of just one brushing of Drake and I was thinking, this stuff is pretty thick and soft and might be good material to weave with. My wife thought I was weird so I dropped that idea. But then we've had several strangers on the street suggest the same thing to us, so now I'm thinking about it again. How could I go about doing this? I think it would be a neat thing to do and be a great thing to have when Drake is no longer with us. :'( I don't want to think about that day but it's going to happen and it would be good to have something physical to remind me of the best dog I could ever have wished for. Do I just contact a local weaver? Would the fur have to be mixed with wool? Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
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OOH! I actually have seen this! Look online....I know that there is someone that does it. Seriously.
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Here it is!
http://www.vipfibers.com/
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Thanks! I'll check it out, hopefully it's not too expensive!
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Hi Newf Lover,
This is not a new idea. We have done this for Leonberger rescue. Here is a link to the afghan that was made. http://www.leonberger-rescue.org/afghan2.html
The afghan was raffled off and made a nice chunk of change.
There is a company called VIP Fibers that will be helping us out with the spinning for our next one.
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We have a specialty wool and yarn shop here in our city, and they will take your dogs fur and spin it into wool for you! Check out places like these. Another option would be to contact a Fine Arts University in your area. I am sure that you would be able to find a student there who would help you out. I know a girl who went to an art school and she had created a small change bag out of rabbit fur that one of her friends had. Most of these schools have all of the facilities needed for this, and ALL students are searching for ways to make extra cash!!
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Great idea!! Go onto ebay. Im sure I remeber someone on there that you could send the dog hair to and she would weave it or make it into warn ?? Ill go see and get back to you.
Coonie
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I cant find the auction I was thinking of. :-\ I did find a book though on how to weave your own. LOL If you decide to start your own buisness Ill need an address. Judge sheds most of the summer so by next Christmas you should be able to figure out how to weave and Ill send you some of Judges hair. ;D Your wife wont think its so silly once your rich. LOL The book is only at 6.99. Look under dog hair and crafts. Sorry I didnt get the link.
Coonie
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I am so going to have a dog fur sweater! I was informed about this when I first got Kiah, so I'm collecting her fur. I can't wait for her to blow her coat. I've heard the sweaters are really really soft. This way I can cuddle with my baby all day!
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Has anyone ever thought about making a sweater out of their dog's fur? We get so much fur out of just one brushing of Drake and I was thinking, this stuff is pretty thick and soft and might be good material to weave with. My wife thought I was weird so I dropped that idea. But then we've had several strangers on the street suggest the same thing to us, so now I'm thinking about it again. How could I go about doing this? I think it would be a neat thing to do and be a great thing to have when Drake is no longer with us. :'( I don't want to think about that day but it's going to happen and it would be good to have something physical to remind me of the best dog I could ever have wished for. Do I just contact a local weaver? Would the fur have to be mixed with wool? Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.
I give all of Sam's (& now Pippin's) hair to Sam's breeder...She spins it & then knits hats, scarves, mittens, etc...I've heard that Pyr hair at least is much warmer than lambs wool...When I talk to her next I'll let ya' knwo how she does it.
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I've also heard of spinning and weaving newfie hair, and I've seen a few newf hair hats and gloves on ebay....
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There was a Newfie scarf at the Newf Speciality this year and it looked and felt so great. The idea of actually wearing my dog around kinda creeps me out but since I am always cold I think I might try to have some Newfie mittens made.
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Thanks everybody for you help and comments. I think doing something like this would be a much less morbid momento to the pets we love than taking them to the Taxidermist and getting them stuffed. If any of you have done that, sorry if I seem insensitive. I will check out all of your leads and let you know, maybe I'll start up a new company, I hate my job now so why not? Question though, how much hair for a hat? Mittens? Sweater? Blanket? Better start collecting, should only take a month to collect enough.
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Thanks everybody for you help and comments. I think doing something like this would be a much less morbid momento to the pets we love than taking them to the Taxidermist and getting them stuffed. If any of you have done that, sorry if I seem insensitive.Â
HA! HA! We had a pet chicken that died. My husband loved that chicken and seriously went to the local taxidermist to see how much it would be to get her stuffed!! Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to convince her that it was too expensive.
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Tajsa! I can't believe I just read those words....." I can't wait for Kiah to blow her coat" YIKES!! I remember when Roxy was not even a year old and people would ask us if she shed much. The complete idiots that we were, we said "No, we are really lucky..she rarely ever sheds." What a couple of novice Pyr owners we were! Personally, I think Roxy "blows" her coat 365 days a year! (Actually she blows it in October...you would think she would want to get rid of it in May or June, before the 115 degree temps arive!) We have enough Pyr hair everywhere on a regular basis .I am not looking forward to the blowing of the coat at all this year! Maybe I'm bitter because I spend every spare minute I have, following Roxy around with a vacuum, a brush, or a lint roller.... which by the way, we purchase in 8 packs at Costco! We have a huge ceramic vase that we have put all the hair we brush out of her into; who knows if we'll do anything with it, considering everything we own is already a "dog fur sweater, tank top, curtains, or car seats"!! I would love to know if you look forward to next years "blow" once you experience the first one!! I hope I don't come off as rude or bratty to you, Tajsa..just having a little fun!
Stephanie & Roxy
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I've been saving Keiko's hair for quite some time now. Since she rarely gets brushed (just seems to make it worse), I don't have alot saved, just a grocery bag full. I plan on having it made into a scarf and hat. I don't like wool sweaters, so I doubt I would like a dog hair sweater. :P
I will have to remember that website mentioned.
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I would love to do that, but none of my boys have long hair or even soft hair LOL
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OMG!! I so want to do that! From now on I'm saving Mojo's fur especially. I'll also start bags for Faust, Zeo and Kida. I just love the teddy bears! I actually did save a couple bits of fur from my Zephyr & Tika angels. Because of the Old Dog in a Locket poem, I was going to make some type of ornament and save the pieces inside it. I wonder if I have enough to be able to make one of the little keychains or hearts?
If you've never read the Locket poem, here it is.
OLD DOG IN A LOCKET
Old dog in a locket That lies next to my heart
I will always love you As I did right from the start
You were right beside me Through the darkest of my days
It was your kind and gentle nature That made me want to stay
Now I hold you in my arms Your breath still warm against my hand
Our hearts still beat together And I wonder if you understand
Through the hours that I held you Before the light did leave your soul
I knew a way to keep you Forever in my hold
I snipped the hair from around your eyes So I would always see
The beauty that surrounds me Even in times of need
I snipped the hair from around your ears So I would always hear
Music in the distance To quiet any fears
I snipped the hair from across your back
To bring me strength in time of need
And the power of your essence Would always be with me
I snipped the hair from around your heart That beat in time with mine
So I would know that love would find me At some distant time
And so, your life slipped out of mine On a quiet spring like day
But I knew that a part of you Old dog in a locket
That lays next to my heart I will always love you
Even though we had to part
--- Author unknown ---
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I don't have alot saved, just a grocery bag full. I plan on having it made into a scarf and hat. I don't like wool sweaters, so I doubt I would like a dog hair sweater.  :P
I will have to remember that website mentioned.
Here it is, might be worth putting on your Favorites list/bookmarking or just printing up the home page for filing away:
http://www.vipfibers.com/
I think a hat or scarf might be in order since I don't wear a lot of sweaters. Maybe after this winter I will have enough for a blanket. We're going to tell our groomer to collect his fur after clipping him, they will probably think we are weird but it will be nice and extra clean. It is worth sending cleaner fur because they charge to clean dirty stuff.Â
Moni, the poem you shared choked me up a bit. Any writing about dying dogs or old dogs seems to do that to me, so I guess I'm a softie.... a real man cries when his dog dies.
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This kinda reminds me of a newf head: I bet it is soft though.
(http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/imageserver.x/00000000/sozoli/.mids/NewfBlackHat.jpg)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lovely-Handmade-Newfoundland-Dog-Fur-and-Wool-Hat_W0QQitemZ7185326494QQcategoryZ13633QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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no one thinks this is a LIL creepy?
I was at the fabric store on Sunday, and saw this yellow woolly thingie that looks like a deskinned Cody.. (http://www.xs4all.nl/~ernstmul/images/yahoo/26.gif)
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no one thinks this is a LIL creepy?
I was at the fabric store on Sunday, and saw this yellow woolly thingie that looks like a deskinned Cody.. (http://www.xs4all.nl/~ernstmul/images/yahoo/26.gif)
Is it any creepier than wearing a mink stole (sp?) or rabbit fur gloves or a coon skin hat? Fur is fur, nature didn't necessarily designate specific animals to be worthy of being worn by humans. Look at the rest of the world and the animals they use for food or clothes or medicines. Thinking that using dog fur is weird seems like a typical American response. All I know is that I brush a ton of fur off of Drake every day and it goes into the garbage or blows outside. The perfect example for me that his fur would make a great yarn that is soft and warm is that this Spring I came across a bird nest that was near our front door and the mother bird had used a bunch of Drake's fur to build her nest. Of all the things to build a nest with, she used Drakes fur. Smart Bird! Also I look at it this way, after Drake is gone, I will have something other than pictures, something physical, I can remember him by. And that's my 2 cents....
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It seems less creepy than wearing wool or fur from animals raised in barn conditions. I mean comeon, our dogs have regular baths, etc.. they're pretty clean compared to livestock. It would be funny if it had that doggy smell though :)
hey Newf Lover, I have a book on attracting birds to your back yard, and one of the tips was to put the dog hair you brush out into a suet feeder.. Never thought about it but seems like a good idea. Little newfy nests throughout the yard.
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Nah, I don't think its creepy. I mean, if we were skinning them to make these things.. then YES I'd think it creepy. However, they're just making yarn out of their fur, just like they make yarn out of sheep's wool and or cashmere goats. :D
I personally love it, what a nice keepsake to have around long after our beloved furbabies leave us. :'(
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Okay, I admit it. I started saving Jackie's fur last night.  ::)
Julie
As my great-grandmother who lived through the depression said, WASTE NOT, WANT NOT!!! It will be so cool to have a Newf Fur hat to wear as I fly down the slopes in Lake Tahoe. Oh god, I think something has started here. It will be interesting to see the final products from all this doggy fur collecting. More to come...
And Brandon, yeah I heard about that, putting dog fur out to attract birds. It does work. We still have a lot of birds around even though it's getting cold. The hummingbirds are still fighting over the nectar I leave out like Crackheads fighting over a Crack rock and the bird seed feeder is cleaned out on a weekly basis by Sparrows and Jays. Hungry little buggers!
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I don't think its creepy! I had the same experience with a nest of Cabeza fur. EVERY SINGLE TIME I brush him a BOATLOAD of it comes off and flies all over the place. Newf Lover is right, may as well use it!
I think that Newf fur hat is super cool! I considered bidding on it! hahahahhaha!
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My mom use to do primitive dolls for her craft business. Anyway dad and mom had a Yorkie and when they would get her clipped for the summer mom would ask for her hair and use it for hair on the dolls. People loved it because it was a gray color mixed with blonde and very soft..
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??? Anyone know how to make a dane grow long hair?? LOL ;D
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Sooooo, has anybody taken the leap and had a clothing item created out of their doggies fur? Drake is going in for a clip next week and we're going to have the groomer keep all his fur for us, plus we have been saving some of the fur we brushed off him. Once I get 10 oz., I'm sending it in to be made into a Newf Beanie, a.ka. knit hat. It's going to be hilarious and I'm laughing already. For all you Nay-sayers who think it's gross to have a hat made out of "Doggie Shed", that's been cleaned and woven with wool, you'll think differently when you see pics. I might even have a BPO logo patch sewn into it. The best thing about it will be that I will have something to remember Drake by for the rest of my life.
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The dry cleaner I go to has a sign on the wall that they will not dry clean sweaters made out of "pet hair". So obviously people have asked about it. Remember to ask your cleaner before having your piece dry cleaned!!
Still trying to figure out how to get a picture of Harley on my profile ???
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Good thing to think about, might have to wash it at home in Woolite.
Aggghgmom, if you want a picture of Harley as your Avatar, this is what you do. Log in to BPO. On the right column under UserTools, click on Profile. Your Profile will come up. On the left side column, click on Forum Profile Information. Then you want to select I will upload my own picture: and then hit the BROWSE button below that. Select the desired picture of him you have in your computer files and there you go!
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After talking about it for quite a while and being ridiculed and laughed at by most people, including my wife, I have finally gotten enough fur off of Drake to place an order with www.vipfibers. com to make a ski cap. I am really excited, it is going to be so cool! Before the last few times we had Drake groomed, I asked the Groomer ahead of time to keep the nice clean fur she cut off of him for me. Here's a picture of what the hat will look like. Mine will obviously be Black and I asked them not to put the "Pom-Pom" on the top of it. I also added a pic of the hilarious Bikini you can order too, that's a bit much. I think that one was made out of Samoyed fur. Victoria, at VIP Fibers said she was just at a big fashion show down in So Cal that featured 4 of these bikinis. Only in California... ::)  I'll post pics of the hat once I get it, it should be about a month. ;D
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I wonder if something like this could be done for the homeless. It seems they could use something to keep them warm and such a waste for all of us dog owners to throw it out when it could be used like that. hhhhmmmmmmmmmm
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I love it, I've been saving bits of hair here and there to get one made also at some point.
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That dog hair bikini - there's just somethihng wrong about that if you ask me! :P
One of the old chow chow show people here in England used to spin and knit her own sweaters from her dog's fur.
Annnnd, here's a bit of trivia for you from my latest copy of the TMCGB's magazine. In Mongolia, the nomads have dogs that are basically the same as a Tibetan Mastiff for herding and guarding their animals. They comb out the undercoat when the dogs blow their coats (just like with their cashmere goats) and make their socks out of it as they swear there is nothing as soft and warm as the dog's wool. They are said, of all their animals, only give the dogs names and bury them when they die.
My socks always seem to be covered in dog hairs anyway. ;D
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The Mongolian's must be on to something... I sure love their Barbecue!!!
Brandon, if you're just saving the fur you brush out of Bava and Mowgli, it's going to take FOREVER!!! BUT.... the people at Vip Fiber said that the brushed out undercoat fur is going to be much softer than fur that was cut and collected. So it might be worth the wait, but it's going to take a really long time. I'm not that patient and I'm sure Drake's clean, cut fur will be soft enough. Just an FYI. ;)
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FYI, I just sent off Drakes fur to VIP Fibers to be spun and then made into a ski cap. Yeah, it's almost Summer and I won't need a warm ski cap for a while, but I have been putting it off for too long. I'll let you all know when they post on their website that their spinning his fur. It should be ready in about a month and then I'll post some fashion pics. My wife thinks I'm so weird.....
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Oooh, that is so cool. How much hair do you need to send to get a cap out of it? I would like to have a cap and scarf made out of Keiko's hair. I've been saving awhile, but I only have almost a small plastic bag filled. How much did it cost?
I'd love to get it dyed the color of her blue eye. Something to remember her by when she's gone. :)
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I have a bag from Dixie and Sugar Bear. I would love to get the pillow.
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It says that you need to send 10 oz. of fur for a "Watch Cap". They will spin all of the fur you send and if you want, they will send your finished keepsake AND all of the spun fur yarn to you. I sent 1 kitchen garbage bag (the white one) full of Drakes fur. It was from his last grooming and he had just been washed so it's nice and clean. That's something you want to consider when you send in the fur. They will charge extra to clean the fur and get any burrs, foxtails and gunk out of it. The Watch Cap costs $45 U.S. and with shipping and tax added it comes out to about $55. It will be more if you live outside the USA. Not cheap, but then again, it's made out of your fur baby. It only cost me about $5 to send the fur to them, but I live in California and VIP Fibers is based here too. Hope that answers all your questions. Can't wait to see the finished product! If you guys have any more questions, go to http://www.vipfibers.com/ Love that site! Makes me smile every time! ;D