Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf

Don’t you just love all of the adorable dog and pet accessories available? Me, too, so I found the perfect source for inexpensive materials to Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf.

A scarf? Yep, I used the ones they sell made out of thin cotton/ poly blend fabric and themed to match all the different holidays and seasons. There’s just no way you can beat $1 for enough fabric to make at least two dog bandanas, even more so if you’re making them smaller for smaller breeds.

You don’t even need to use a holiday-themed scarf either. They definitely sell these scarfs in all sorts of colors and prints. And if you’re not an experienced sewist, no problem. This scarf has minimal straight seams and is perfect for beginners. Plus, if you mess it up on the first try, you have extra fabric instantly available to use, lol.

Whichever color scheme or theme of the scarf you buy, you can easily Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf. Let me show you how!

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Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf Materials

• Dollar Store Scarf
• Cutting Mat
• Rotary Cutter
• Clear Acrylic Ruler
• OR Scissors & Long Ruler
• Sewing Machine
• White Thread
• Coordinating Ribbon

Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf Steps

1: Lay the scarf out flat on the cutting mat and cut it width wise at the 27-inch mark with the rotary cutter, creating a rectangle. OR, just measure a 27-inch length and cut it with scissors.

2: Fold that piece in half with the fold on the right. If you’re making this dog bandana for a much smaller dog, I suggest you measure from your dog’s chest area to the top of their neck then double it and use that as a guide for how wide to cut your piece.

3: Place the ruler at the top left corner and the bottom right corner and cut the scarf piece diagonally. This will make an obtuse triangle versus an equilateral triangle, which is exactly what you’ll want/ need in order to make the ends long and narrow enough to tie.

4: Cut the scarf piece diagonally, while it is still folded, using the rotary cutter. If you don’t have a rotary cutter, just try to cut your fabric while it is laying flat with your sharp scissors.

5: The scarf fabric should still have one edge already sewn or finished, but you’ll need to finish the other two edges. You have a couple of options. If this is just for one-day wear, I wouldn’t even bother finishing off the edges. If you have a serger, you can just serge the edges and be done. You could also zigzag stitch the edges. I tried that but my machine wouldn’t cooperate. So I turned the edge and sewed a straight seam down both edges instead.

If you have one of those feet that rolls the fabric for you for a rolled seam, that would be perfect for this project.

6: You can leave it just like that, but I opted to sew some ribbon on top of the seam to give it a more finished look. I don’t recommend using satin ribbon as I did, though, because it likes to slide around. Grosgrain ribbon would work great.

I’m actually a huge fan of this golden-yellow ribbon trim!

That’s it! Once you see how easy it is to Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf, you’ll want to make one for each holiday and season. Sure this one is themed for St. Patrick’s Day, but I know for a fact that Dollar tree (where I got this scarf) and Target’s dollar spot always put these scarves out according to the holiday and season. If you’re really nuts about your pooch, you can even buy a scarf for yourself so you can match!

If you’re not a dog person and are thinking “what about cat bandanas!?” Well, you’re right, you can easily make bandanas for them as well, and since they’d be much smaller, you could make several from just one scarf. For cats, I’d make triangles 5″ x 5″ x 8.5″ or cut 4.5″ x 4.5″ squares and go from there. Again, if these are just for a single use or for a short time, I wouldn’t even bother to sew up the edges.

If you decide to try and make one, for either dogs or cats, I would absolutely love to see how yours turned out!

Whichever look, holiday, or animal serves as your inspiration, it’s super easy to Make a Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf.

I also want to thank the family of my beautiful Great Dane dog model, Charlotte. I don’t actually have a dog myself, but Charlotte here has been my muse the whole time I’ve been planning this and I knew she’d look gorgeous in the photos. And since I could only use two of the photos for my feature images, I wanted to share the rest of them with you so you could see her sweet personality. Considering she is still a puppy and learning her training and commands, I thought she posed and cooperated better than a toddler would have, lol. Love you, Charlotte!

If you’d love to see what other fun St. Patrick’s Day crafts you can make with items from Dollar Tree, be sure to see my Easy Dollar Store St. Patrick’s Day Wreath and my Luck Shamrock Decoration.