With the cold weather upon us, you can warm your pups AND your heart with Project Puppy Love. I recently got the chance to pick coat designer Holly Glover’s brain about Project Puppy Love.
Aimee: How did Project Puppy Love get started? What inspired you? Who got your first coats?
Holly: PPL started after I made coats for my own dogs. My dogs are definitely members of the family and, like our cats, are spoiled. I decided they needed winter coats because their fur is so short that they get cold easily. Everything I saw in stores and online was so expensive and often too small. I knew I could make a coat myself that would work just as well, would be more inexpensive and would actually fit my dogs. Once they were completed, dogs received many compliments on their new outerwear. From strangers even! I had a lot of fun making the coats, but did my dogs really need a whole wardrobe?
Holly’s dogs Una (in pastel argyle with hood) and Gage (in plaid).
I’ve always been a huge animal lover and for several years now I’ve wanted to volunteer or donating to a shelter to help any homeless pets that I could but time and money are always tight and I’ve never found a way to work it out. However, it seemed like this was a way I could be creative and crafty and benefit the shelters at the same time. I’m not sure where the initial idea came from, perhaps it just came to me suddenly. But once it was there, I couldn’t shake it. I have been able to work on making doggie coats when I’ve had a free minute and the proceeds will be donated to local shelters. It was about a month before Christmas [2006] that this idea came to me, so maybe you could say I was in the Christmas spirit.
Aimee: How long does it take you to make one coat?
Holly: It takes between 1 and 3 hours to make a coat, depending on how complicated the coat is. Simple coats don’t take terribly long. Coats with hoods take longer. Right now I offer two designs, a simple coat without a hood and one with, though both have been customize with ribbons and appliqués. I am hoping to add more styles and options soon. I have one customer interested in a raincoat.
Mr. Gage models the hoodless coat with cutie pocket.
Aimee: What kinds of materials/colors/sizes are available?
Holly: Almost anything and everything is available because of the way I work. I go over the specifics of their order with each customer, from what kind of fabric and fabric pattern they want to their dog’s specific measurements. Everything is customized. I don’t even purchase fabric until the customer tells me what they want. Fleece has been the common favorite fabric so far.
The lovely and talented Una in her pastel fleece hoodie.
Aimee: How did you pick the shelters that benefit from your work?
Holly: I’ve selected the two main shelters that are local to me to benefit from my work as they do the most work in my community. They are Stray Haven Humane Society (Waverly NY)and Bradford County Humane Society (Ulster, PA).
Aimee: Now the fun part: tell us a little about the pets in your family!
Holly: My husband and I own 2 cats and 2 dogs. All adopted from local shelters. Our cats are Montey and Benny, a red mackerel tabby and a brown tabby. We adopted them when they were a year old in November 2004. They’re not related but seemed to be friends at the shelter and we couldn’t take just one. We adopted the dogs in April 2006 when they were 6 or 7 weeks old. Their names are Gage (male) and Una (female). They are littermates. We think they are pit bull/boxer mixes but we can’t say for sure.
Aimee: Have you always been a craft lover? What else do you create?
Holly: Have I’ve been a craft lover for a long time. I’ve always been artistic and crafts are just an extension of that. In addition to sewing, I knit, crochet, make soap and make jewelry. I sell some of my creations at Darkening Star Boutique.
Aimee: How can someone place an order with Project Puppy Love?
Holly: Someone can place an order with PPL by visiting this website or emailing me at darkeningstar@gmail.com.