This is my life....: How to make a Cowardly Lion costume for your dog, or, Why did I decide to do this part: 2

Today I will bring to you Tank's costume The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. Tank weighs about 150lbs so it had to be pretty huge. I still used Simplicity pattern 2303, which is essentially a dog coat. The only difference is Tank's costume had the hood option because he had to have a mane. I used fleece because in the winter this will be his coat.

Cut out the pattern and sew it together.

The picture already has some mane sewed on but you get the point.
Next, cut strips of fleece or felt in the color of brown you want about 4 or 5 inches thick and very long. If you are making this for a smaller dog make sure the strips fit his body size. Cut the strips about an inch thick to make something that resembles a grass skirt. You will need to cut a LOT of these strips.

Sew the strips to hood to make the mane. You can arrange them however you want them. I put mine on back to back to give the mane lots of body and make it really poofy. Like, one going frontwards and the next one going backwards. Fill in any gaps with more strips. This is the part that made me regret not making him be the wizard.

Next, I made the "Courage" medallion. I had a really hard (but fun) time trying to find a solution to this. You can order one online but it's expensive. You can buy a circle medal at the dollar store but it looks stupid and not realistic like the movie. I found at Wal-Mart in the craft section one of those plastic "painted glass" things that you are supposed to paint yourself. They cost like .75 cents.

I painted it gold on the front and back so you couldn't see the black lines and so it would be really shiny. Then I flipped it over and used WordArt to make the "Courage" part of it. Then I hot glued it together. Then I attached a red ribbon to attach it to his costume. I used a little metal thing to make it look more realistic.