Strut Your Mutt: Bow Tie DIY

Last weekend we had the pleasure of participating in the Strut Your Mutt event hosted by Best Friends Animal Society. At our table our lovely BC ladies had a fun DIY set up for all ages: bow ties! These bow ties were so versatile that they doubled as hair bows, bow ties, and of course collar bow ties for our wonderful pup friends. 

Today we wanted to share how to make some bow ties for all who couldn't make it out to the event.

You'll need: 

1. 4" x 9" cut of your chosen fabric

2. 1.5" x 2.5" cut of the same fabric (or a different pattern for contrast)

3. Thin elastic band 

4. Metal hair clips

5. Needle 

6. Scissors

7. Thread of any color

How cute are these animal inspired swatches!

Step 1: Place your 4" x 9" piece pattern side down. Fold the top over till it reaches the middle of the swatch.

Step 2: Fold the bottom over to reach the middle (it can overlap the top fold a little bit). Next fold the right side over to meet the middle, continue this with the left side. 

* Your bow should now look like this with both sides folded towards the middle.

Step 3: Prep your needle and thread through about 10" of thread. Make sure to knot the end!

Step 4: Pinch the bow from the top and bottom towards the middle to create your bow shape

Step 5: Sew straight through the center of your bow, make sure to get all the folds you've created. After a few times through the center, knot off your thread and snip off the excess. 

Step 6: Our next step is a repeat of our first few steps, this time we'll be applying the same folds to our smaller 1.5" x 2.5" swatch. Place the fabric, swatch side down and fold both top and bottom towards the middle. Instead of folding towards the middle, now fold the swatch into a loop. Sew the ends of the swatch to keep the loop together.

Step 7: Take your bow and scrunch one end to fit through your newly made loop. Wiggle it towards the middle and tada, your bow is made!

Step 8: These are a few options for your newly made bows. One option is to use the elastic band to create a second loop. This loop size can be adjusted to fit depending on your pups collar thickness. Secondly a hair clip can be clipped through the back loop of the bow to create a hair bow. 

Step 9: Enjoy your new bow!

Hopefully you enjoyed our crafts-for-a-cause DIY. We'd love to see your bows if you make them! Post to Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag  #bclovesmutts. 

Strut Your Mutt Recap

We had so much fun yesterday at the Strut Your Mutt event in Los Angeles! The walk benefited  Best Friends Animal Society, raising money to encourage and support pet rescue and adoption programs. We set up a booth were participants could make DIY bows for themselves, or their pups. It was fun to see everyone get so excited about the craft and they walked away with a cute dog print bow! 

This cutie had the right idea with her own fan!

This handsome fellow got his own bow tie!

The kids were so excited to make bows too!

Even if you weren't in LA to participate there's still ways you can make a difference. For one, we're donating 30% of web proceeds to Best Friends' Animal Society until midnight tonight! It's the perfect excuse to buy that shoe you've been wanting!! You can also go to BFAS's website, and learn how you can be involved in one of their walks. There are Strut Your Mutt events in ten other cities across the country! 

Thanks so much for everyone who has helped the cause. Too many pets have been killed in America's shelters because they don't have a home. Please consider adopting and making these sweet animals a part of your family!

LAUNCH music + fashion festival

Hi everyone! My name is Justina and I'm excited to be guest posting for BC today! 

Last weekend I got to attend the LAUNCH music + fashion festival held in Sacramento. There were promises of fun, good music, and lots of walking/standing on concrete. Here is when the eternal fashion girl dilemma of comfort vs. style comes in to play. But I conquered all in my new favorite sandal + boots. Not one blister. 

Take that, laws of possibility.

It was a good weekend, 

despite the absolutely looovely California heat threatening to incinerate us on the spot. 

I got a chance to see one of my favorite bands, The Cults, and eat some really good snowcones.

This was my first "official" music festival, so I really had no idea what I was doing and just sort of wandered around, letting all the different artists blur together into one really good soundtrack.

I also creeped on people with my camera because, well, if you have purple hair, 

you're just asking for people to take photos of the back of your head.

Just like by wearing my Eager Beaver boots I was asking for people to take pictures of my feet.

Street style photographers met: 14 

It was a lovely end to the perfect summer.

I came away with

 temporary partial deafness, 

some transfer tattoos of penguins,

and a deep appreciation of really good shoes.

Here's some advice: don't go to a music festival in bad shoes.

In fact, don't do anything in bad shoes.

But if you're wearing B.C. Footwear shoes this isn't even an issue for you, huh?

xx,

Justina

Strut Your Mutt- Los Angeles

We are so excited to be participating in the Strut Your Mutt event this Sunday, September 15th! Strut Your Mutt is an event started by Best Friends Animal Society as a way to raise money and awareness for animal welfare groups. Every day, more than 9 thousand pets are killed in America's shelters because they don't have a home. The money raised will go towards spay/neuter programs to keep pets out of shelters and it will also go towards adoption programs so more pets can find safe and loving homes. Strut Your Mutt is held in ten other cities this year, so check and see if there's one local to you! If you're in LA you can register here! Also, make sure to stop by our booth where we'll be hosting a DIY craft session so that you can make bows that you can wear as shoe clips, hair bows, or one that you can put on your dog's collar, like the one Lucy is wearing above!

Many of us at BC have rescued and adopted our fur babies so this is a cause very close to our hearts! Starting tonight at midnight, 30% of all proceeds from BC's website will go to Best Friends Animal Society. We hope you feel good in your new shoes that will positively affect so many wonderful and deserving animals!