Our Story

It all started when we got our first dog; Rayne. Our beautiful blue and white whippet. Our Queenie.

But let’s rewind a little bit…

I’ve been sewing since I was around 6 years old. I remember my first project. My mum helped me make a bag from felt. It had a braided strap (my mum made the braid. I didn’t know how to do them at that age :D). It was purple and lime green. And this is when my passion for sewing began. Thank you Michelle, I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you.

Fast forward quite a few years (ahhhem, not too many though) and I’m still sewing but actually turning my passion into a business now. I come from a line of dressmakers; I’m the third generation to be exact.

My mum and my nanna are exceptionally talented (and trust me, I’m not being biased). They have created a plethora of achievements together and individually in the clothing and fashion industry. My nanna used to teach dressmaking for an adult’s class alongside her admin job for a number of years. My mum went to college and continued to excel in her career in women’s fashion from being a buyer to a designer to dressmaker and more. My mum and my nanna also collaborated and made bespoke wedding dresses and all wedding attire including tailoring amongst clothing alterations also. Needless to say, I was always in clothes my mum and my nanna made from the day I was born.

So, as you can imagine, I learnt from two pretty awesome ladies. I made clothes for my two daughters when they were little girls and myself over the years (and still make clothes for myself now). I also found a love for refashioning clothes too. When my daughters were little, I loved taking old clothes or buying things from charity shops and refashioning them into new outfits for them to wear. They were never without a new dress when the next birthday party invitation came home from school.

Fast forward a little further…I’ve had a couple of sewing machinist jobs but I never thought one day I would become a designer and dressmaker for dogs (if one can even call oneself a dressmaker for dogs; I’m not actually too sure :D).

So, going back to when we added a cute, little, noodle, velcro dog to our family. I began making jumpers, onesies and coats for her. As many of you will know, especially sighthound parents, these dog breeds need clothing in the colder months. After a lot of fails (and I mean A LOT of fails) I finally started to get it right. Family members loved seeing Rayne looking all smart and snug as a bug in a rug in her jammies and coats. They said we should set up a business making them.

We were repeatedly stopped when we were out in public with Rayne wearing one of her little numbers that I had made. People would complement the outfit and ask where we got it from. And of course, I would very proudly but modestly reply with “thank you so much. I made it myself”.

So, in a nutshell, (she says at the end of the essay), after all the encouragement, my husband and I began preparing. Fur-guard was born in July 2024 and I design and make everything myself in my studio in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and here we are today 😊.