If you have a cuddly creature in your life who loves a good snuggle, why not make them their own custom bed? You can design it to suit your home, be that with a space-kitsch fabric like this one I found at independent fabric shop The Fabric Fox, or with something a bit more subdued. The best thing about this design is that it’s completely washable, so you don’t have to worry about muddy paws.
MATERIALS: – 1/2m patterned cotton fabric – 1/4m contrasting plain cotton fabric – 50cm zip to match your plain fabric – cotton thread to compliment your fabric – old pillow or old blankets to stuff your cover with – basic sewing kit and sewing machine
INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Start by cutting out these pieces from your fabrics:
Patterned fabric – Two pieces, 42cm (h) x 54cm (w) Plain fabric – Two pieces, 12cm (h) x 42cm (w) Two pieces, 12cm (h) x 54cm (w)
2. Lay out one of your patterned pieces, face-up, landscape position, and lay your zip along the top long edge, face-down, pinning along the top edge. Sew (with a zipper foot if you have one) along the top edge 3-4mm from the zip’s teeth. Unfold and press the seam with an iron.
3. Lay out one of your 54cm plain strips, face-up, landscape, and lay your zip on top again, face-down, so the unsewn edge of your zip lines up with the top long edge of your fabric strip. Sew as before but starting and stopping 1cm from the ends this time.
4. Fold back your plain strip and press, so both your pieces of fabric should be face-up. Sew along the edges of your fabric where they meet the zip, about 2-3mm in (to keep the fabric away from the zip teeth), starting and stopping 1cm from the ends.
5. Trim the plain strip so that it measures a total of 11cm from the seam with the patterned fabric (so including the zip).
6. Lay out your patterned/zip/plain panel, face-up. Lay the other 54cm plain strip face-down on top of the patterned fabric so it meets the opposite long edge to the zip. Pin and sew along that edge, 1cm in, stopping and starting 1cm from the ends. Fold out and press. Repeat with the shorter plain pieces on each of the shorter sides of the patterned fabric.
7. At each corner pin the short edges of the plain strips together, 1cm in, and sew, stopping 1cm from the open end.
8. Unzip your zip half way.
9. Lay out your panel and place your second patterned piece of fabric on top, face-down. Line up all the edges, pin in place and sew, 1cm in, all the way around.
10. Turn your pet bed cover right way out though the open zip then stuff with an old pillow or blanket (whatever you think your pet with prefer). To wash, simply remove the pillow or blanket and pop the cover in your machine!
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