LOOK AT HIM!!! He’s got the perfect blog photo side eye and everything. I can’t even. Lol.
So…I bought this collapsible dog bed for our home after we adopted Sampson. It was meant to be used for traveling, but managed to somehow stay on our living room floor for the past few months. Unfortunately, my kids saw this as the perfect opportunity to play ‘dog house’, and have since demolished said collapsible dog house. Naturally, I could have gone to the store to purchase another doggie daybed similar to the ‘real’ one we have upstairs in our bedroom. But after watching Sampson hump that dog bed ALL. DAY. LONG, I thought something perhaps with less sexy siding would be nice. A dog bed DIY – Oy.
In all honesty, I have been thinking about making his doggie daybed for quite sometime now. After all, isn’t one of the perks of being a seamstress the fact that we can MAKE home decor and accessories that actually match our house? *High five*. And well, by now you must know my affinity for the almighty stripe.
How to make a dog bed
Skill level – Beginner
Time needed – 2 hours
MATERIALS:
- 1 yard mid-heavyweight knit fabric
- 1/2 yard coordinating mid-heavyweight knit fabric
- Ruler
- Fabric scissors
- Pins
- Heavy duty ball point sewing needle
- Coordinating thread
- Poly-fil
- 4″ Embroidery needle
- Sewing machine
*Recommended fabric is sweatshirt fleece, fleece, sweater fabric, ponte, interlock knit, and other fabrics will a little bit of stretch to them. A minimal stretch is recommended as it will help when sewing, but not necessary. Woven CAN be used, it is just a bit more difficult to work with around the corner seams.
Dimensions given are for a small dog (10 pounds). Feel free to enlarge pattern size to accomodate bigger dogs.
HOW TO SEW A DOG BED:
Step One – Cut (1) 29″ x 38″ rectangle from the outer fabric, and (1) 14″ x 23″ rectangle from the inner fabric. Furthermore, cut (1) 3.5″ x 10″ piece of fabric for the handle.
Step Two – Place the inner rectangle in the direct center of the outer rectangle. Draw vertical and horizontal lines to the sides of the larger rectangle pattern from the corners of the smaller rectangle. Cut out the square pattern shapes from the corners of the larger rectangle.
Step Three – Place cut edges right sides together, pin and sew. Repeat for all 4 sides. Leave a 4″ unsewn gap on one of the sewn corners.
Step Four – Fold strap in half right sides together. Pin along the outer long edge and sew. Turn fabric right side out and press. Fold the raw side edges 1″ towards the back and press. Pin sides to the right side of one short end of the outer fabric rectangle. Sew a rectangle around each of the 1″ folded sides to secure.
Step Five – Line up the side edges of the inner rectangle right sides together with the outer rectangle side edges, matching up all corners. Pin around and sew. Be careful to pivot when sewing at all corners by lifting the presser foot, turning the fabric, lowering the presser foot and continuing to sew.
Step Six – Stuff the bed with Poly-fil until fluffy. Pin opening closed and whipstitch to secure.
Step Seven – Using a heavy duty embroidery needle and thread that has been doubled up, ‘tuft’ the pillow in various spots around the daybed. To do this, simply sew directly through the front and the back of the daybed, pulling the thread tight as you sew to create a tufted look. Repeat in various spots around the daybed to complete the look.
And you are finished!
Blue steel.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…happy sewing!
It looks great! I love stripes too. No dogs in our house but there are a few little people who would love something like to lounge on. Maybe one day …
How fun! I love the black and white stripes! So mod. I wouldn’t have even thought of using knit. Bueno!
Very cute, and so is the little pooch! Just curious, what breed?
he is a Havanese that we adopted over the holidays. Very smart, very good with kids, and allergy friendly! I would definitely recommend him 🙂
awwww… those eyes!!!! And wow those stripes are sharp! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow evening that features your tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=88304 –Anne
Watching Sampson hump his doggie bed All, DAY, LONG – that’s too funny. Like my dog Poco used to do. You and the pooch are the cutest. Always a pleasure to watch and read your blog.
Hello! I just found your you tube channel and blog recently. I love your videos! My little pug Vito needs a new bed and I never thought to use knit. It totally makes sense.. seems it would be so much comfier than anything else.
The bed is nice, and I’ll definitely use the pattern, but that dog! Oh – my heart. I loooove your dog. Could you tell me what he weighs? I had no idea that Havanese were non-shedders. And that they were so adorable. We just lost our elderly English Cocker Spaniel and are looking to add another dog to our family. Do you have any advice about adopting a Havanese?
I am so sorry for your loss. Sampson weighs a little over 9 pounds, and is fully grown. Very playful, extremely smart, loves to snuggle, is great with kids, and can even keep up with us on morning runs (in fact, he gets mad when we don’t bring him – ha!). We adopted him from a family that was moving and couldn’t keep him, and he has been a huge blessing to our family. Sampson is just like one of our kids! We do need to groom him, as his hair grows a lot – so I bring him to the groomers once every 6 weeks. He starts to look like chewbacca if I let the hair just grow out – ha. I don’t know how one would officially go about adopting a Havanese, we found ours through Craig’s List. He was one year old when we adopted him, and he had already been in two different families. We love him so much, and he has been the absolute perfect dog for our allergy ridden house :). I do hope you find the perfect dog for your family. <3