Sunday, June 19, 2011

New Bed for the Doggies ♥

I've wanted to buy a nice large bed for my doggies for some time now.  I looked around at various places (Petsmart, Wal-Mart, etc) for a reasonably priced and okay-looking bed. What I found were fairly priced beds that wouldn't match my decor at all or beds that were adorable, but way over-priced.  I finally decided to just make my own.  I stumbled upon this pattern on the Better Homes and Gardens web-site:

Isn't that dog so cute?  Anyways, that was basically what I was looking for (something large and very cushion-y).  So off I went to Joann's with my coupons in hand, and purchased some home decor-weight fabric while it was on sale for 50% off (I ♥ Joann's).

I encountered a couple firsts with this project: piping and the dreaded ZIPPERS!

The piping wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it also gave me the chance to try out my zipper foot.  I used this tutorial.  I normally find most of my sewing tutorials on Burdastyle.com (something else I absolutely ♥), but they didn't have exactly what I was looking for because I decided to make my own piping. I will probably never do that again, because pre-made piping is cheap.  I only did it this time because I had already bought some 7/8" double fold quilt binding for the project (I didn't quite think that through...for some reason I thought I could use that in place of piping?) and didn't want to waste it.  I bought some decently thick "jute" to use as the piping because cording was way too expensive (> $1.50/yard and I needed almost 9 yards).  I didn't buy the one that is in the link, but I found a smaller quantity for around $5 (I justified spending $5 on it because I would have plenty leftover to use on future projects).  I guess (hope) it's pretty handy to know how to make your own piping in case there is ever a situation where you can't find the perfect shade?

I know you've probably already noticed that Martha's instructions don't mention zippers at all, but I wanted to add a zipper to one side of the bed in case there is ever a time when I'd like to wash it.  I used a tutorial that Made by Meg had posted on Burdastyle (here is the link to her tutorial page).  On this page you'll notice three different zipper tutorials; I decided to use the "Centered Zipper" tutorial for my project.  Overall, installing the zipper wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  Annoying, but not difficult (sending a big thank-you to Made by Meg)!

I mentioned earlier that I wanted to be able to remove the outer cover of the bed in order to wash it, so I also made an inside cushion that I could also wash if needed.  I used plain white cotton fabric (the cheapest I could find) and stuffed it with fiber fill (ugh...I just noticed that it's only $4.99 online, and I luckily paid that in the store because I had a 50% off coupon - otherwise it's $7.49 for 20oz).  I used the dog bed pattern to make this inner cushion (2 pieces + boxing strip - piping), but now that I think about it, it probably would've been much easier to do something like this instead.  Speaking of that pattern, I'm thinking about making some outdoor cushion covers with it.  I'm not entirely sure if it'll work though...stay tuned for that post!

Anywho, less words and more pictures!

1 comment:

  1. Oh, that's a nice bed! I'll try to make one for my dear dog too. I have a piping presser foot that I never used, this would be a good chance :)

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