Monday, December 30, 2013

How to make a Fleece Cat Bed



You will need:
Fleece – I have 1 yard each of both the print and the solid.
Batting
Ruler
Masking Tape
Scissors












Start by cutting off the selvage.
The selvage is the edge of the fabric woven together tightly to prevent fraying. Often times the selvage is a different color, has printing on it, or curls up. You can save the selvage to later braid the strips to make a toy.








I wanted a round bed so I cut my fleece into a 36” square. If you want an oval bed then your fleece should be a rectangle. Save the end you cut off. This can be used later to make a blanket.










Ignore the cat that jumps up on the table to help. If you give the cat attention at this point, you will never finish the project.











Cut the fleece you want to use as the inside of the bed 1 to 2 inches smaller all the way around.












Using the masking tape mark 3 to 4 inches from the edge of both piece of fleece. This will give you a guideline as to how long you need to cut the ties. The smaller the bed, the smaller the ties should be. My ties will be 4 inches long. The ties should be the same length on each piece of fleece.








The masking tape guidelines should form a square at each corner. Cut this square out. Save the squares. They can be sewn together later and stuffed with catnip to make a cat toy.










Now it is time to cut the ties. I cut my ties 1 ½ inches but the ties can be ½ inch to 2 inches. The smaller the bed, the smaller the ties should be. Start measuring on the smaller, solid piece of fleece. The ties on each piece of fleece should be approximately the same size and in the same location. You will notice that the ties in the corners of the bigger, printed fleece are bigger and do not match the smaller, smaller fleece. This is ok. Cut that bigger tie in half. The two printed ties will be tied to one solid tie. On each piece of fleece only cut to the masking tape.


Finish cutting the ties all around the fleece and remove the masking tape.
Continue ignoring the cat.











Begin tying the two piece of fleece together. I start in the corners where two of the printed ties will be tied to one solid tie. For the rest of each side it should be one printed tie to each solid tie. I tie double knots and I tie them very tightly. We don’t want any of the stuffing to come out.








Continue tying the rest of the ties until you only have 3 or 4 left.
The cat maybe very insistent on getting attention at this point, but you are almost done.










Stuff the bed with the batting. It can be as fluffy as you want. Make sure the batting goes back in to the edges of the bed. For beds used in the kennels it is better to not be super fluffy so they fit better.









Once the cat has approved the fluffiness of the bed, finish tying the remaining ties.












Voila! The cat has a new bed. Now you can give the cat all the attention he deserves.




1 comment :

  1. Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me. Cat Beds

    ReplyDelete