Up until recently my dog was stuck with a tiny bed. We bought it for her when she was a puppy and she promptly started to destroy it. Fortunately I had the brilliant idea to slip it inside a pillowcase which seemed to make her uninterested in chewing it up. Now she's "grown up" (or at least as grown up as labs can get) and out of her chewing phase, so I felt bad about her tiny bed. I started looking online and dog beds big enough for an 80lb dog are
expensive! so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make one. I didn't have any of this stuff around so I just decided to buy it all in one go, and it was less than $30.
I bought a twin mattress pad, a twin mattress protector, and 2 yards of flannel.
The first thing I did was decide to make a 24"x24" bed. It fits well in her crate and the numbers work out nicely with the mattress pad. Then I cut out two 26"x"26" pieces of the vinyl. If I had to do it over, I'd probably do 27"x27" though because it was a bit of a tight fit.
Now I sewed three of the four sides and left the bottom open to insert the mattress pad.
Like I said earlier, 24" was a good length because that was the same width as the mattress pad folded in thirds. I also had to cut several inches off the side because I didn't want it to take up the whole length of the crate.
Insert the foam pad in the vinyl cover and sew that end shut.
Now we get to start measuring and cutting the fabric!
With the fabric folded in half width-wise (so it's one yard wide) measure out a 26"28" rectangle for the top and bottom of the case, a 4"x14" rectangle ALONG the fold (so it'll actually be 28" long) for the back, and a 4"x29" rectangle for the sides.
Then I began to assemble the pillowcase. First I made a 1/2" double hem along the 26" bottom of one of the big pieces. Then I sewed the 4"x"28" piece to the other 26" side.
Do the same with the other big piece.
Now hem the 29" long side pieces.
Line up one of them along the 28" side of the main pillowcase.
Sew along the edge until you get to the end of the first piece and the back piece is sticking out.
Lift the presser foot and turn the side piece so that it's now lined up with the back piece and sew those 4".
When you get to the end, lift the presser foot and turn the fabric again.
Make sure the hemlines line up and pin it.
Sew along that edge now.
Do the same with the other side and then you're done! Slip the bed into the case and let your dog enjoy it.
MUCH BETTER! :)
