pet beds
 

I know we all like our pets have any of you made them beds?? I have a very large dog and want to make him a bed any suggestions????????????

I've seen some made from fleece but never made one. maybe make the bed out of muslin and fill with cedar chips then make the cover removable to wash?

I have ''made'' pet beds from the thick foam that you buy at Joanns. Measure the space and have them cut it in the store, then use a heavy duck type cloth and make a pillowcase type cover for it....make several as they need to be washed often. Or, you can buy a nice baby mattress ( if you have an older dog who has wet accidents ) and make the same type of pillowcase cover. The cost will be about the same as the foam but way less than the ''fancy'' beds from the pet store!!!!

I make them for the humane society. I try to use blue jean material as wears much better or some duck material type thing. I stuff them with 100% cotton scraps. Using a pillowcase style , stuff and sew the open end. Nothing fancy, the fleece one sounds nice.

If your dog is well past the chewing stage.......before my dog Stitches had ACL repair, I took a piece of the egg crate foam twin mattress topper and doubled it over. I then took polar fleece and sewed an "envelope" of sorts, with the flap on the side. I closed the flap with velcro, making it relatively easy to remove the cover for frequent washing. He loved it , it was comfortable on his joints, and it wore well.

Here's a link for sewing your own pet bed.

http://sewing.about.com/od/freeproje...og-Pet-Bed.htm

I have made the smaller version. If I get too large, it gets kind of difficult to sew on my machine.
I made several of these pet beds for the local animal shelter.

I have made 3-4 in the past. I have bought a couple of large dog beds at Costco and
made new slip covers when the old ones wear out. I buy 2 yards of upholstery fabric on sale at Joanns fold it in half and sew the side and one end up and sew a heavy duty zipper into the other end. They work great and the dog's seem to enjoy them. it's nice to be able to unzip them and wash the cover when the get dirty.

for a very large dog I'd just get a baby matress and use sheets to cover it. :)

I was looking for a pattern for pet beds last month, & found lots. On utube, on weallsew.com, on about.com & other places too. I'm not on my machine, so I can't post the urls...

but here's one: http://tipnut.com/pet-beds/ ** 15 different free ideas here
and
http://weallsew.com/?s=pet+beds * no pattern here just a description

here's another real nice one: http://fabyoubliss.com/2012/04/19/do...-bed-for-them/

my dogs sleep on the "oops" and "oh my" quilts that didnt turn out the way I intended...I made each of them a square bed, using heavier fabrics, and then the quilts go atop that.......so I can pick the quilts up, wash them, and I have several, so I can change them out to be washed........my biggest dog is 119 pds, so that took a big one..........the middle dog is abou 65 pd, so medium for her, and the smallest one is about 35 pds....just kinda measure your dog when they are lying down, and then you will know about how long ad how wide it needs to be. I stuffed these with a combinaton of small scraps and batting.............

This is an excellent pattern. I have 2 of these beds, one for a small dog and one for a medium dog, both made with cotton fabric, I had to replace the bottom in one but they both have lasted over 15 years. Cotton fabric is the best, fleece is a giant hair magnet. It's almost impossible to get the dog hair out of it so I don't recommend it. The cotton ones can be thrown in the washing machine too. My dogs really liked them (unfortunately for them, the cats liked them too).

For a large dog I have use one of those egg mattreses bed foams ,cut 2 of them for wdith and made a muslin cover and then a reg pillowcase cover for washing.....

I made beds for old, large dogs out of baby crib mattresses covered with upholstery vinyl. They could be wiped off, were waterproof and did not collect hair. Very durable and comfortable. They could be made any size by having foam cut to size instead of the mattress.

I make to covers for my dog beds in the envelope style. I make fleece for the winter time and 100% cotton material for the warmer months. I use foam for the inside of the bed. I found some at a discount store at a good price. I double it so it's nice and thick for them. One thing you should NEVER use is cedar chips in a dog bed. It is a very common allergy to dogs. I bought a dog bed at a store and my dog chewed it and ripped it apart. I didn't think anything of it until I saw the cedar chips in it. He was trying to get the cedar chips out I think. He has never ripped any of the foam beds up at all. Good Luck and I can't wait to see what you make.

When we had an outdoor dog who had an igloo dog house, I measured the base of the dog house and made a big bag out of burlap that I bought from Joann's and my DH then filled with cedar chips. She liked it.

My indoor dog who was 60 pounds, did not like dog beds at all. He would only sleep on rugs. So I would buy 4 of those nylon braided rugs from Wal-Mart and sewed two sets side-by-side, then layer then so it would be double thickness and used a large needle and cotton crochet thread to sew the layers together so they would not shift. He loved it and it was big enough for him to stretch out on. My youngest, who was 9 at the time, grabbed the dog bed and used it for a floor pillow - go figure!

Lots of great ideas here... If you use denim, use deep seams... at LEAST 1/2"!! the denim tends to unravel.. I don't have a serger, but before I make another denim dog bed, I'll ask my quilty friend who has a serger to let me use it? I don't really know if that's possible, but the dog bed I made from old jeans unravelled pretty quickly!

Thanks for the links!!!

A Sis in law bought one for one of her dogs and it didn't like it. Cookie, my avatar doesn't have much hair and she loved getting it. It has a hood with a stay in it and she took right to it. It has a fake furry fabric and keeps her very warm. My youngest cat, Scammy took right to the old bed.
I have made a dog bed.

Yes I made 2. Both out of fleece. I just got the fleece doubled it over and sweded on 3 sides leaving an opening in one corner than bought tons of stuffing and put it in there. Simple and basic.

On a recent trip to Orlando to visit my sis, she and I went to JoAnns and bought a big piece of foam and 3 yards of polar fleece. Back at her house, I made her Doberman, Kiera, a new extra large bed and covered it first with muslin (velcro closures) then the polar fleece (brown with cream paw prints all over pattern) with a 36 inch zipper for easy removal. Kiera LOVES her new bed!!

I just bought my 3 cats a large bed, but none of them liked it, they like my lap better. So I gave it to my son for his kittens and THEY love it! So no $ wasted on it :)

A friend gave me the idea for dog beds stuffed with quilter's scraps, crumbs and thread snips.. The outer covers I made from flannel sewn envelope-style, closed with velcro. Sold these at a craft sale.

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I think you are talking about my post this year. These beds are sooo easy to make! I've made them for our Lab Grand Puppies and for our cats. You can make any size depending on the diameter of your cut. They wash and fluff very easily.

I buy 5# Boxes of fiber fil @ JoAnn's with coupons. I have made so many of these and every pet that has been gifted with one, whether they are large or small animals they love them. We've made them for local shelters too.

What I've learned is you need to OVERSTUFF with the filling as all the pets love to 'nest' in them. We call these beds 'Muffins' in our house.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/general-chit-chat-non-quilting-talk-f7/super-easy-~-wonderful-cat-dog-bed-tutorial-t181138.html

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=236744.0

I'm not sure why these aren't showing up as links but just copy and paste and it should take you to the post and directions.
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Not being much of a sewer, I line my dogs crate with several layers of old blankets, fleece, etc then top with an old king bed pillow wrapped in several extra large terry towels sewn together lengthwise. Easy to remove and wash, plus cushy and snug, my pugs love it. I drape several more old blankets on top of the crate and down the sides, and it creates a cozy little den.

I hope you don't mind but here is one more picture of Kip-Purr our Yellow Tom Cat in his 'Muffin'

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I know you want to make a pet bed but Costco has wonderful big dog beds for under $20.00.