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SusanP
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« on: January 20, 2008, 09:05:25 AM » |
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I bought several yards of upholstery material at the thrift shop yesterday. They were 60"x60" samples a decorator had. 25 cents apiece so I bought a bunch. Anybody have any suggestions for pet bed patterns?
Thanks,
SusanP
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purringfur
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« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2008, 09:54:18 AM » |
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Good find on the upholstery samples, and the sizes are large, so you can do a lot with them. I just bought some 1970's vintage designer fabric samples and want to make pet cushions and a shopping bag or two to limit my use of plastic grocery bags...
Questions:
Do you plan to "stuff" the fabric for some sort of padding?
Cover a human bed pillow?
Have sides to the bed?
I love to sew for my pets, so I could probably offer some suggestions...
Kitties like to be surrounded, so I'd consider putting sides about 8" high around the bottom part.
I've found that human "egg crate" mattress pads are great for kitty comfort. How big is your kitty? Full grown?
Do you want your kitty to feel as if he/she is hiding? Maybe even a top with a side opening is in order...
What are you thinking of so far?
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Buy local. Buy organic.
If you ate today, thank a farmer, hopefully a small, local farmer.
Remember the thousands & thousands of pets that died to give US a wake-up call about the safety of ALL food.
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SusanP
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« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2008, 10:07:08 AM » |
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Thanks, purring fur.
I have already made 2 large totes for grocery shopping. I have 5 cats ranging in size from 10 to about 14 pounds. I like the idea of sides on the beds. I didn't want to make just pillow covers. The egg crate foam is a really good idea!
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purringfur
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« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2008, 05:35:28 PM » |
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Check your PM.
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Buy local. Buy organic.
If you ate today, thank a farmer, hopefully a small, local farmer.
Remember the thousands & thousands of pets that died to give US a wake-up call about the safety of ALL food.
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catbird
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« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2008, 06:59:49 AM » |
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Here's another idea to consider: Yesterday I bought some hand-made pet bed pads from a local seamstress. She had obtained one of those heat-reflecting mattress pads and cut pieces of that to use as a bottom inner layer for the pads. The cats absolutely love them! (it's been very cold here.) Something else those of you who make pet beds may want to consider adding, especially if you have older pets who might appreciate the warmth. (I intend to look for one of those heat-reflecting mattress pads at the next rummage sale I go to, for adding to the pet pads I sew.)
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"When Mother Nature saw fit to remove the tail of the Manx, she left, in place of the tail, more cat." --Mary Stewart
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petslave
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« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2008, 07:11:29 AM » |
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I didn't even know they had those mattress pads. I just bought some reflector pads made to put in the bottom of dog crates or under pet beds from the feed store. They were on a sale rack for really cheap, & look like those thicker silver 'space blankets'. MIC, but I figured I'd wrap them so the cats don't have direct contact with them. You could probably also use the space blankets
They have similar stuff for reflective insulation sold in building stores. I remember one display had a tube of it & directions to put your arm inside, boy did it warm up fast. That might work too if you can buy small enough quantities (I think it was sold by yard but very wide)
It would be cool to make a pocket in the pet bed to put any of these reflective layers in, then you could remove them when you want to wash the bed.
Now if I can find a pattern for those padded cat teepees--I'm tired of looking at grocery store boxes with holes cut in the sides. It looks like a feral cat colony lives in my living room!
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SusanP
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« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2008, 07:36:16 AM » |
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Thank you, everybody! Wonderful ideas!
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petslave
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« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2008, 07:43:34 AM » |
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On your shopping bags, did you put any kind of stiffer material in them? I'd like to make some 'firmer' bags that stand open & upright by themselves, kind of like a paper grocery bag made of fabric. I like the portability of my floppy fabric bags, but after they are full & I set them down anywhere, they collapse open & let the groceries fall out. I have to tie the handles shut then they're harder to carry.
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SusanP
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« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2008, 07:52:17 AM » |
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Hi, petslave!
I had some cotton broad cloth that I lined the totes with. I used that iron-in craft weight interfacing (it stuck to the cotton better than the upholstery material) and these bags stand at attention, but will also fold up and go in the closet.
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