I got into a bit of a crafting frenzy a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to buy a nice squishy bed for my cat but was horrified by the prices of just a basic pet pillow. Plus, I didn’t like how many of them looked and figured I could make something equally unattractive for less money.

As an aspirational crafter, I figured making a cat bed would be a great excuse to dust off my sewing machine. I wanted to make a donut-shaped bed, which I knew I would need some guidance on, so I spent some time Googling patterns. I didn’t have much luck until I found this tutorial by the talented Lori Marie. (Lori Marie and I don’t actually know each other, but you’ve got to admire a woman who sews her French bulldog his own bed and then posts the pattern online).

Since my cat and a French bulldog aren’t so very different in size (ahem!), I figured this pattern would work just fine, and it did! I followed her instructions every step of the way and didn’t have any trouble, but I did make a few modifications.

• I skipped making the paper pattern circle in the beginning. I’m sure this is a good idea, but I can be that lazy sometimes. It worked out OK for me in the end, but I think it’s a valuable step and worth taking some extra time to complete.
• Lori recommends a canvas/terry combination for the bottom part of the bed, which I do think is sensible for a dog. However, since my bed was for 12 (OK, 14) pounds of roly-poly indoor kitty, I used an old t-shirt instead.
• I used some scrap muslin-type fabric for the tube part of the bed, which provides a nice textural contrast and is a little more comely than jersey fabric (although I think t-shirt material would have been fine).
• I ended up having to hand-sew one or two small sections in the end, mostly due to my poor machine skills.

In the end, the bed turned out quite nicely, and I think it’s prettier (and was certainly cheaper) than anything I could buy in a store. The only thing I’m disappointed by is my damn cat! She will not use the damn bed! Greenies, ‘nip, toys… I’ve tried it all. While she enjoyed sitting on it while I was making it and it was still a heap of unstuffed fabric, she won’t go near the thing now. Typical.

If you take on this project, I hope your cat or dog is more grateful than mine. Otherwise, we have a bunch of other great pet projects to choose from!

Image: Leda Marritz

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Pet Projects”