Friday, February 24, 2012

For The Dogs...

Is there ever a project that you feel completely satisfied with?  

It is very rare for me, but this one I can honestly say has me thrilled!



I covered my dog's bed with a quilted, very washable cover!

But first, I promised some friends...the location of said dog bed?  Why in our in our dog room, of course!  

What is a dog room?  

It is a small room off our laundry room.




We had the builder bump out a small room into the garage so our precious little family members could have a special place.  They actually love it so much that we just have to say "bedtime" and they run to their room.  And I took this picture of them just waking up...at around 11 am.  They seriously love it in there!



This is the BEFORE look of the bed. 


A rather nice black on off white pattern, but not washable whatsoever! 



I have had a bundle of fat quarters that I picked up from Hobby Lobby.  I actually planned to use them for something else.

But Sunday, we realized that the blue sheet that I had tucked in on the bed until I could decide on a proper cover for them, was just not cutting it.

So I came up with a plan.



Cut my fabrics and laid them out on the foam circle.  I had no particular rhyme or reason of the patch sizes.  I just knew that I wanted to have it look non-uniform!



I was pretty pleased that my drawings were panning out and went ahead and pieced it.


Button played with his new Fisher Price toys as I laid out the square.  I don't have pictures because he kept climbing on top of me when I was sketching out the circle.  I broke any and all quilting rules and used a sharpie as I laid the foam circle on top of my square. 




 I was excited when I remembered that I had some denim fabric from the boys duvets old bedroom decoration.


I sprayed the layers with basting spray and went back to my Symphony.  


I decided to do loops again. It was a little rough going since I felt strange working in a circle instead of a linear rectangle or square!  It sounds strange, but I kept getting lost!  Ever so often, I doodled a dog bone or a paw-print.


When it was all quilted, I took the top to the cutting table and trimmed.


I grabbed some more of that old duvet denim to make the sides.  This was the moment I had an epiphany of sorts and am REALLY excited to share with you.  I was dreading this moment at first.  I had originally planned to make sides and then either a zippered bottom, buttoned bottom, or just a pocket bottom.

But then I thought I would extend the sides an extra 5 inches for a total of 7 inches.


I folded one side to make a channel about .5 inch wide.


Pinned the strip the circumference of my 31 inch diameter circle and stitched a 1/4 inch seam, right sides together.


I placed the foam circle inside making sure I had it nice and snug.


And ran .5 inch wide elastic in the channel to make a gathered fitted cover!  Like a fitted sheet, I can take this cover off and throw it in the wash with ease!


No zipper...no buttons!!!

After that, I covered the bumper piece very much the way you make a bumper for a crib!  I decided to piece some remaining pieces that were all the same height of  7 inches.  I treated the bumper the same way as the cushion and used batting to quilt the patchwork side.



I then grabbed some more of that denim duvet (I LOVE it when I utilize scraps!!) and cut a long strip the same length of the pieced portion.  I also added 9 inch ties to the denim side before seaming together like a long tube.  Then I stuffed the bumper in there!  I did hand sew the end closed with a ladder stitch.  I did not make it removable because the bumper can fit in the washer well...the foam circle cannot!



 I wish I had taken pictures of the process...but I was at that point in a project where I was getting eager to get the project finished and it was getting close to their bedtime!


I am so pleased how well it turned out!  I really wanted to use this fabric for such a long time, and this seemed to be the perfect use!


And, again, I apologize, but I am so excited about the elastic! I just think it could be useful to anyone who wants to make a simple dog cushion.  This technique would even work on a rectangle/square foam bed too!



Now I have to figure out what to do with their toy basket...because that was what I originally had intended the fabric for!



The room still needs a little something.  I am partial to the photo collage I made when I had the three boy pugs together. 
But now it is just Prancer and Biggio. I don't have a picture of her in there!


The boys picked out this poster a long time ago, so it is a keeper.


But my corner rack needs some cleaning up!!  Especially the dog food bin at the bottom!



I am thinking some paint treatment, or bead-board and maybe new curtains.  But Button babbled that he liked the bed, so we will just enjoy it for now!


Isn't he a great model...

12 comments:

  1. I am in awe of this and you! This and your dog room are beyond cute.

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  2. You are so clever! What a cute bed cushion and wonderful room!

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  3. How nice you have a special room for your pups! Ours sleep in our home office, but they too love their beds and are super excited to trot right in there at bedtime. If you forget to open the door they will bark at it until you get there.

    I really love your dog bed cover. Making it with elastic on the bottom was a great idea, I know when I wash ours, they're always so dirty that manhandling the covers off is a mess. It'll be so much easier with yours!

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    1. Ours get very upset when you don't put them to bed. They give us sad tired puppy eyes!!!

      And I can't stand taking the bedding with zippered covers, so I was so excited to come up with the idea!

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  4. Heidi, you are amazing. That is all. Oh, and I hope your family knows that!!! :)

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  5. The bed looks great. How cute they have their own room. I have heard of such dogs, mine unfortunately needs to be with me or my husband constantly. He cannot go to bed without us (read stays up late and sleeps in our bed).

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  6. I don't know which i like the best the bed or the room! Such a fabulous idea to have their own room for the dogs; I despise having dog crates around they are so ugly no mattern how many covers I try to disguise them with. That bed is adorable, I want one : )

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Denise!!! I hate crates too! For the longest time in our other houses, we just gated off the laundry room, but both THEY and I hated it. Me? Because of the hair on the clean clothes and they get underfoot. Them? Because I would turn on the lights in the middle of the night (when I get most of my chores done) and they would blink at me as if saying "are you kidding me?" or shoving them out of the way to fill my laundry baskets!!

      I got the bed at Home Goods (part of the TJ Maxx stores?) on sale. It was a bit pricey (retail 169.00....but bought if for 59.99), but I think it is cheaper for me to make covers for this one, than to buy a new $30-40 one every few months because they just don't wash well...despite what they say!

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  7. You just completely amaze me. I am in awe of the things you are able to accomplish with a sewing machine. It's wonderful. I wish my little doggie had her own room!:) That is just cool! Hi Heidi! xo

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  8. I love what you did with that bed...it looks like some uber cool designer room! What an awesome space!

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  9. It looks awesome! I love your fabric!

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I cannot wait to hear what you have to say! Seriously! It makes my day!

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