I love this funny boy and that expression at the end. Maru has his own site too. (thanks Robin)
We Like: DIY Sweater Pet Bed
I made my own version of the pet bed made from an old sweater. It turned out great and the kitties love it. Actually Crow tried to use it while I was working on it. Saffron the dog thought it was for her—not sure if she thought it was a toy or a bed. I mostly followed the tutorial I posted about before with a couple of minor changes.
First, here’s a thumbnail of the sweater I used.
It had a rolled collar, so I snipped the thread tacking it down. I stitched the arms partway on as described in the tutorial. Then, instead of hand sewing the bottom hem, I folded it over about an inch and stitched it on my sewing machine. In the thumbnail below, you can see the seam is the white dashed line and the edge of the folded over sweater is the green dotted line.
I decided to make my bed more oval, so I folded the corners of the bottom hem up and stitched that with my sewing machine. You can see the shape of the bottom hem in the first thumbnail. The second is a close-up of the folded corner. The white dashed line is the seam and the green dotted line is the edge of the sweater that’s folded up.
I followed the rest of the instructions in the tutorial through Step 3. But, before I did Step 4, I traced the outline of the bottom of the bed onto an old mattress pad I had set aside for sewing projects. I cut out two layers of the pad and carefully inserted it through the neck and into the bottom of the bed. I proceeded with Step 4 and then tacked the bottom of the bed together to secure all the layers. I did about 5 stitches in the bottom of the bed—one in each “corner” and one in the middle. This will require a large, sharp needle. It was a pisser to get the needle and yarn through a layer of sweater, 2 layers of mattress pad, and another layer of sweater, but it’s doable.
I had washed and thoroughly dried an old pillow. I cut open the pillow and used its stuffing to fill the arms. After the arms were stuffed the way I wanted, I unrolled the neck & tucked it in on itself and stitched it closed with a slip stitch, also know as a ladder or invisible stitch. Check out this good tutorial on the slip or ladder stitch if you don’t know how to do it.
Here’s the finished bed. Because the sweater is a boucle knit my stitches pretty much disappeared, which is nice. This is an easy project and the tutorial is good. You can upcycle a sweater you don’t wear anymore or one from a thrift store and make a great bed for your cat or small dog. Or make a nice present for someone else.
Friday Fun: Maru The Cat Diving Into Boxes
It’s all about the slide. What a silly kitty! (thanks Nancy)
First Soup Kitchen Opens For Dogs
The German animal welfare organization, Tiertafel Deutschland, has opened the world’s first soup kitchen for dogs in Berlin. The soup kitchen called Animal Board provides one free meal a day to the dogs of the homeless and unemployed.
Tiertafel Deutschland also has a number of pet food banks established around Germany to provide food, treats, and toys. I know some people might argue that if you can’t afford pets, you shouldn’t have them. However, pets are just as much a part of the family for people struggling financially. They provide companionship, someone to care for, security, and as the woman in the video below says, the joy pets bring is “therapy” for many.
DIY: Make A Cat Bed From An Old Sweater
Here’s a great little tutorial on how to make a nifty cat bed (or small dog bed) out of an old sweater. Clever and thrifty! (Note: the tutorial uses contrasting yarn so you can see the work–you should use matching yarn and the seams won’t show.)
You don’t even need a sewing machine for this though you could use one. You will need:
- an old sweater—yours or from a thrift store
- batting, fabric scraps, etc. for stuffing
- yarn
- large tapestry needle (size 13)
- scissors
When you’re finished, the arms of the sweater will be bolsters encircling the bed. This is a pretty easy project and the author said it took her longer to write the tutorial than to make the bed. She also has a great suggestion of making one to donate to your local shelter. Nice!
The author of the tutorial has a fun blog on knitting and other crafty things.
Don’t miss this other DIY pet bed.