Project Photos: DIY Cat Bed Tutorial

July 15, 2016

Azazel

Today I'm going to show you how to sew a fabulous, reversible cat bed with 2 fat quarters and some fluffy poly-fil. You can really use any kind of stuffing that you like, this was just the biggest bag of fluff that my Walmart carries. (it doesn't take anywhere near that amount of filling, I plan on using it for many more projects)

Bird Floral Dark Blue

I used one fat quarter of Spoonflower's fleece and cut a rectangle of white faux fur from Joanne's to match.

On the fleece, mark on all four corners a 4 inch x 4 inch square. I used a water soluble marker.

Pin the corner so the edges of the square line up with right sides together,

and sew a seam along or just inside that line. Repeat for all four corners.

I went over it twice with the zigzag setting of my sewing machine.

Then trim down the seam allowance and get rid of any marks that might bleed through to the other side.

You should end up with a floppy shallow box shape. Set it aside, and repeat all the steps on the fur.

Here I used a pencil because the marker didn't write as well on the fur fabric.

And now you have your second side finished.

Place the two halves together with right sides facing inwards.

My fur was a bit stiffer than the fleece, so I placed that piece on the outside.

Line up the corners and pin both halves together.

This is mine all pinned up.

Go ahead and sew the two together with a 5/8 inch seam allowance. Be sure to leave a gap for turning, and this is important: be sure you can fit your hand through that hole.

Turn everything inside out through the gap.

Push all the inside corners together to make a box, and get out a needle and thread.

This is the part where you'll begin to stuff. It's hard to describe, but basically you are making a tightly stuffed ring around a more soft and fluffy middle section. If you get confused look at the guide above.

Try to imagine an invisible line going around the bottom of your box.

Start by sewing along that line on the long side opposite the gap from corner to corner (A-D)

through both layers just using a simple straight stitch.

Mine was done using an upholstery weight thread for extra durability.

Grab your stuffing material, and pack it as tightly as you can around the back section also filling in those corners. This is where you really want to be able to put your hand through that gap!

Go around the edges with your straight stitch filling as you go. Start at D sew through C. Then do C towards B stopping at the gap. Then sew the other side from A to B. Stop here and stuff the middle. Close the loop by sewing B towards C finishing where you left off going from the other direction.