My parents’ dog, Jo, is a good (albeit strange) girl.
I couldn’t stand that she slept every night on a single blanket folded in quarters. (Just the thought still breaks my heart!) So for Christmas I made her a dog bed using the tutorial found here.
First I bought wool sweaters from the thrift store. I found that you can get more bang for your buck if you buy from the men’s department. Although the sweaters aren’t as colorful, there is much more fabric for the same price as a woman’s sweater.
Cut them down the seams and wash them in hot water. This is what people mean when they say “felting wool.” Who knew?
I used a coupon at Joann’s to buy a 24 x 24 pillow. At first this seemed a little small for a dog Jo’s size (she’s a border collie mix) but it is actually quite perfect.
Then I pieced squares of felt together in patterns I liked. The tutorial suggests making a template out of scrap paper. I didn’t. That just seemed like a waste of time since I wasn’t doing some random pattern.
The cream sweater is one of my own that I accidentally “felted”.
My pieces weren’t perfectly sized so I just squared them up at the end.
I think it turned out really cute.
The best part is that the tutorial instructs you to use the bottom hem of the sweaters as the pieces for the envelope backing, so you can change the cushion or wash the cover as needed.
Jo loves it (turns out she’s a shy model, however). Total cost? About $20!
