Hi! It's Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I've got a really fun project for
you today. Take a look at this darling little bed for our four-­footed friends. I got a
letter and this sample a while back from Betty from Nebraska and she says:
"Dear Jenny in Missouri Star Quilt Company,
I've watched almost all your tutorials and love them. I noticed in quite a few that Jenny
says, ‘I hate waste,’ as most quilters do. So I thought I would share this idea and
send this sample along with you."
Now what's really fun about this, I want to show you right here is, look what it is stuffed
with right here. Look at that. It's all our scraps and the pieces that we have left over
and it just makes the perfect filling for these little beds.
Now, in a lot of the tutorials I'll do, you'll see me brushing stuff off the table and things
like that. And actually what I have down here is a drawer and I put the scraps in the drawer
and when the drawer gets full, I either make a dog bed myself or I donate it to a, I have,
there are several girls that make them, and I donate it to one of them and so it's just
a really cool idea. And I just got thinking, you guys would really enjoy this. This time
of year, you know, it's fun to give a special present to our four­-footed friends as well
because they're such a big part of our lives. So, let me show you how she did this.
Now, what we're going to need is, we're going to need a half a yard of fabric and, she used
fleece and we have fleece here, and, I mean, there's just loads, all different kinds of
fleece. I thought this dog paws one was particularly cute. So, this is a half yard and, what we're
going to do is, we're just going to sew the sides.
What, what I think is a, you know, for most people you don't have a drawer down there,
so you want to make this to fit inside of a trash can or some sort of box or receptacle
where it's convenient for you to just throw your scraps in. So that's what we're going
to do. So, right now what I'm going to do is, I'm going to turn this right sides together,
just like this, and i'm just gonna start from the fold. From the fold right here. I'm going
to start here and I'm going to sew a seam right down the sides. That's gonna give me
a type of pillowcase, if you will, and leave the top open so I can stuff it in there. So,
I'm going to head over to the sewing machine and just sew this right down the sides.
Okay, so now we're at the sewing machine and I'm just going to sew straight down the sides
on this. You know, any scrap fabric will work. It doesn't even really have to be fleece;
it can just be anything. Because our, our little four­-footed friends appreciate anything
they can get, I think. Alright, make sure your sides are even and then go ahead and
sew the other side as well, so we've sewn both. We're going to sew both sides.
Now, this is one of those projects where, when you get to the end, you really want to
backstitch because you don't want that top to come apart. And, sometimes, it may take
a while to get it filled up with scrap, so be sure that you backstitch at the end.
So now I have this sewn up on both sides here just right along the sides and we're going
to go ahead and we're going to flip this right side out. Just like this. And then I have
a little can right here. Let me show you how this is going to work. We're just going to
set this bag down inside, you know, whatever little bin you decide to use. We can pull
it around the top just like this. And then look at that. You're just going to be able
to put your scraps in. So I have some here. And you're just, and, you know, as you cut
off, as you're sewing and you cut off the pieces of your project that normally you just
toss away, you can just put them in here. And when this gets all full, all you're going
to do is, you're just going to take it out of the can like this and you're going to,
and, of course, it will be full, and you're going to just tuck in this end right here.
And I like to leave a little extra, you know, and that is why I didn't cut the selvage off.
So you're just going to tuck in this end (let me scoot that over) and sew straight across
here. And you'll have these awesome little pet beds that you can donate to shelters or
use for your own animals. So, one more thing, when Betty put her bed
together, I noticed that on one side she actually put in a piece of batting. And that helps
it be less lumpy. So, if you find you need that, that's just another idea you can use.
So, we hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to make a pet bed, from the Missouri Star
Quilt Company.
Hi! it's Jenny again. We had so much fun making these pet beds, we wanted to know if you made
one for your pet. If you did, let us know in the comments below, and send us a picture
if you can.