I never found a good Dog cushion that fitted well in our interior and when I found one, it was extremely expensive. And also hard to wash. But I never had the idea to make one myself. Until the day our cat Geisha started to pee on the cushions of our dog Bruno. It drove me nuts. I couldn’t clean the older cushions completely, because on the inside it had a cushion with styrofoam balls. You can’t put those cushions in the washing machine. So our dog was smelling like cat pee all the time, Yikes kit was so awful. Finally we decided to throw away the cushions and to give him an old cushion from a garden chair. But for a big labrador retreiver like our Bruno that was an awful little cushion. So then I got the idea to make one on my own. It turned out to be very easy and I already made three for him, one for in the kitchen, one in the study room and one for the Living. Do you want to make such a cushion yourself, read further.
I made three cushions, two with the dark grey fabric Minna and one with the black and white fabric Revviva, both from Ikea. The pro of these fabrics is that they are firm enough for our dog and not so expensive. We use the dark cushions in the kitchen and study room, because he lies there the most. His skin is always looking clean, but on the cushions you see a lot of dirt. With the dark colors it’s not so visible all the time. You can easily wash the cushion in the washing machine, both the outside cushion and the inside filling made of a duvet. Which is a big pro with our on-the-cushion-peeing-cat;-).
Materials
– Firm fabric with a size of 1,50 bij 1,50 m, I used the fabric Revviva and the fabric Minna both from Ikea. Minna is 6,99 meter and Revviva is 4,99 meter.
– Summer-Winter duvet 140 x 200 cm Smasporre from Ikea (synthetic duvet, so very easy to wash and it stays thick after washing), Euro 24,95
– Velcro tape, around 70 cm, I bought two packages of self adhesive velcro tape from Hema in black, which are 50 cm per package. After finishing the cushion you have 25-30 cm left.
– Sewing thread in the color of your cushion. (I used black)
Working method
First I cut the fabric in pieces with these sizes (an extra 0,5 cm is included already for sewing):
2x 71 x 101 cm
2x 11 x 101 cm
1x 11 x 71 cm
2x 9 x 71 cm
The pattern of the fabric Revviva wasn’t straight, so it looks a little bit wird when you cut the pieces out of it. But now the cushion is finished, you don’t see anything strange on it.
In the next step you’re first adding the Velcro tape on the 2 sides of the cushion. Here will come the open hole for the cushion, which you can use to fill it later. Take two pieces of 9 x 71 cm and the Velcro tape. Remove the two parts of the Velcro tape from each other so you have two separate pieces. On the first fabric you add the self adhesive velcro tape to the wrong side of the fabric (this will be the inside of the fabric).
After adding the velcro tape, you fold the fabric to the good side, with the size around the width of the velcro tape. Now you pin down the velcro tape and the fabric (which is folded now) and you sew it together on both sides of the Velcro tape. Don’t think the adhesive part of the velcro tape is enough, because it isn’t. Your dog will kill it very fast, and you want a safe cushion for your dog.
With the second step, you get the second part of the velcro tape and you add it to the good side of the second fabric. You fold this time totthe wrong side of the fabric, pin down the velcro tape and the fabric and sew it all together. Your pins get a dirty layer from the glue of the adhesive tape, but that can be removed very easily. Some of my pins even got bended, so I had to throw them away.
If the two pieces are ready, then you add them together, so you get a nice side of the cushion with an opening to use for filling the cushion.
In the next steps you will sew the other parts together on the small sides. I always cut only 0,5 cm extra onto the fabric for sewing, I first sew everything with a zig zag stitch and then everything with a normal stitch as you can see on the picture below.
Now sew on both sides from the piece with Velcro tape, a piece of 11 x 101 cm. Make an extra round of stitches, specially at the parts where the Velcro tape is added. Maybe even do it by hand, because it really needs to be fixed very well. Between the two longer pieces you sew the piece of fabric of 11 x 71 cm. Now the whole side of the cushion is fixed (everything with the good sides on to each other).
Then you take one of the big fabrics of 71 x 101 cm, and you’re pinning it completely, with the good sides onto each other on one part of the already stitched side. Pay attention that you add the short sides to the shorts sides and the long sides to the long sides. I stitched one side after one side, so I can easily see if the corners will be right and you don’t stitch you fabric in an ugly double way.
With the second fabric of 71 x 101 cm you do the same, but then on the other side of the stitched sides of the cushion (also good sides onto each other).
If everything is finished, your cushion looks like this (wrong side of the fabric):
Now open carefully the open side where the velcro tape is and turn the cushion inside out. You push every corner to the outside, so you will get nice corners.
The next step is to get the Duvet. You add the summer and winter parts together. Then you fold the duvet over the longer side and fold it again over the shorter side. It looks like this then:
The duvet is now ready to put it into the cushion. You have to push it a little bit, but it will fit. Close the Velcro tape again and the Dog cushion is finished.
The finished dog cushion has a size of 70 x 100 cm and is around 10 cm high. The cushion with the Minna fabric cost me 39,95 and the the cushion with the Revviva fabric around 37,30. But they are completely washable and will last longer than the ones you buy in the stores (filled with the white styrofoam balls who will get flat after a while). Our dog Bruno is very happy with his cushions.
If you have any questions feel free to ask them below, I also made a Facebook group for discussions about the DIY projects of Goodlives.nl. And if you finished your dog cushion, don’t hesitate to show it in the group, or you can tag me on Instagram.
kisses Claudia
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