A Dahlia-sized dog bed

Over the summer, I made a kitty-sized dog pillow. I decided on Friday that it was time for Dahlia to get a bed of her own that she actually could lounge on.

I made it with materials I had on hand, stuffing it with that inevitable accumulation of plastic grocery bags despite my diligence to bring my own reusable bags.

It has a zipper to allow future bag-stuffing and it features a fleece-lined blanket attached on top. Janelle, I think Flash would appreciate one of these :-)
The cut-list:

washable upholstery-weight fabric

• 31"x24" (cut 2)
• 24"x3.5" (cut 2)
• 31"x6"
• 24"x6" (cut 2)

fleece fabric (I used an old blanket)

• 31"x24"

lining fabric (I used a cotton quilting Christmas print I had no other plans for)

• 31"x24" (cut 2)

Other notions:

• a zipper (mine was 18"...the length isn't hugely important)
• scissors
• thread
• seam-ripper
• sewing machine

note: Dahlia is a medium-sized beagle, weighing in at a hefty 30 pounds. Feel free to scale dimensions up or down to fit your own pooch's needs.
1. Pin together lining fabric and one rectangle of fleece fabric. Be sure right side of fleece is facing out. The lining doesn't matter; it won't show. Baste together with 1/4" seam allowance. This is the bottom of the blanket portion.

2. Pin together and baste (1/4" seam allowance)other fleece rectangle and one of the upholstery rectangles, right sides together. Leave an opening on one side for turning right-side out. This is the top of the blanket portion.

3. Turn right-side out. Top stitch along the edge of two adjacent sides (forming an L) not including the side with the opening. I allowed the upholstery side to roll over to the fleece side just a smidgen before stitching to give it a more polished look.

4. Baste together the two 24"x3.5" rectangles, right sides facing each other, with 1/4" seam allowance. Press seam and carefully pin zipper (right side facing down) along the seam.

5. With zipper foot, stitch zipper in place, going up one side and back down the other.

6. With seam ripper, carefully remove basting stitches to expose zipper.

7. With 1/2 " seam allowance, sew remaining 6" wide pieces end to end, being sure to sew 24" pieces to 31" pieces and viceversa. Sew tail end together to form a rectangle. This forms the sides of the pillow.

8. With 1/2" seam allowance, sew sides to remaining 24"x31" rectangle of upholstery fabric, right sides facing each other.

9. With 1/2" seam allowance, sew lining-backed fleece rectangle to the opposite edge of the sides along two adjacent edges to form an "L", fleece side facing down. One of the edges should be the zipper side.

10. Tuck the top of the blanket (the fleece+upholstery layer) into the pillow, lining the top stitched edges up with the already sewn edges of the bottom blanket layer. With 1/2" seam allowance, sew all three layers together along unattached edges, being sure to turn under and catch the opening in the fleece+upholstery layer.

11. It should look like this. Except yours doesn't need to look as sloppy as mine even though the strings and frayed edges will be hidden inside the pillow. Sloppiness level is up to you.

12. Turn pillow right-side out through open zipper. Top blanket should be connected on two adjacent sides.

13. Stuff pillow form with overabundance of plastic grocery bags, being sure to fill all the way to the corners and sides .

I filled the form with all of my bags, and I plan to add more as I get them since they smoosh down with use.

15. Tada.

But she still prefers the couch.