The best thing about making your own DIY dog bed is you can customise it to suit you and your pooch. You can choose whichever adorable pattern takes your fancy, and you know it’ll be the perfect size for your dog. That’s if you’ve taken those measurements correctly of course!
Loki already has three beds to choose from around our home, but one more won’t hurt! She loves her cosy new bed and I’m sure your pooch will too.
But the ultimate selling point for me about this particular DIY dog bed is you don’t need any sewing skills. Not a sewing machine or even a needle and thread necessary. Just choose your fleece, cut, stuff and tie it all together. That’s pretty much all there is to it. But you’d no doubt prefer a more detailed walkthrough, so you’ll find what you need below along with easy step by step instructions. Ready? Let’s do this!
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You will need:
Below are the exact materials I used for my DIY dog bed. If you’d like to make the same bed as the one shown here, simply click the links to purchase the materials below.
- Quality anti-pill fleece
- Polyester hollowfibre filling
- Cutting mat and rotary cutter, or fabric scissors
I bought 2 metres of fabric and 1 kilo of filling, enough to make a bed that’s 26 inches squared. Plenty of room for a small dog and I have lots of fabric and just under half of the filling left over to use on another craft project. Bonus!
Instructions for your DIY dog bed:
If your dog has an old bed that was about the right size, you can simply measure the bed. If not, you can roughly measure a square around your dog. You’ll need two pieces of the same size for the top and bottom, just be sure to add 6 inches to your measurements all the way around. You’ll find out why shortly.
When you’ve cut both squares, lay one on top of the other. Measure a 3×3 inch square in each corner of the fabric and cut using your scissors or rotary cutter.
Along the edge of your fabric, cut 3 inch long and 1 inch wide fingers all the way around. This is why you needed to add the extra 6 inches I mentioned earlier.
When you’ve cut all your strips, begin tying each top and bottom strip in a double knot. Continue all the way around the fabric, but leave a large opening in one side.
Grab your stuffing and fill the bed until you have a thickness you’re happy with. Then continue tying the remaining strips until the bed is closed.
Wallah! This is one of the easiest craft projects I’ve ever done. It was also a joy to make and Loki seems pretty chuffed with the results too. It’ll take you less than an hour and it’s pretty inexpensive compared to shop-bought beds. I love how the tassels add a little added interest that you don’t tend to find in stores.
Over to you! Share your pics in the comments below – let’s see those DIY dog beds!
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