Make A Dog Bed With
A Sewn Cloth Cover

All you need to make a dog bed is to sew a vinyl or upholstery cloth cover and stuff it with a foam pad, recycled plastic bags, dog hair or horse hair, or anything else you can come up with. Velcro fasteners make it easy to remove the stuffing if you want to wash the cover. Or you can make a dog bed cover with a long, sturdy zipper.

If you have an older dog that needs more cushioning, make an Orthopedic Dog Bed by using high density (HD) foam at least 7 inches (18 cm) thick. High density foam doesn't squish down much and lasts a long time.

An alternative is to make a dog bed by removing the cover from an old couch cushion your doggie fits on, and re-cover the foam with the cloth of your choice. See Make A Dog Bed For Free. For bigger dogs, take several cushions you want to recycle and cut off any hard trim or buttons. Leaving the old covers on, lace the cushions together with cord or twine then add your new cover.

Ready for the instructions? Let's go!

RECTANGULAR or SQUARE DOG BED

Jo made a scale version to start with from materials on hand. Although the cloth is stained on the wrong side, the outside looks fine. The directions that follow will work for a larger bed.

You will basically be building a cloth box, similar to a cereal or cracker box

MATERIALS AND TOOLS

• HD Foam, at least 4 inches (100mm) thick, cut to fit your dog(s). A serrated knife or cloth scissors can be used to cut the foam if the store does not do it for you
• Or other kinds of stuffing such as plastic bags, dog hair etc.
• Upholstery or vinyl cloth, twice as wide plus 10 inches (255mm) and twice as long plus 10 inches (255mm) as your measurements
• [The extra 10 inches is to allow for a pad 4 inches thick plus the seams. If you want a thicker pad, adjust accordingly]
• Velcro fastener, either the glue-on or sew-on kind, long enough to match the shorter width of your pad and two pieces the height of your pad
• Sewing machine with heavy duty thread
• Needle and thread and straight pins
• Cloth scissors
• Black or colored marker

Note: The more accurate you are, the easier it will be to match sides for sewing. However, if things don't come out perfectly, just line things up at the corners as best you can and make adjustments elsewhere.

Remember that if you get frustrated while you try to make a dog bed, walk away from it for a while rather than pushing on.

You'll cut out six pieces:
A Top and Bottom rectangle or square and four Side pieces

For your Top and Bottom pieces:

• Lay the cloth on the floor, wrong side up
• Make sure the edges you start working with are straight and square
• Starting 1/2 inch (13mm) from the edges for the seam allowance, mark your desired rectangle or square with solid lines
• Add 1/2 inch (13mm) dotted markings to mark the seam allowance on the other two sides

For your Side pieces:

• Add 1 inch (25mm) to the height you want your pad to be. Each side piece will be this wide
• For the length of each side piece, if your pad is to be rectangular, two pieces will match the longer side of your Top (or Bottom) piece and the other two will match the shorter side of your Top (or Bottom) piece
• Mark with dotted lines on your cloth, measuring twice to be sure, then cut out
• Mark each piece with a solid line rectangle 1/2 inch (13mm) in from the edges
• Label the two shorter pieces “Side 1” and “Side 2”
• Label the two longer pieces “Side 3” and “Side 4” If your pad is square, all your pieces should have be identical, but still label them 1, 2, 3 and 4

Start with the Side pieces:

• Match the wrong sides of Side 2 and Side 3 along one of the shorter ends
• Use needle and thread and baste together along the solid line, checking to make sure you are on or close to that line on both sides
• Basting means you make big stitches that don’t have to be tidy, just hold things together. They work easier than pins for upholstery cloth. Jo used a double strand of thread
• Now take Side 2’s other short end, match with Side 4’s, and sew together
• Sew over the lines with the sewing machine
• Sew another line about 1/8 inch (2mm) outside those lines

• You should now have one long strip of side pieces with two seams and your length line markings should match fairly closely
• Take scissors and trim each seam to within 1/4 inch (6.5mm) of each outside row of stitches

• Take the Bottom piece and align one length against Side 4
• Make sure to first match the corner where Side 4 and Side 2 are joined together
• Starting in that corner, baste along the solid length lines
• Then baste Side 2 to the Bottom along the width lines

• From now on, always start basting at your loose end, matching it with its corner. Smooth out material in between
• Next baste Side 3 to the remaining length of the Bottom piece
• Finally baste Side 1 to the remaining width of the Bottom piece
• Sew over all the lines
• Add a second row of stitching outside the first
• Trim excess material as for the Side pieces

• Cut two strips of Velcro to match the remaining short ends of Sides 3 and 4.
• Baste or glue the fuzz side of the Velcro on the good side of the material to these ends.
• Baste or glue the hook side on the good side of the material to each short end of Side 1
• Cut a strip of Velcro to match the remaining width of Side 1
• Baste or glue the hook side to the good side of this width
• Baste or glue the fuzz side to the good side of one width of your Top piece

• Baste your Top piece along the remaining lines for Side pieces 4, 2 and 3
• Be careful not to baste the piece that has the Velcro attached!
• Sew over the lines, and add your second row of stitching, then trim
• Turn the cover so the good side is facing out
• Insert the foam, using a ruler or stick to poke out the corners
• Close up with Velcro

Well you've completed your foam dog bed and should have a happy dog! Now that you know how to make a dog bed with a cloth cover, why not make a dog bed such as a dog pad?