How to Make a Dog Bed – Step-by-Step With Photos

My sweet dog has been using the same dog bed since her birthday a year and a half ago. Needless to say, despite many washings and oxy-cleanings and such, it was gross-looking. Also, some holes had worn through the seams that attached the base to the “bumper.”

Zora deserved a new bed, and so did we (the old one did nothing for our decor!) so I set about to make her a super-comfortable one that would look nice in our living room.

The inside is made of two pillows that we already had. I just overlapped them a bit like this…

Maybe 4-6 inches of overlap.

And sewed the pillows together along that overlap. I just did it by hand because I didn’t want to wrestle with the puffiness near my sewing machine… Repeat this on the other side.

Then, just for kicks, I stitched a little bit in the center too, to help the two pillows stay attached to each other.

I did that on both sides, so the whole thing became like one big happy pillow.

Then I got my fabric, which in this case is one of our faded living room curtains we are replacing.

What you want is a piece of fabric long enough to wrap around the pillow with several inches of overlap.

I trimmed the fabric so that the curtain-tabs were removed and the excess width was also removed. Then it was time to start crafting the pillow case.

Fold up the un-hemmed overlapping edge (if you bought fabric, this will be BOTH edges… but since I was using a curtain, one was already hemmed for me) twice and pin it every couple inches. If you’re really good, you’ll iron this too, but I was okay with just pinning.

Then sew.

Lay it out again, wrapping tightly around the pillow, and overlapping the edges roughly in the middle. Exact measurements not necessary. At this point you want everything “inside out” so make sure the ugly side of your hems are facing up/out.

Pin one side closed, then slide the pillow out…

… and pin the other side closed. Then when you sew along the two long edges you just pinned, you’ll be able to turn the entire thing right-side-out.

Like this!

Close-up of the overlap. It’s like making a giant sandwich baggie. Or you may already have some pillow shams for your bed that have similar construction.

Stuff the pillow into the cover.

And flip it over.

And enjoy the way the new bed actually complements your decor instead of clashing with it.

While your sweet dog can enjoy the soft fluffiness of her new bed!

Note: That bone she has is the SAME bone in her birthday post from a year and a half ago. She still LOVES it. We put her to bed with it and in the morning the first thing she does when she comes out of her crate is go back in her crate to grab her bone. I don’t know why she loves it so much, but there it is.