How to Make a Simple Dog Bed Cover
April 18, 2013 • At Home
It looks like it might be time to buy a new dog bed — or is it? With fleece, it’s simple to bring that old dog bed back to life by making a simple cover. Your dog will love the softness fleece has to offer, and you will love the variety of fleece that is available. Whether you are looking for a certain sports team, character, theme or color, fabric stores you covered. With a little creativity, cutting and knotting, soon you and your dog will have a bed you can both love and appreciate.
If you have a simple round or rectangular pillow style dog bed you wish to recover, it’s fairly simple to make the following no-sew cover with the same ease as a tied no-sew blanket.
All you will need is:
Fleece (measurement figured below)
Scissors
Fabric measuring tape
Instructions:
Measure the length and width of the existing dog bed. Add 10 inches to each measurement. (For instance if your bed is 25x35, you will need fleece 35x45
Purchase enough fleece. You will need 2 pieces of fleece the size of your measurements as you will need to cover the top and bottom of the bed.
Lay the top and bottom piece of fleece on the floor together right sides out, and smooth out the fleece.
Place the dog bed on top of the fabric as your pattern.
Cut around the perimeter of your dog bed about 5 inches larger than the bed. You need this extra space to allow for the height of the bed and to create the fringe to tie the two pieces together.
Remove the dog bed
Using your scissors, cut slits 3 inches long and 1 inch wide from the edge of the fabric towards the center. You will make these slits around the entire edge of the fabric. Be sure to cut through both layers. If your bed is a rectangle or square, you will end up cutting out squares at each of the 4 corners - this is ok. If your bed is round, your slits will look like 3-inch sun rays around the entire perimeter.
Once all your slits have been cut, place your bed again in between the 2 pieces of fleece.
Take a tab from the top piece of fabric and the corresponding tab from the bottom piece of fabric and tie the two pieces together twice. Continue to the next tabs and tie them together twice. Do this around the entire perimeter of the bed.
Happy crafting to you and sweet dreams to your furry friend!
About the Author: 
"Paisley Hansen is a freelance writer and expert in health, beauty and most recently crafting for YourFleece.com. When she isn't writing, she can usually be found reading a good book."
