DIY Luxury Dog Bed-Part 3

In our last two posts we dealt with gutting and painting a console tv for a new dog bed. This post deals with the mattress for the dog bed as well as the custom sheet and dog bone pillow.


Now on to the the mattress. I did some sewing for this as I found it created a clean look for a custom sheet. If you're not a sewer and the foam fits, you could use an old pillow case. I also used 1/4 inch elastic, a bit of batting and a safety pin.

I found an old crib mattress online or you could buy foam. I'd recommend using foam at least 3 inches thick. My mattress was 5 inches thick so that's what I went with. The mattress I had did have a few stains on in but no odors so I cleaned it with a bit with soap and let it dry in the shower.

My base board in the console was 19"x37" so I measured and marked the cuts for my mattress to 18"x36". To cut the mattress I found that an electric carving knife cuts through the foam like butta'. I also used spray adhesive to lay down a bit of batting over the top of the mattress for a little extra softness. 

Next is the sewing.

I decided to use an old sheet with a polka-dot pattern so I measured for the top and then added 10 inches for each side, or double the depth of the mattress.  Now is the time to position any pattern you may use. Cut squares out of each corner equal to the depth of the sides. (see diagram for detail)

Mattress Sheet Diagram

Sew the fabric to create corners. Using an iron, press a 1/3" hem into the sides of the fabric. Fold the hem over once, creating a casing for the elastic. Sew a 1/4" seam almost all the way around the sheet, leaving a hole open to thread elastic. 

Corners

Hem

Measure a piece of elastic that is 2/3 the circumference of your mattress and thread it through the casing using a safety pin to move the elastic through. Once the elastic is all the way around, draw the elastic as tight as you want it (I ended up using about 21 inches) sew the ends together and stitch up the last bit of casing. You have made a fitted sheet. This is mine inside out and off the mattress and  shot of the underside of the mattress with the sheet on (You can clearly see the stains on the mattress that wouldn't come out but there were no odors so I didn't worry too much about it.)

off the mattress

On the mattress underside

Next is the bone pillow which is a standard pillow. Cut two pieces along the outer lines of the pattern, sew together along the inner pattern lines (1/4" seam) leaving a small hole for stuffing, stuff with fiberfill and stitch hole closed. The pattern can be found here for download.

Finally, reassemble and enjoy!