Life as a Cat

My cat, Meg

My cat is the ultimate free-loader, taking up space, making demands, and giving almost nothing in return. That's not entirely true since she does sit on our laps and purrs quite loudly but despite those few things she gives in return for food and shelter, we love her anyway. We appreciate her so much that we bought her a cozy shelter last winter to give her a space to call her own and to help keep her warmer. It was such a big hit that I decided to try my hand at making one for her myself. Since I already had a prototype, I read up on how others were made and assembled the materials for mine. I had some of the very soft minky-type of fleece so I looked for some fabric I could pair with it and settled on a pink I wasn't going to use anywhere else. What could I use to give it enough firmness and structural support? A foam mattress topper, the egg crate type, was purchased at a garage sale (a used mattress topped? Ewe, but I don't have to sleep on it!), and we were ready to go.

I made up 14" panels that were similar to pillow cases, making it easy with a serger. I had the Huskylock 905 out with a substitute power cord/foot control. This was a dandy serger I wrote about in Surprise Packages, noting it didn't work because the door might not have been closed completely. That wasn't exactly true since it also misbehaved for me and I finally found a substitute cord/foot control and it worked just fine. I ordered a new one, confident that was the problem but sewed up this project with the borrowed cord set. All six of the sides were made and I was sewing them together when I realized I hadn't made the one with a hole for the cat to climb into!

Panels with foam inside

I still had fabric left so I made up that one, too, and proceeded to sew them together. To make it even easier, next time I'll make them up without the foam, just inserting it when I need to.

Cat bed "door" opening

Panels sewn together on sides

Which sewing machine did I use for this fun project? A new Pfaff 1221 came my way at a great price, ready to sew with only a little cleaning needed. The IDT on the Pfaff models was great at keeping the fabrics together so there was less creeping forward of the fabric.

Pfaff 1221

 I put the raw edges together at the top where the cat wasn't going to sleeping but it really turned out very smooth and finished inside:

Raw edges at the top or roof

Cat bed all sewn together, inside

This is just wheat this princess needs: another house to hide away in. Maybe it will be her summer house since it is so brightly colored, a bit Caribbean, no?

Finished cat bed exterior