Friday, March 21, 2014

Bunny Bed




Welcome to the first of the Bunny Accessories tutorials! 

Today, we are making the bed. 

There are two sizes:

Solo

and Community.

They are both made the same way and, really, you can enlarge the template to make one for your dog, or pet elephant or whoever. Note that the templates do not include seam allowances. So add your own. I usually use 1/2" for my craft seam allowances.






There's a free carrot template in there, too. We'll be making the carrot in the next tutorial.

Here are some finished dimensions - refer to the diagram for the symbols.
SMALL BED:
H = 2"
C = 18"
h = 1.75"
w = 2.5"

LARGE BED:
H = 4.5"
C = 34.5"
h = 2.5"
w = 4.5"


Step 1
Using the template for the base, cut out

  • 2 in fleece (with 1/2" SA)
  • 1 in batting (with 1/2" SA)
  • 1 in canvas, or some sew-in interfacing (with 1/2" SA)
  • 1 in fusible interfacing (no SA).

Iron the fusible interfacing to the canvas/sew-in interfacing.

Step 2
Make a sandwich of all 5 layers, in the order shown in the photo above. The interfacing and batting will be between the two fleece pieces. Baste (use the longest machine stitch) all around the edge within the SA region, about 1/4" from the edge, to make a composite base-of-5-layers.

Step 3
Cut the walls. These are rectangles whose dimensions are as follows:
  • SMALL BED: 2.5" x 19"
  • LARGE BED: 5" x 35.5"

which include the 1/2" SA.

Cut out rectangles in the following materials:
  • 2 fleece
  • 1 batting
  • 1 fusible interfacing

Iron the fusible interfacing to the batting.



Step 4
Baste one of the fleece rectangles to the batting-and-interfacing rectangle so that

  • the WS of the fleece is touching the batting
  • they are basted together around their perimeter, within the SA region i.e. about 1/4" from the edge.

Also sew the short edges of this composite wall together (with RS touching) to create a squat cylinder as shown.


Step 5
Connect the base to this cylinder. Mark the quarter points around the lower edge of the cylinder (red arrows) and those around the base (black arrows).

Snip half-way through (i.e. 1/4" deep) the SA of the bottom edge of the cylinder (blue arrow) so that that straight edge curves easily around the curved edge of the base. Match up the quarter marks and sew around the base to attach it to the cylinder. This is the first of two sewing lines around this base; you may want to use a slightly narrower SA e.g. 3/8"so that this stitching line is hidden when you sew the second line in Step 7.


Step 6
With RS together, sew the short edges of the other fleece rectangle together to make a second squat cylinder. Snip the SA of the bottom edge. Make quarter marks around this bottom edge just as you did in Step 5.


Step 7
Turn the half-finished bed from Step 5 upside down and lay the cylinder from Step 6 on the underside of the base so that

  • the RS of this cylinder is touching the underside of the base
  • the quarter marks line up
  • the lower, snipped edge of the cylinder are lined up with the edge of the base.

Pin in place and sew all around the base to attach it to the half-finished bed. This is the second line of stitching around the base. Use a 1/2" SA this time - it will hide the previous line of stitching from Step 5.

Trim the SA and pull the second wall down over the first:



Step 8
Mark the position of the entryway (use the sketch in the downloaded notes for dimensions h and w and shape). Baste around the top edge of the bed, including the outline of the entryway, to hold all the layers together. Then cut out the entryway and zig-zag stitch along the edge of the bed to compress the layers. This will make it easier to bind the edge. 

Bind the edge with a strip of fleece (or bias tape, if you prefer). Fleece is stretchy and does not require a bias cut in order to work as a binding. The photo shows my preferred method of binding, but you should use the method with which you are most comfortable. 

Here is a shot of the mitered corner of the entryway when the entryway is bound continuously with the rest of the bed.


This is another method to bind the entryway - bind the U-shaped edge separately, and then bind the straight edge above it.


Bottom view.

Random shots of bunnies in their beds- some well-behaved


and some not.




5 comments:

  1. Those shots of bunnies in bed make me smile. So adorable.

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  2. This is so awesome! Thanks for sharing your tutorial! :)

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  3. So cute! Funny... Before I even got to the pet bed part, I was already thinking it'd make a nice bed for my cats. :)

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  4. This will make the perfect (stuffed) puppy bed for my little dude who only responds to the name Baby Puppy. His puppies are going to love it!

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  5. Thank you for all your inspiration with the bunny posts. I have made a bunny, the big bed, carrots and clothing and am working on more for my daughter's Easter present. Your posts are great they really resound with me and the way that my daughter plays. It is perfect.

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