The hound is doing well these days. She was hit by a car 5 weeks ago and had to have surgery on her leg. This was an expensive business and if you have a dog but do not have pet insurance I recommend you consider it at least. You would be amazed how much 30 seconds of canine indiscretion on the road could cost. We didn't have insurance, we forked out. We were lucky to be able to but, there were lots of other things we could have done with that money. Suffice to say we will be looking for pet insurance as soon as she is no longer confined to a playpen in the kitchen.
What does all that have to do with the duvet cover in the title of this post? Truthfully almost nothing except that, the duvet cover became machine washable quilts for the hound, one of which she is lying on in this photo.
I say quilts, but these would be frowned upon by any skilled quilter worth their salt. They are quick and cheap to make, go in the washing machine and dry reasonably quickly so, what they lack in classy workmanship they make up for in practicality.
If you haven't done any sewing since school this is a good project to start with, the dog will be grateful and apreciative of any effort you make!
So, you have a dog - what else do you need?
A sewing machine, (beg borrow or steal! if you have to borrow perhaps its owner will take pity on you and offer to make the quilts!)
The Hound is large so a king size duvet cover became 4 quilts, a yorkshire terrier may get 16 out of that.
You will also need polyester wadding (available by the metre in fabric stores) you can ask the store staff to calculate how much you need by telling them the finished size you hope your quilts will be and the number of them you plan to make. I am not good at maths, so this is my tried and tested method ;-)
Thread of reasonably similar colour (I used a dark purple I already had, for a very faded navy duvet cover)
Some quilting pins, longer that ordinary ones with coloured heads, I use them all the time as they are easier to find on the floor before my children do.
Step by Step:
Simply cut the duvet cover in quarters (I'm assuming you've a big dog and are making 4 quilts) and turn each piece inside out.
Cut a strip off two of the pieces to get rid of the buttons and button holes.
Sew shut one side of the pieces that didn't have any buttons and 2 sides of the pieces that did.
This will leave you with 4 large inside out bags, open along one side.
Cut a piece of wadding the size of the bags, making it a little shorter to allow for the seam you will make on the open side.
Turn the bags the right way out and lay the wadding inside each one making sure it is fitting right into the corners.
Turn the open edges of the bag in around the wadding and pin closed, all the way along. The cut edges of the fabric should both be folded in, out of sight. The pins should be holding both sides of the bag and the wadding in place. Like this:
Sew along this edge half a centimetre from the edge or so, closing up the bag, removing the pins as you go.
To hold the wadding in place, pin the quilt in lines, the first one about 2 cm in from the edge all the way around. Sew along this line.
Then you can make more lines in any pattern you like. I did a line dividing the quilt in half and then in quarters both horizontally and vertically, making 16 squares but - you could do allsorts- even little pictures or shapes if your sewing machine skills, patience and time allow.
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