Making My Cat A Bed

Im relatively new to sewing but my cat Stella really deserves a nice bed. She in true black cat fashion is very picky and has never used any bed we’ve ever gotten her so I figured lets try making one and I’ll get her opinion about fabric and bed fill so hopefully she like it enough to use it. Stella’s favorite spots are on Cams pillow, between my legs while I sleep or in the tub. She did not like the very fluffy bed or the warming mat that we got her so this will need to be somewhere in the middle. She likes firm but needing bread friendly.

I’ve been collecting fabric from thrift stores and estate sales. I pulled a few I thought she would like and laid them around our house in spots she always sits. She only sat on the dark navy fleece blanket I found at Goodwill. So that is the winner! Stella doesn’t like traditional donut beds with the ring around. I looked online to try and find a few ideas of how I wanted it to look. The main goal is a cat bed Stella will use but a close second is a cat bed I am okay with looking at.

For this design it has two levels. The bottom level has two three inch foam blocks that I cut into a circle with a bread knife or you can use an electric turkey knife. That will be the firm part of the bed she likes. Its very similar to having a box spring under your mattress. The second level of the cat bed I filled with bean bag beans. This was very messy in my living room and a little difficult to figure out how to keep in the fabric without spilling. Stella loves to kneed before laying down and the bean bag beans would move while also forming around her when she laid down. I had Cam help me hold open the fleece fabric while I poured the beans inside.

Once I had the beans in I added the two foam pieces on top and hand sewed the bottom piece of fabric closing the cover around everything. My hand sewing isnt pretty but it is the bottom of the bed that nobody sees unless they pick it up and turn it upside down. Within a few minutes of my finishing and placing the bed in the middle of our living room Stella jumped on it and took a long nap. My little cat mom heart is very full and im happy I could make her something she likes. Its been a few weeks and Im happy to report she still uses it and was even sleeping so hard one day she didnt even wake up the Amazon driver making noise at our front door.