Hey Everybody! How are you this fine Monday? It's actually kind of overcast and rainy here; a big change from how the weather was last time I blogged. I thought for sure that summer was here, but it cooled off significantly. I'm okay with that though because we need the rain. Anyway, I hope you are ready for a pug heavy post. I really had a hard time narrowing down the photos for this one. ;)
About two months ago, Lucy from Sew Essential in the UK, contacted me about my Maya Top blog post. She said that she really loved my top and would I be interested in her sending me some fabric in exchange for a blog post mentioning her shop. I'm always a little bit apprehensive about freebies, but Lucy seemed very sweet, and after a couple of emails, she brought up the idea of sewing for my pugs, and that's what really sealed the deal for me. How could I say no to free fabric for my pugs?!
Anyway, Sew Essential, I discovered, is a family owned and operated (Lucy's husband and mother-in-law started it, and now they all run it together) online shop that carries a big selection of pet sewing patterns (as well as an extensive range of human and home & craft patterns), among many other sewing notions, machines and fabric. It took me a while to settle on a pattern, but I finally chose Kwik Sew 4020. I don't really ever dress the pugs up, so clothes seemed out of the question. But we do seem to go through beds quite frequently, and I'm always looking for something that's comfy and snuggly, yet machine washable. This bed seemed to fit the bill. I let Lucy know, and asked her to just choose some fabric for me. I am incredibly indecisive and I thought that would just be easier.
So a few weeks later (shipping from the UK always seems to take quite awhile), a nice little parcel of cotton arrived for me. The cotton actually turned out to be a cotton/poly blend but it's really soft and smooth, and I'm hoping it will turn out to be quite durable in the long run. I was happy to see that Lucy had picked out two shades of blue, as blue is one of my favourite colours but you may have already figured that out. ;)
The pattern includes two sizes, and I went for the largest one. It was super simple to put together. The only tricky parts were sewing the centre octagon to the already sewn together outer pieces, and then sewing on the casing for the drawstring. You stuff the bed as you go, so getting the casing sewed around the stuffed bed was a bit challenging. I moved my machine to the big table to see if that would help, but it really didn't.
Anyway, in the end, it was worth it, and I think the bed turned out quite well.
I used some regular poly fill stuffing to stuff the bed, but then I ran out so I used the inside of an IKEA pillow, which actually turned out to be even softer than the poly fill. Who knew?
I didn't have any cording on hand, and it took me a few days to get into town to pick some up, but that didn't stop the pugs.
They were happy to test out the bed before it was completely finished. Ha ha!
All 3 of the pugs have enjoyed napping on this bed, but I think that it's Shanny's favourite by far. It's the bed she goes to first now, and she'll even make room for Jackie Boy to get in and cuddle her instead of getting out. She doesn't always like to share a bed, but it's hard to get her to leave this one. LOL
I did eventually manage to get to get Fabricland and pick up some cording. It cinches up the bed nicely and makes it just a little more cozy.
I am also pleased to say that this bed has already been washed and dried by machine, and it did so like a champ. I really can't wait to make a couple more, and replace the pugs' old ripped beds. It feels really nice to have made my little loves something - I don't know why it took me so long.
So there you have it, some very successful, unselfish sewing. While I was a bit hesitant to do a "sponsored" post (is that the right term?), I'm glad I went through with it. It was just the nudge I needed to do some much needed grumble sewing!
Thanks for putting up with all the pug photos!!