Kitty Krakatoa

Our kittens that we adopted last October are now 9 months old and growing fast.  Whilst Scooby prefers to sleep on a sofa, Dill (or Dilly as he’s become known) likes a bed… or beds!  Since he was small, he’s loved his igloo bed but he’s now outgrown it.

I’d seen these ‘volcano’ pet beds on a website and wanted to try to make one.

The construction took a while to figure out.  There was lots of geometry and head scratching and I resorted to building scale models out of paper!

After I’d figured out the dimensions, I scaled them up and made a template for the base and side piece out of corrugated cardboard.  I had no idea how dangerous this part of the process would be! I somehow managed to poke myself in the eye with a corner of the cardboard and had to go to A&E with a scratched cornea.  That was not a pleasant experience, I can tell you!

After cutting out the pattern pieces, I attached Pellon Thermolam Fusible Fleece to the reverse sides to give the bed more structure.  I also decided to quilt the side panel.  Dill loves getting in the way  helping when I’m crafting: he particularly enjoys checking that gravity is still working… aka knocking stuff on the floor!

I keep all sorts of bits and bobs, ‘just in case’, and recycled some old padding from an ironing board; layered between the fabric and interfacing, it made a sturdy, padded base for the bed.

At this stage, a feeling I’d had earlier that I’d messed up but couldn’t quite figure out how, became a reality.  Attaching the side to the base, the top opened outwards rather than forming the volcano shape and the ends didn't meet and I realised that I’d made the side upside down.  Doh!

After some remedial work, involving making the top edge into the bottom and binding the new top edge, I clipped the side to the base with right sides together and then stitched them together.  There was a LOT of layers and I had to switch to a jeans-strength needle.

Once the base was attached, the bed was then turned right side out.  It's not quite the right shape but Dilly doesn't seem to mind.

If you have cats, you’ll know how contrary the little beasts are and that, if you buy or make a bed especially for a cat, they invariably totally ignore it.  So, I was very surprised that Dilly got straight in it and went to sleep.  Result!

Next time, I'll try resizing the side piece to make the shape better. I also won't use a directional print!