Deconstructing the dog bed

Why are the undersides of these dog beds made of this crappy fabric with the mere strength of a dryer sheet? It falls apart too easily from normal wear and tear (i.e., lying on the floor). The topside, meanwhile, which gets all the real use as the dog circles and scratches and flops and turns, is holding up just fine. It's this underside. 

Once, while our family was dog-sitting for us, my sister-in-law called to ask if the dog bed was washable. "Yes, of course, go right ahead." Well, that wash was the final nail in that dog bed's coffin -- stuffing fluff everywhere when she opened the machine at the end of the cycle, as the underside practically disintegrated.

This latest dog bed has made it through a wash or two, but the underside is pilling badly and seems just threads away from being worthless. I had already sewn a replacement inner pillow case out of an old bed sheet, so the stuffing is not about to spill out, but this outer cover is showing its not-so-old age. Time to fix this problem.

Thankfully, replacing one side of a rectangular pillow-style dog bed is a simple project. I have my trusty seam ripper to separate the top and bottom rectangles of fabric as well as the zipper from the one side being replaced.

Oops. Pause the project for 20 minutes or so while I reattach the zipper tab I accidentally pulled all the way off!

Oh, and then this tangle resulting from my hasty bobbin-loading:

Some people -- most people -- would just cut the the thread at this point and move on. I, on the other hand, was determined to save what turned out to be at least 10 feet of good thread. It took another 15 minutes, but I got it.

This is why the seam ripper remains my best friend.

Aside from those complications, an easy project:

Spread out whatever fabric you're using to replace the disintegrating underside. I had a big blue piece of fabric leftover from some other thing. Lay the good rectangle of fabric from the dog bed (the topside we're keeping) on top of it as your pattern. Cut out a rectangle from the new fabric to match. 

Place the two rectangles together right sides facing in (i.e., their outsides against each other, so it will be inside-out when sewn together). Sew up three sides. Sew up the zipper side -- something I am no longer trepidatious about doing since the time I finally sewed one onto a bean bag chair I was making for my dad, after procrastinating for quite some time out of fear. (Hm, did I take pictures of that project? I will have to check and possibly add a post.)

Now, turn it right-side-out. Stuff the inner pillow back in. Happy dog!

Yes, that is a dog bed on top of a dog bed. He's a spoiled boy.

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