By: Danielle Hallow
“It’s funny, everything is so much easier when you do it yourself” –
Carine Roitfeld
If your pets are anything like mine, you’ll know that no matter how much you spend on cosy, cute-looking beds and toys, they’d usually rather choose a discarded shopping bag or pile of cardboard destined for the recycling bin to hide inside or park their bottoms.
That being said, in our house we have all but given up on buying more of those expensive tunnels and cushions, trying to coax them into comfort; instead we’ve extend our crafty skills to DIY-ing our own creations.
My husband and I are very eco-conscious people, so obviously love to ‘make do and mend’, upcycle and reuse as many things as possible. By doing this not only do we help to save our beautiful planet but we also save money too..! Today I would like to share with you a super simple DIY cat pillow made from bits and bobs most people may have laying around the house, can be improvised or found for very cheap.
When I say super simple… I mean it! There are minimal supplies required, the time to complete is not long at all and the whole family can get involved; meaning that this can be a lovely rainy-day activity for the whole family.
What you will need…
- Spare tote bag or pillowcase.
- Stuffing material (ours was from the inside of an old pillow but you could use an old fleece, packing peanuts, some people even use worn-out tights and socks!)
- Needle and Thread or Sewing Machine
Optional…
- Tissue Paper, Newspaper or a Carrier Bag. (For cats that love a crinkle!)
Method
First up, if you are using a tote bag, you need to prepare it by cutting off the handles – we used a seam ripper to unpick the stitching and unattached them that way. Slicing them off with a pair of scissors works just as well…obviously, this step isn’t needed if you have a (handle-less) pillowcase!
Next, get it stuffed! We had an old pillow that we opened up, pulled the stuffing apart with our fingers to fluff it up and then pushed it into the tote bag until it was full. I find that putting in a little extra than you think you need helps as over time when cats are sitting on the pillow it will flatten out.
Optional step!
One of our little furry babies, Eos, loves the crinkle of a piece of paper, or a bag, and often sits on things that most of us wouldn’t find the most snuggly. To tailor one of the pillows to her we took a carrier bag (from the stash we all have in the under stair cupboard or stuffed away in the kitchen drawer) and flattened it out to slot on top of the stuffing before closing the open side up.
And of course, last but not least, seal it all up! I ran a simple seam on the sewing machine, but it can just as easily be hand sewn. I’m aware that little hands will need a bit of help with this part though so if you have non-toxic fabric glue, such as Bondaweb etc, this could also be used – but this won’t be quite as sturdy.
The final and most important part of making your cat pillow is quality control; and who is best at telling us if things are up to scratch than our fur children with high standards… the cats!
We made two – one for each cat – then put them in places that they like to sit a lot; like the windowsill for ultimate sunbathing, or on top of our indoor guinea pig hutch where Aurora likes to sit and keep an eye on everyone.
If you decide try this for yourself, I hope your cats love it. Ours is a huge hit with at least one of the two (Eos) so far but I think the other may come around soon.
Thanks for reading!
Danielle is one of our fantastic supporters and mother to ten animals! Danielle and her husband love to spend time with their family of 3 snakes, 2 leopard geckos, 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs and a dog. In their spare time, Danielle and her husband are avid walkers, wildlife watchers, DIY/Crafters and also enjoy watching movies. Both are huge fans of Disney, Harry Potter and all things magical. Danielle has been a blogger for over 12 years and a photographer for around the same amount of time; both professionally and as a hobby – so, of course, she has plenty of photos of her pets!
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