My experience has been that good often comes out of bad. This post began with a melted dog bed . . .
This is my favorite bed for our dogs. We bought it in a specialty shop and it wasn’t cheap, but then we are pushovers when it comes to our dogs. This bed has a zipper closure so the cover can be taken off to launder, a MUST as far as I’m concerned . . . but it’s also a must for the cushion itself to be able to be cleaned . . .
. . . because old doggie smell is doggone unpleasant!
Anyhoo, this particular dog bed cover wasn’t waterproof and the dog bed insert wasn’t washable or dry cleanable. I tried washing it as carefully as I could anyway and the thin cheesecloth-like cover holding the stuffing inside disintegrated into Swiss cheesecloth!
Right about that time Pillow Cubes contacted me (after seeing my Pottery Barn knockoff Jingle Pillow) and offered to send me a dog bed insert if I would write a review of their product. Since my dogs were still trying to lie on their empty dog bed cover on the hardwood floor . . . 🙁 I KNOW . . . I was happy to try out their product!
I’ll be telling you more about their pillow inserts later but for now, let’s get on with my French Grain Sack Dog Bed tutorial, because really who couldn’t use another cute cover for their dog bed? Like I said . . . pushovers.
Disclaimer: I am not a seamstress or a pattern maker, so please don’t expect expert sewing instructions here. The main thing I want to show you in this post is how to create the French Grain Sack look on fabric. You can use this application to make a tablecloth, curtains, a pillow, or a dog bed. If you do want to make a dog bed cover and you’ve had some sewing experience you’ll probably do just fine with my feeble instructions. If not, you can still use the French grain sack design but you might want to find a “real” pattern.
My dog bed insert from Pillow Cubes measures 30″x 40″ from seam to seam. I decided to make a box shaped dog bed, like my other one, so I cut two 31-1/4″ x 41-1/4″ rectangles (this allows for a 5/8″ seam allowance on each side). My fabric was a pre-laundered painter’s drop cloth (a bonus, as this makes it naturally resistant to leakage).
Next, with my large sheet of drop cloth I was able to cut one strip long enough to go around three sides of the bed (110-1/4″ long by 7-1/4″ wide). The shorter side (a 31-1/4″ x 7-1/4″ strip) will have the tie closures.
Note: If your fabric isn’t large enough to cut a strip this long you can piece together the sides of your bed. I’d recommend doing it at each of the four corners for a nicer look. Remember to allow for a 5/8″ seam at each corner.
For the three ties, I cut six long strips, approximately 18″ long by 1-3/4″wide. The length of your ties is really a personal preference and based on whether you want to tie bows or (k)not(s)! I used vintage ticking material that came from my mother-in-law’s old sewing supplies. SO glad I hung on to it!
Here is a picture of all my fabric pieces cut and ready to begin.
Before sewing I painted deep blue stripes on the top of the dog bed cover to give the bed the look of a vintage French Grain Sack. I used a multi-surface acrylic paint that was labeled as a permanent paint.
I began by laying down painter’s tape and sealing the edges well so the paint wouldn’t bleed under the tape. This really doesn’t seem to be an issue with drop cloth fabric though.
Using an inexpensive sponge brush, I dipped it in the paint, dabbed it on a paper towel to remove the excess and worked it into the fabric in a daubing motion. I kept working in it until the paint was pretty dark, but a more washed out look can also look nice if that’s your preference.
After the center stripe was dry I added more tape for the side stripes and painted those as well. One reason for taping, painting, and taping some more was so I wouldn’t get confused as to where I was supposed to paint and mess things up! Wisdom comes with experience . . . and age!
After the paint was dry I removed the tape and VOILA!!!
The last thing I did to make this look more like an authentic French Grain Sack was to sew a tight zig zag stitch on either side of the center stripe. I think this really finishes it off well.
The next step was to make the ties. Here are a few pictures of how I folded the raw edge of one end under (the other end you won’t have to worry about),
folded both long edges in to meet,
then folded them together again and sewed them closed.
At this point, I added the ties to end of the pillow. Rather than try to explain this process I thought you’d appreciate seamstress Margo Price’s great video tutorial for adding tie closures to pillows. That can be found right HERE.
Good instruction right? I really couldn’t have figured this out without her!
After adding the ties I pinned the pillow sides to the pillow top and stitched the parts together (though it would seem logical to do so, I didn’t sew my corner seams together first because I wasn’t sure my measurements would be perfectly accurate). Next I pinned the bottom of the pillow cover to the side strips and sewed those in place.
Finally, I sewed the corners closed. I did end up having a little extra fabric which I simply trimmed away. Your corners will look like this when turned right side out.
NOTE: I double stitched all my seams for extra strength, sewing a 5/8″ seam first followed by another seam about 1/8″ away from the first.
You can see here how when everything is sewed together one flap slightly overlaps the other.
Here is my new dog bed all stuffed and tied! Can you see how great Margo’s instructions turned out?
Before I show you the finishing touches on my French Grain Sack Dog Bed let me tell you a little about the company Pillow Cubes. The inserts made my Pillow Cubes are 100% American made, by hand with commercial sewing machines, and double stitched for strength. Their pillow inserts come in various sizes with your choice of filling material, down feather, synthetic down, polyester, even Eco-friendly recycled fiber filler.
As you can see from this picture the pillow inserts from Pillow Cubes are full,
and the quality is obvious! I’ve purchased many pillow forms in my time and I can honestly tell you that these are superior to anything I’ve ever used.
This makes me quite happy to partner with Pillow Cubes in writing about their great products. These pillow inserts are dry cleanable and with proper care will last a lifetime.
Back to my pillow cover and the finishing touches. Because I have female dogs, and because crowns are a Frenchy kind of thing, I traced a crown on my pillow top using a white fabric pen. I already had a pattern to use but The Graphics Fairy has free crown printables that could easily be traced onto cardboard, then onto your fabric.
I used white acrylic, permanent paint to fill in the crown.
I’m kind of excited about the cuteness factor of my new dog bed cover and I love the plump and cushy look of the Pillow Cubes insert.
I really feel that this French Grain Sack Dog Bed fits well with the other touches I’ve added to my French Country Kitchen,
but I think the dogs may be even happier than I am.
One last NOTE: We live in the land of red clay here in South Carolina. Even though drop cloth fabric resists leak-through I used Scotch Guard to protect against stains on the surface of the bed. I’ve already seen some red clay paw marks on this bed but once they dried they simply disappeared! To me, that makes a fabric protectant well worth using.
I wonder, do you think I’m becoming an “Old Dog Lady”? Do any of you have pets whom you love to spoil? Ah well, love me, love my dog!
In my next post, I’ll be back with another tutorial for creating authentic looking Rustic French Signage. I do hope you’ll join me.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial . I’d love for you to Pin it or Tweet about it to your friends.
Thanks for visiting and blessings to you,
VMG206, TuesdaysAtOurHome,
Patty says
Spoil your dogs? I don’t know how to do that. Of course we just bought bigger bed because there was no room for us with the dogs. I like my dogs better than a lot of people I know. They have never hurt me, never said something cruel, never ignored me and they love me just because. They will be spoiled until the day they die. Thankfully my hubby feels the same way.
Heather C says
You write such concise, easy to follow sewing instructions, made tablecloths based on your mitered corners instructions a while back. I too have a dog, and I just may make this bed cover, stripes and all. Thanks
Sharon H says
Patti, I LOVE it! I’d have to have one big enough for both of our mini doxies to lay on together. They were liter mates and even after 10 or 11 years, they still love to curl next to each other. I actually have some Blue French Grain cloth…..but I’m saving it for MY use, LOL. And your pillow turned out very nice, seamstress or not!
Terry says
I love the feminine touches you added to the bed :0) The crown, the ties… lovely!
Well Done!
Smiles!
Terry
Cheryl Ann says
Patti, this is the best DIY I’ve seen in a long while! Just perfect! I don’t sew either, but do have a simple machine and I’m going to try this for our standard poodle. She is 12 yrs old and has occasional leaks so I’ll spray the stuff on too. Thanks so much!
Cat @ Pocketful of Posies says
Another beautiful project Patti! You always seem to have the best projects! I don’t think I’ve seen a single one I haven’t been in love with! Thank you for sharing!
Cat
Patti says
Wow!
Judith says
This is so pretty. My doggie Lilo would love this. We always find her curled up on top of our throw pillows!
Jo @ Let's Face the Music says
The zigzag stitching is genius. Love it, want one for my bed. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Susan says
I love this dog bed! I have 3 dogs so we have a small collection of dog beds scattered around the house. I pinned this one to make for the future.
Megin says
This is wonderful, Patty! I love the little zig-zag stitch, it adds a lot.
Thank you for sharing this week at Brag About It link party on VMG206 (Mondays at Midnight). I plan to feature you next week!
~ Megin of VMG206
Tammy says
I just love this Patti so cute… OK I need 2 of these!
Pattie @ Olla-Podrida says
What a FABULOUS tutorial. I mean, I don’t even have a dog, and I want to make one of these. I do not sew, but this actually makes it look doable even for someone like me. I wish you were my neighbor. 😉
Jenny @ Refresh Living says
Fabulous tutorial – and I love the dog bed!! Who knew they could look this good!!! Your dogs are perfectly spoiled, and that’s the way it should be!
CoCo says
Patti, this is THE cutest dog bed! I have thee dogs and they would love a bed like this. I think I may have to get out my sewing machine and paints. Thanks so much for the easy to follow tutorial and for linking this up to our Something to Talk About link party. This will be one of my features on Monday. Happy weekend, CoCo
Alexandra says
Thank you for a great tutorial ♥ It looks great! Alexandra
Katherines Corner says
I am swooning. Love this wonderful dog bed pillow and tutorial. I know our Izzy thinks it is pretty wonderful too. I am so happy you shared at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Watch for your feature on Monday xo
Tara @ Lehman lane says
Patti!, I love this dog bed you made! It looks fantastic. I hope to make one for our dog Moose this fall when the kids are back in school so I pinned it:). For someone that says they are not seamstress your dog bed looks pretty perfect!!! I hope you had a great weekend. Take care, Tara
Jann olson says
Patti, I love grain sack and have been painting them on a few things. That pillow is darling and I want one for myself. lol! A little jealous of your dogs. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Debi @ Surroundings by Debi says
Patti – Thank you for sharing this wonderful Grain Sack Tutorial at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop. You have been featured on my Tuesday Treasures. Stop by and take a peek! And be sure to join us this week for our 200th Blog Hop celebration! Hope to see you there!
Elizabeth@ Rustic Maple says
Wow, that is a great cover for your new dog pillow. So pretty and thanks for the instructions. Our chocolate Lab could really use a dog bed. She ate the stuffing out of hers when she was a pup. Your dogs look very comfy on those Pillow Cubes (as I sit here typing looking at our Remi laying on the hardwood beside me.)
Nancy says
Oh it is adorable….tres chic! You sew better than me….great job!
(you could sell those….)
Nancy
wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com