Pets, Pet Care & Native Animals
Rita Hill created a soft, fleecy mat for her dog. Sparky needed a medium-sized mat, but it's easy to change the dimensions to suit the size of your own pooch.
Small 76cm x 56cm Medium 76cm x 106cm Large 96cm x 126cm
Sherpa fleece (150cm wide) Thick wadding (130cm wide)
1. Cut two rectangles of the Sherpa fleece and sew them together, fleecy sides facing each other. Leave a large opening on one of the narrow sides so that you can add the wadding without too much difficulty.
2. Turn the mat right way out and sew around the sewn seams to create a padded edge.
3. Cut three layers of wadding to fit inside the rectangles. (Tip: tack the wadding at the corners - this helps to hold it together while you place it into the mat.)
4. Fit the wadding into the mat through the open end.
5. Sew some quilting stitches at regular intervals into the mat. This makes it look better and helps to hold the wadding in place during washing.
6. Hand-sew the last seam shut, then machine-sew the last bit to finish the padded edge.
Sherpa fleece costs around $12 per metre and wadding costs about $5.50 per metre, from fabric stores such as Lincraft and Spotlight.
Rita Hill's instructions for making dog mats are in the August edition of the Burke's Backyard magazine. It is available at newsagents for $4.60.
Copyright 2010 CTC Productions
