A Christmas Present for Lola

Lola...L-O-L-A...Lola

Who exactly is Lola?

Well...Lola is our Beagle-Lab mix that we adopted eight years ago.  I work for a local highway department and on a very cold January morning one of our drivers came across Lola's mother in a snowbank. Someone had just dropped her off and left her there in the bank to fend for herself.  Being the caring person that she is, the driver brought the dog back to the highway department to warm up and give her some food.  To make a long story short Lola's mother (Hilda) was found to be pregnant and she gave birth to a litter of ten puppies right there at the highway department.

Everyone took their turn at caring for the puppies until they got to the stage where they could be adopted out.  This is where my daughter comes in for she had fallen in love with these little balls of fur and energy; in particular she had fallen for Lola.  Slowly, each and every puppy found a loving and caring home with Lola being the last.  She had worked her way into our hearts and our home and  we are so glad she came to live with us and are thankfull all the other puppies were adopted out as well.

So...this Christmas...we wanted to give Lola a new, comfy spot to lay her head down after a day of chasing squirrels and barking at the deer wandering our woods out back.

McCall's M5410

I didn't like the fact the bed didn't have a removable liner so I used some left over denim and an upholstery zipper and whipped one up to fit inside the large dog bed.

This pattern is a "no sew" project but I modified the pattern by sewing part way around the bed prior to stuffing. On the edges that I left open I also stitched along the remainder of the bed to give a point to cut to for the ties.

Denim bed placed inside fleece.

Tying the knots around the bed.

Plaid Top

Solid Bottom

Lola enjoying her new bed!

Pattern Review

PR: M5410

Pattern Description: Pet Beds

Fabric Used: Fleece

Pattern Size: (S-M-L)  I made a large bed for Lola.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? This pattern is a no sew pattern but knowing that I would want to wash this pet bed at some point I sewed it prior to tying the knots. Also they have you directly stuffing into the fleece which I did not like either so I made an inner liner out of some left over jean fabric and stuffed that with the stuffing and then stuffed the jean liner into the fleece bed.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I sewed the bed together about three quarters the way around and left a quarter open. I placed the stuffed denim liner into the fleece; I then tied the knots closing the bed up around the denim liner.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes

Conclusion: I think this is a great project for both the sewer and non-sewer. Pretty simple and quick!

Happy Sewing!!!