An easy-to-make dog bed
Make this comfy stretcher for your pooch.
By Shelly Bergh • Photographs Francois Oberholster
GET STARTED
1 Clamp the PVC pipe in the vice grip and cut with the hacksaw to the following lengths:
• two 1m pipes
• two 600mm pipes
• four 40mm pipes
• four 150mm pipes.
2 Glue two waste bends to either side of the 600mm pipes. Attach the 40mm pipes to the other side of the bends, and then the waste junction T. Make sure the bends and the Ts are at a right angle to each other. You should now have two sides that look the same. Attach the 1m pipes to the Ts to form a rectangle. 3 Attach the solvent stop ends to one side of the 150mm pipes and then attach the legs to the Ts. 4 Measure and cut the canvas to size: 1 x 1.55m.
5 Place the PVC frame you’ve made on the canvas. Now use the L-square ruler to mark from the outer edges of the bend and T straight to the end of the fabric. Connect these lines diagonally. Cut out this shape on each corner of the canvas. Tip You only need to do the measuring on one corner and then you can use the piece you cut out as a template on the remaining three corners.
6 Press a seam of 1.5cm along the edges of the corner sections of the canvas. Sew with black thread to create a top-stitch effect.
7 Press a seam of 1.5cm on the remaining edges of the canvas. Pin the fluffy part of the Velcro to these edges, cutting it to size as you go. Stitch in place.
8 Position the frame in the centre of the canvas; fold the edges of the canvas over the pipes and mark. Add an extra 1.5cm towards the centre of the canvas; this is the mark where the inside edge of the opposite strip of the Velcro should be sewn onto the canvas. Change the thread on your sewing machine to cream to match the colour of the canvas. Pin the Velcro to the mark and sew in place.
9 Attach the canvas to the PVC frame with the Velcro; you will have to stretch it a bit. Now the bed is ready to use!