This was a bit of an adventure.
You should know that the first fleece bed I made for my boys ended up being thrown away. I didn't make the fleece cover removeable and, eventually, there was just too much fur on it to make it something I wanted around. To get around that, this one has a pillowcase-style back.
One of the other issues with pet beds is that there aren't exactly a lot of pre-made inserts to stuff them. I mean, no one wants to buy a pet bed to fill a pet bed! So, I had to come up with a way to make it work.
First, I mocked it up with a plain, rectangular pillow as a filler. It looked more like a totoro than a cat. So, I decided to use the same pattern pieces to create a custom-fit fill piece. It was surprisingly very fun and extremely easy. I included instructions in the book for making the fill piece with a zipper. This is great because it's not always easy to judge how much stuffing you need in the bed. If it zips, you can always add or remove more stuffing. Also, frankly, stitching the last little bit closed when you have stuffed something isn't my idea of a great time. I'd much rather just close a zipper!
Speaking of stuffing, I wasn't about to invest in the amount of fiber fill that you would need to fill up this sucker. Also, I'm not sure if fiber fill would feel "solid" enough to the cats for them to use it. They're both a little old and seem unwilling to stand or sit on anything that's very soft or shifty. Instead, I raided my big bucket of sewing scraps and used that as stuffing. Fleece scraps are the loftiest and lightest, but I mix all of my scraps together - fleece, knit fabrics and wovens. I'm really happy with the results I get. Travis loves the bed and basically didn't get off of it for a few days when I first made it.
The ears stay relatively plump and flat because they aren't stuffed with stuffing. Instead, a smaller layer of fleece fills each ear. I have washed this particular bed twice and both times the ears just needed a good shake to look nice again.
