TL; DR – Sometimes making something simple for your dog is therapeutic and even though he doesn’t care, you spend the time on finishing.
My dog loves bags. If there is a bag, my dog will work his hardest to climb in it and then fall asleep. He is a bag dog. It’s amazing. And so when we moved this summer, in order to calm him, we set up a big blue Ikea bag with his blanket in it as his bed.
Anyway, it loves sleeping in there but it is also REALLY REALLY LOUD whenever he moves around to get comfortable again. Last night, I had had enough, when he woke me up for the third time with a start. CRINKLE CRACKLE CRINKLE. MOOMY ARE YOU AWAKE NOW?
And so I had the idea to make him his own Big Blue Ikea-type bag OUT OF QUIET FABRIC. I first googled “free bag patterns” but didn’t come up with anything that was both a) simple and b) big enough. I don’t know why I didn’t just google “Big Blue Ikea Bag sewing pattern” because, well, OF COURSE someone had come up with one. Thanks to Miss Makes for creating the Big Blue Ikea Bag sewing pattern to help the algorithm out.
It is a super-simple sew, like, SUPER-SIMPLE. I am also so happy that it’s an actual pattern and not a “tutorial” – where there are pictures and measurements that I have to figure out myself on the fabric. Unless it’s a zero-waste pattern, I’m not interested, thank you, I want a pattern.
I used some old upholstery fabric that I got from my local buy-nothing group. The straps are denim scraps from another project/fabric that were curtains I had bought at goodwill. And even though I was making for the dog, I finished all my seams, and made sure things were at least sort-of sewn straight, which…WHO DOES THIS FOR A BAG THAT WILL ONLY BE USED FOR THEIR DOG TO SLEEP IN?
Me, apparently. It did feel good to not have to worry about things aligning just right and if anyone is going to notice a wonky seam. And, it was the perfect opportunity to really push the new heavy-duty sewing machine, which…*chef’s kiss.*
Anyway, I really liked this pattern and I like how the bag turned out. It remains to be seen if the dog embraces the bag tonight for sleeping, but I’m not giving him a choice. Because…NO MORE WAKING ME UP.
