Cat Couch

I've mentioned Pascal here before. He makes me believe that perhaps children are unnecessary and I could truly become just a crazy cat lady.

I guess that would make Andy the crazy cat man.

Anyhow, today I decided to make a nice little couch for this guy. He spends a lot of time on a little IKEA table looking out the window and hey, why shouldn't be be comfortable?

I will preface this by saying that I am not a seamstress. Yet. I do have a sewing machine (thanks, Mom and Dad), and I have a general sense of spatial intelligence, good for things like reading patterns. However, I have a certain amount of haste and urgency in doing things, which means I inevitably rip out 1000 seams for every project I attempt. This one was no exception.

Nonetheless, I forged ahead.

Mass this afternoon was a little boring. My mind wandered to how I was going to plan out this project, working without a pattern. Sorry, Jesus. It was not intentional.

I decided to use some things I had around the house, and not purchase anything new:

*1 Snuggie (out of four that we received for Christmas)
*1 old twin-sized mattress pad from grad school
*piece of cardboard from a box we had lying around
*needle, thread, sewing machine, etc.

I started out by cutting the elastic part off of the mattress pad. Then I moved on with my piece of cardboard, which I cut into cat couch shape and laid on top of the mattress pad for a good idea of where to separate that batting.

I saved that long strip of mattress pad, because it became the cushion for the couch.

Next, I doubled up the piece of mattress pad I had cut for the base, and taped it over the back of the cardboard. Nothing less than ultimate cushiosity for Pascal!

And now back to that awkward long piece. Super easy part. Sew it in half long ways with a sewing machine (or by hand, whatever), and turn it inside out.

 

Then stuff it. I use the pieces I cut off the mattress pad for stuffing, as well as some old t-shirts I didn't want anymore, and a bit of polyfil for the ends, just to plump it up. Anything soft and fluffy will do. This is a great way to get rid of scrap fabric.

Now we get a little tricky and painful on the old fingertips. I lined up the cushion and the base, and sewed them together around the edges using big ugly stitches.

 Then, just trim off the extra on the very ends of the long tube cushion.

 

Sweet-tastic! The base is made!

Now, in all reality, here's a cat couch right now. Done. However, Pascal likes fleece, I have a plethora of Snuggies, and frankly, I want a cover I can launder.

I folded the bottom of the Snuggie robe up to the armpits and cut off the top (that's at the bottom of this picture). Then I did a vague cut widely around the top curve of the white base:

Next, just pin up the curved parts, and sew along those seams on the side. Keep the bottom open so you can insert the base.

After that...just slip the base into the cover, and tuck the edges under. I had these grand schemes of buttons and button holes (HA!), and then snaps, but honestly, I just tucked all the loose ends under. Pascal's still considering the final product:

 

...but I think it's pretty sweet.

I'm confident he'll come around.