So, most of you know, we are potty training our 10 month old, Hazel.
She is struggling a little bit, but we have found she has trouble staying asleep, and potties as soon as it’s light out. Even in her crate. Its Awesome (sarcasm). Luckily for us, she is potty pad trained.
So, we thought we would make a crate cover, to not only make the crate look nicer in our coffee shop themed kitchen, but so she sleeps all night! We used THIS LINK for our outline!
So here’s what you need (our crate is 3 ft x 22″ x 26″ or something close to that):
- 6 sections (or 3 sections of 2 different fabrics) of 36″ x 22″ fabric of your choice
- 4 sections (or 2 sections of 2 different fabrics) of 22″ x 26″ fabric of your choice
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Wooden dowel
You’ll have to measure your crate to get your own dimensions, but make sure to make it an inch or two longer in case you make some mistakes! (we made a lot, bear with us!)
Start off cutting your sections, this is a tough part! Make sure they’re all straight, I recommend a nice cutting board and roll cutter for fabrics! Not scissors like we did!
Continue by ironing and pinning all your fabrics, rough sides together. We used a brown paw print for the outside and a nice dark espresso for the inside. Then, sew the long edges of the side pieces together (the big sections). Careful to go straight and put the outside pieces (paw prints) together! Once this is done, sew the bottom (Or hem, if you’re good!) of the sections!
Once you have the 3 large sections sewn together, its time for a bit harder part! First, sew one end of the back section together, or hem it if you’re really good! Then, putting the outside pieces (in our case, the paw prints) together, carefully sew the back section on. After doing this, go ahead and put it on your crate to make sure it is looking good!
If it looks good, go ahead and continue on! If it doesn’t look good, go ahead and trim as needed! Ours was WAY too long (we added 4 extra inches to our measurements, way too much!). After some trimming and pinning, we were ready to carry on!
The front was pretty easy. We wrapped the bottom of our front section around the dowel we were using and pinned it to the appropriate size. Then we sewed it nice and straight! We hemmed around the entire front section before sewing it on to the rest of the cover. Once that was done, we put one end of the fabric together (paw print to paw print) again, and attached our front section to the middle of the 3 long sections. Then, put it on your crate and you’re done!
Ours turned out a little (OK, a lot, sorry Nana!) crooked, but Hazel still loves it the same! It is REALLY thick, so it might be a little warm during the summer. But, its nice and dark, and Jean is jealous!
We’d love to hear your comments! Tips on potty training puppies? Make your own crate cover? Fun stories about your dogs? Sewing tips? We’d love to hear it all!
**UPDATE**
Hazel loves her crate cover! We put on some classical music, close the cover, and she sleeps amazing! No more whining or waking us up at 5 am!
Awesome! Just made one!
Love this! Great job you two!
We love you too!! <3
that looks fantastic!
Fold tie in half lengthwise, hiding raw edges, to bring pressed edges together. Stitch both long edges.
That’s a MUCH better way of wording it, thank you!