Donut Dog Bed + a Donut Party!

For the ultimate in playful comfort, this is a donut which can go anywhere for your pooch. We put ours on our girl's regular comfy dog bed to give her a place to rest her head, and she loves it. You can put it in the back of the car for road trips, on the living room rug, or up on your bed if you want to. The whole thing goes right into the washing machine, and gets air dried.

It took a grown up and a 12 year old about $35 and 5 hours to complete this project.

Here is what you will need for a large sized dog bed (you can adjust sizing proportionately for your smaller dog):

2 - 4'x4' squares of heavy canvas material, we used 'sunbrella'

1 -4'x4' square of playful fabric for the 'icing', any fabric will do, we used chocolate with sprinkles

5 - 1lb bags of polyester fiberfill fluff

A sewing machine with matching heavy duty thread.

Step 1: Trace Your First Circle:

Stack your two canvas fabric squares on top of one another, with the good side down. Tie a pencil to one end of a string. Place the pencil at the center of your fabric square and stretch the string out to the desired outer radius of the donut. Attach a pen or marker to the string at the desired length. For a large dog, we used 22" radius (44" diameter). Hold the pencil in the center, and draw a line with the pen all the way around to make a circle. The marks will end up on the inside of the donut, so you don't have to be too careful.

Step 2: Cut Out Your First Circles:

You have two layers of fabric, so carefully cut along the marked line, ending up with two identical 44" circles of fabric. (You could also cut one out, use it to trace the shape on the second, then cut that one.)

Step 3: Create the 'icing':

Spread out your 'icing' fabric, with the good side down. Using the same pencil and pen on a string technique, measure out from the center of the fabric square, and mark a 19" reference circle all the way around. Cut a freeform wavy line all the way around the reference circle, meandering back and forth over the reference line, to create the dripping icing effect. Make this as uniform or as free form as you would like.

Step 4: Create the Donut Hole:

Set aside the 'icing' for now. Stack up your two layers of 'donut'. Measure a radius of 10" (22" diameter) from the center and trace the donut hole. Cut out the center circle from both layers. Then use one of the cut out circles as a template to trace a circle on the back side of the 'icing' circle. Cut the hole out of the 'icing'. Looking good!

*Save all 3 circles that you just cut out, to make a donut hole throw pillow for yourself!

Step 5: Sew on the 'icing':

Set aside one of the donut layers. Lay out one layer of donut with the good side up. Place 'icing', good side up, on top with the center holes lined up. Pin the 'icing' in place. Sew the inner circle and the wavy circle in place on the sewing machine. I used the zigzag stitch setting on the machine for the entire project. Remember, just sew the 'icing' to one layer of donut, not both!

Step 6: Assemble the Donut:

Now that you have the top of the donut stitched to the icing, lay that top layer, good side up on the floor. Place the second layer of donut, good side down, on top of the other layer. Line up the edges, and pin the center circles together. Sew the inner circles together. Once the inner circles are sewn up, turn the donut right side out. Sew the outer edges of the circles together, almost all the way. Leave about 12" length of the edges unsewn, to allow for stuffing. Now we are in business!

Step 7: Stuff That Baby:

Stuff as much fluff as you can into the donut. Try to make the fill density as even as possible all the way around.

Step 8: Finishing Touch:

Now that the donut is stuffed, pin together that last bit of the edge, and sew it closed, either on the machine or by hand. Working with a fat and awkward donut is not easy on the machine, but we prevailed! Trim all the way around the seam to neaten up the edges.

Step 9: Time for a Donut Party!

Your best friend gets a good nights' rest, and you earned a donut party! Congratulations, and send pictures!