need advice on simple pet blankets

Hi all,

I was thinking of making some blankets for my cats, silly as it may sound. They
each have their own cat bed (and mine of course, which one cat usually ends up
on), but being this is their first winter in a house that gets cold at night I
thought making some blankets for their beds might be nice. Any thoughts on
fabric/construction?

thanks in advance
Kirsten

Filigree00 wrote:

Hi all,

I was thinking of making some blankets for my cats, silly as it may sound. They
each have their own cat bed (and mine of course, which one cat usually ends up
on), but being this is their first winter in a house that gets cold at night I
thought making some blankets for their beds might be nice. Any thoughts on
fabric/construction?

thanks in advance
Kirsten

Yes!! I saw some pads for cats on a website, and the ones
that a friend told me her cats like have a plush fabric on
one side (maybe polar fleece would be good?) and flannel
on the other. They're reversible. They have some batting
inside, and one has a reflective material (like a solar
blanket?) that reflects the cat's body heat back to the
cat. They also have some with a built-in heating pad, but
no way am I plugging in a cat's bed.

I am thinking of just making some rectangular pads with
the plush and flannel on each side and some fiberfill
batting inside. Light enough to toss in the wash from
time to time, but soft enough to be comfy. What I'm not
sure about is whether they'll settle for this when they
have the couch, the easy chair, the bed....
--

Joanne
http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/
Life is about the journey, not about the destination.

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 23:32:14 -0800, Me wrote:

Our seven have various different types. One is fluffy, fake sheepskin,
another is microfleece, double-layered, with blanket stitch all around, but
the favourites are simply real sheepskin, cut out of old coats found at
thrift shops. I put the sheepskin through the wash just like everything
else.

Worthing, age 18, does have a heated pad - an incredibly useful item, which
is permanently occupied

Trish

Filigree00 wrote:

Hi all,

I was thinking of making some blankets for my cats, silly as it may sound. They
each have their own cat bed (and mine of course, which one cat usually ends up
on), but being this is their first winter in a house that gets cold at night I
thought making some blankets for their beds might be nice. Any thoughts on
fabric/construction?

thanks in advance
Kirsten

If you want posh, make some nice patchwork quilts for them, out of posh
cotton fabrics, a nice cotton batting, and a fluffy flannel backing...
If you want practical, a nicely edged layer of good quality polar fleece
will be purrrrrfect!
--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Hi, I made a fleece blanket for DBF last year for Xmas. Just one layer
of fleece, finished with a mock blanket stitch on my serger. Our
smallest cat immediately claimed it as hers. She won't sleep anywhere
else.

Maureen

Filigree00 wrote:

Hi all,

I was thinking of making some blankets for my cats, silly as it may sound. They
each have their own cat bed (and mine of course, which one cat usually ends up
on), but being this is their first winter in a house that gets cold at night I
thought making some blankets for their beds might be nice. Any thoughts on
fabric/construction?

thanks in advance
Kirsten

OJust one layer of fleece, finished with a mock blanket stitch on my
serger.

Maureen


Hi Maureen,
Can you tell me what type of thread you used.

From:

Hi Maureen,
Can you tell me what type of thread you used.

Well, I'm not Maureen but I have just finished two polar fleece blankets
(Christmas gifts) in this manner. I used regular cone thread in the two
needles and the lower looper and wooly nylon in the upper. The three cone
threads were all the same color and the wooly nylon was variegated primary
colors. Turned out quite nicely too!
I have used regular cone thread in all four areas on fleece blankest and it
works OK. It's just that I had the variegated, the polar fleece is the race
car print stuff with the b/w checkered background and primary color Formula I
cars and it absolutely screamed at me to use the variegated :-))! CiaoMeow
^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ Queen of Kitties
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

On 23 Nov 2003 07:09:29 GMT, gree
(Filigree00) wrote:

I was thinking of making some blankets for my cats, . . . . Any thoughts on
fabric/construction?

Buy wool flannel (or whatever pure-wool fabric you get a
bargain on). Wash it in hot water to make it thick and
fuzzy and remove the chemical smell (maybe you can't detect
it, but the cat can). Rinse thoroughly.

Tear into pieces of the desired size and shape. Finishing
the edges is not required, and makes them less useful.

Torn edges are straighter and neater than cut edges, but if
you have bought a blend, cut. Pinking a cut edge will make
it look better.

(In addition to not tearing neatly, some blends are chilly,
and even a little nylon will cancel wool's fire resistance,
so don't buy a blend if you can find *anything* else. A
pure synthetic is better than a blend (unless it's acrylic,
which is prized for *not* being warm), particularly if it
lets it all hang out and *be* synthetic -- Polar Fleece, for
example. But synthetics don't wear as well as wool under
hard use.)

Felted-wool cat blankets are machine washable (though I'd
use cold water after the first time), absolutely stop cat
hair from getting onto the furniture, and are quite cozy--
cats seem to like the smell of real wool.

For more warmth, use multiple blankets, rather than one
thick one. Easier to adjust, easier to wash, and quicker to
dry.

Oh, yes -- you can machine dry the yard goods if you want
to, but the finished blankets should be air dried. I
advocate air-drying everything because tumbling in a bumpy
barrel wears stuff out, but with cat blankets you also have
shrinkage, and if the blanket dries completely, you get
wrinkles that won't shake out, and pressing out the wrinkles
would flatten the fuzz.

On the other hand, if you lay it flat to dry, the cat will
sleep on it while it's still wet. On the third hand, so
what? You can put it back on the furniture, if it's
something that dampness won't bother and the dye in the wool
doesn't bleed.

Joy Beeson
--
http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ -- needlework
http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ -- Writers' Exchange
joy beeson at earthlink dot net

I used Wooly Nylon in the loopers and regular thread in the needle.

wrote:

OJust one layer of fleece, finished with a mock blanket stitch on my
serger.


Maureen




Hi Maureen,
Can you tell me what type of thread you used.

One big bed is better than several small individual ones. Kitties will
use a blanket, sometimes getting under them when it's really cold.
Several kitties in a bed, under blankets will be warm as toast.

My cats just use a regular blanket, folded over. I like to cuddle
under a blanket on cold nites to watch tv. After I go to bed, the
kitties get under the blanket and sleep there all nite.


gree (Filigree00) wrote in message ...
Hi all,

I was thinking of making some blankets for my cats, silly as it may sound. They
each have their own cat bed (and mine of course, which one cat usually ends up
on), but being this is their first winter in a house that gets cold at night I
thought making some blankets for their beds might be nice. Any thoughts on
fabric/construction?

thanks in advance
Kirsten