Terry is used to lounging on the woollen patchwork quilts I have sewn. When he got a splendid kennel with a window and a porch last year, the dog announced resolutely that he was not going to sleep in any heap of straw. Put the quilts Mailis made underneath me and then sleeping in the kennel might come up for discussion.
That was last winter.
Now his owner faces the facts again: the cold is coming and the quilts are worn thin. We discussed the good and bad sides of beanbags, wadded mattresses and other versions. That it should stay dry even in wet weather, be cleanable and washable, and stay in place on the kennel floor even when he leaps in especially energetically.
So now a base mattress with a foam filling and a thermantine cover is being made.
The shape of the mattress is a little odd, but the dog's house has a small dividing wall inside, that is a corner behind it, so the mattress starts a little way in from the entrance and turns round the corner.
The mattress cover opens with a zip, so it can be washed and the foam aired if needed. On top of the mattress goes a top mat of multi layered pure wool fabric with 3 or 4 layers of thick wadding (2 of them, in fact, so one can be swapped), which stay nicely around the base mattress but can be removed quickly and machine washed if needed.
What luxury. But who said dogs should not enjoy a life of luxury.
Here is a selection of woollen fabrics laid out ready and the especially thick upholstery wadding waiting.
The top mat has 5 layers: at the very bottom upholstery fabric, on top of that 2 layers of thick upholstery wadding, on top of that a moisture proof (rubberised underneath) upholstery fabric, and the topmost layer is sewn from 100% wool fabric squares. Warm and keeps the damp away.
I bound the mattress with a double strip of canvas. Underneath I made 3 pockets at first, so that I could put all the corners of the lower mat into them and the mattresses would stay nicely in place. Sadly 2 of the "pockets" came out too narrow. So I put eyelets in those corners and fixed the top mattress with cords.
In the picture on the left are the kennel's curtains.
Perhaps one day I will be able to add a picture here at the end of the mattress, the kennel and the dog.
The dog liked the mattress very much. When the present was put down indoors, he went straight onto it and stretched out with pleasure.
