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30th June 2023
Our new arrival Bertie is a young Labrador puppy, as a family business we knew we needed to get him settled into being a William Morris fabric fan straight away. He was a bit of a wriggler in the car, fussing in his car bed and trying to bite his way to freedom from his seatbelt. We thought therefore that he could benefit from a bigger bed on the back seat to try to get him to settle down easier. Inspired by designs online, we decided to give it a go ourselves to make a William Morris dog bed. We had some fabric, we had some wadding and some pillows no longer used, so got to work! We’re writing down our process to help if you’d like to make your pampered pooch a bed like Berties, it’s all been trial and error so maybe you can improve on our method!
The design we used was our licensed William Morris Brother Rabbit blue fabric, it’s the most beautiful design full of rabbits and birds, which were drawn by Morris’s good friend and colleague, Philip Webb.
We began with measuring the backseat of the car, these measurements were the width of the back seats, the depth of the seat and the heigh of the seat. We won’t put the measurements of ours in as all cars are different sizes so whatever works for yours. You could also just make it the width of one seat if you still need to use the rest of the back seats. Make sure to also measure where your seatbelt holder is so that you can clip the dog harness seatbelt in for safety.
We were wanting a bed which stayed in the car all the time, so we used ties attached to the top of the bed to the headrest. We learnt a lesson here as we initially started with ribbon like ties, but when hot and bothered in the heatwave sun, Bertie tried climbing over the bed and snapped the ties, so we had to go back in with a more robust tie as a fix.
As an idea of our pattern, the fabric was cut into two pieces for the back cushion, two pieces for the base cushion, two pieces for the front bumper and four pieces for the side cushions. The bumper we put in around the edge so that he can rest his little head on it.
Starting on the back cushion, ensuring the fabric was the correct side together, sew the first side. As you get to the top, attach the ties to be able to tie the top to the head rests at both sides. Then carry on sewing along the tip and back down the third side. Turn the cover the right way and press it flat.
Measuring the cushion so it had three equal sized cushions, we sewed a seam down each. Now there are three cushions which you can fill with polyester wadding and sew closed. Next time, we would make inner pillows and zips to allow us to remove the cover for washing as muddy paw prints may occur!
Next we did the same process on the bottom cushions, cutting into the base cushion fabric by 5cm and sewing around this so the seatbelts are accessible to secure the harness to. Once again, then turning, pressing and top stitching the base cushion, stuffing with polyester wadding and stitching to close. The side pieces are actually made from two little feather cushions that we had in the loft so decided to put those to use! I made the the side of the square by first putting in the zip on the seam which faces forward so this will zip into the front bumper. So once Bertie is in on he can rest his head on the bumper while facing forward and can see where he is going.
The front is made in two pieces so the pattern is the correct way up when zipped in place.
Now to assemble the bed. Stitched the back to the base on the underside, we left a 2 cm raw edge, then sewing the sides to the back and as the sides were already hemmed this left a neat edge and so we then had the front zipped to the sides so then we just had the attach it to the base again this left a 2cm raw edge on the base of the bed. Then, turning the raw edge in by 1cm and hand sewed it with a slip stitch to finish it neatly underneath.
Since our family have seen Bertie’s bed, we have been offered some old duvets which we shall use for the stuffing next time which will be great. Because we can’t wash the bed as mentioned, next time we’d make sure it could be washable. To solve the problem, we made little rectangle cloths to sit on the bottom of the bed for after walks, including a waterproof one to protect the bed.
Bertie absolutely loves his new car bed, the problem is now that he refuses to get out of it most of the time and car rides are punctuated by his snoring! Do let us know if you make your own William Morris dog bed for the car!
Posted in Crafts from our Products! by Laura
Our William Morris Willow Bough green placemats are now back in stock! ✨ They’re a beautiful addition to the table for every meal time 🫶🏻
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🐥 William Morris month day 31 🐥 Happy Easter everyone! 🐰 Hope everyone’s having a lovely long weekend, we got beautiful Willow Bough out for a themed tablescape - not forgetting the Lidnt bunny’s and eggs! 🌿🐰
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🌷 William Morris month day 30 🌷 As we come near the end of Morris month, we’re celebrating with a fabric stack, full of beautiful licensed designs, which is your fave? 🌿 “Remember that a pattern is either right or wrong. It cannot be forgiven for blundering, as a picture may be which has otherwise great qualities in it. It is with a pattern as with a fortress, it is no stronger than its weakest point.”- William Morris 🤍
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🐭 William Morris month day 29 🐭 We’ve been loving William Morris month to celebrate Morris’s birthday month, spreading his floral magic by posting everyday - have you discovered a new favourite design of his this month? 🌿 We absolutely love these little mice and the banner by @mini_and_bob - aren’t they so lovely! 🐭🤍
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🌷William Morris Month Day 28🌷 Happy Easter weekend everyone! 🐥 We hope everyone has a lovely long bank holiday 🌿 We’re already planning some beautiful William Morris tablescapes, nothing too complex, all you need is some Morris florals, some flowers and lots of chocolate! 🐰
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🧵 William Morris month day 26 🧵 Calling all quilters; have you ever used our cotton fabric to quilt with? We’ve used them a lot and quilters and quilting groups find them a great fabric weight to quilt with to produce beautiful Morris quilts like this one by @ellejoycreations 🌿🧵🪡 If you’d like a sample of any of our designs we send them free within the UK 💌
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🌷 William Morris Month Day 26 🌷 Absolutely loving a spring time floral on the table right now, especially when paired with an Easter craft or two! 🤍
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🌿 William Morris Month Day 25 🌿 Florals on florals on florals; all of the William Morris florals just look so beautiful together and, as Morris said himself, “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” 🌷
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🍰 William Morris Month Day 24 🍰 Happy Birthday William Morris! ✨ Born on this day in 1834, he created so many timeless designs which are still popular today 🌿 He was also an incredible poet, writer, and social activist, also creating the Kelmscott Press and he was a key figure in reviving traditional British art and textile methods of production, even opening a print works- Merton Abbey 🪴 There’s far too much to fit in an Instagram caption but his life is well worth a research if you have time! 🌷 He famously said, “I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few” - what’s your favourite quote to celebrate Morris today? 🖋️
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🐥 William Morris Month Day 23 🐥 Loving the sunshine this week for springtime 🌿 We absolutely love Willow Bough on the table in the sunshine paired with spring blooms 🌷
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🌷 William Morris Month Day 22🌷 A themed table is always our favourite, we’ve been loving setting the table lately with an Easter theme- especially when it means we can eat the eggs after! 🐣✨
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🌷 William Morris Month Day 21 🌷 As a small business ourselves we absolutely love celebrating other small businesses, today for Morris month we’re loving @ellejoycreations beautiful products, go check out her page to see them all!🌷🌿
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🌿 William Morris Day 20 🌿 William Morris fact of the day; did you know he founded the Kelmscott Press? 🖋️ He wrote of the venture – “Here is a new craft to conquer and to perfect.” Printing began at the press in Spring 1891 🪴 He designed multiple fonts including “Golden” Roman typeface and “Troy” Gothic type along with “Chaucer” and he worked to create beautiful books in regards to their designs which took into account their type, image and decorative elements – you can see beautiful examples of what he achieved today if you do a quick search on the Kelmscott Press- it’s well worth a Google! 🌷
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🌷 William Morris Month Day 19🌷 Happy first day of spring everyone! 🪴 We celebrated in our favourite way; coffee and cake of course! 🍰 Now we love florals all year round of course, but especially love adding in even more this time of year to reflect the blooms in the garden 🌷 What’s your favourite Morris design this time of year? 🌿
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📝 William Morris Month Day 18 📝 Did you know that as well as being an incredible designer, William Morris was also a brilliant writer and poet; have you read any of his writing? What’s your favourite quote? 🌷🌿
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☀️ William Morris Month Day 17 ☀️ The sunshine today has made us feel so excited for spring, it’s almost officially here! 🪴 This William Morris bunting is the dreamiest backdrop to all the spring summer days in the garden, it’s by @ellejoycreations - isn’t it fabulous!🌷
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🐰 William Morris Month Day 16 🐰 A Sunday spent Easter decorating, these cute little bunnies were a craft a few years back and they are always a firm favourite to bring out this time of year to hang on our Easter tree 🐥 Have you started decorating or eating eggs yet? 🐣
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🍓 William Morris Month Day 15 🍓 Absolutely can’t wait for the summer months to get our Strawberry Thief picnic basket and blanket back out- if you missed this craft we have a DIY on our website blog, along with a lot of other craft ideas and how-to blogs ☺️
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🍓 William Morris Month Day 14 🍓 Strawberry Thief was inspired by William Morris’s watching the thrushes under the strawberry nets at the stunning @kelmscottmanor 🌿 May Morris conjured up this scene when speaking of the design, “You can imagine my Father going out in the early morning and watching the rascally thrushes at work on the fruit beds and telling the fanned who growls ‘I’d like to wring their necks!’ that no bird in the garden must be touched. There were certainly more birds than strawberries in spite of attempts at protection. And the walls of the little dining-room are hung with this note of the June garden and the little lords of it.” 🍓 What a lovely insight into the Morris family life! 🥰
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🌿 William Morris Month Day 13 🌿 A little Bertie is interested in looking at our fresh florals on the table today, the theme of flower arranging class this week was “childhood memories” so of course Barbie was our theme! 🐕🦺🩷 Featuring our beautiful William Morris Strawberry Thief on the table today 🌿
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