Cat Cozy: The Un-D’oh-ing

Previously on D’oh, I made a cat cozy that the cat couldn’t get into.

I remedied that miscalculation temporarily with a skirt hanger.

This kludge worked, but is obviously pretty daft. But as promised, I have applied myself to the problem. Allow me to present Cat Bed II:

Looks a bit like an abandoned Halloween costume

I picked up an eight-inch embroidery hoop (less than $2) and clamped it around the fabric just past the “neck” on the former sweatshirt.

8″ embroidery hoop — plastic (colors!) also available

To help hold it open a little bit, I made a bean bag with–guess what?–dry beans. I made an oblong bag out of one of the discarded sweatshirt sleeves and tacked it across the hoop with a few stitches. That weight was enough to give the hoop some vertical support so Mayya could stroll in whenever she liked.

And stroll she did.

“Stop taking my picture.”

So the final instructions for a cat cozy (for cats who like to be in contact with or under a blanket):

1. Cut the sleeves off a big old sweatshirt. Flip it inside-out and sew closed the arm holes and the bottom.

2. Flip it right-side-out and clamp an embroidery hoop just past the neck. (The size of the neck and of the embroidery hoop will be driven by the size of the cat.)

3. Take one of the sleeves and sew one end closed. Fill it with a bag of dry beans and then close it up so the beans are bunched together, but loosely. You know, like a bean bag.

4. Set the beanbag halfway through the hoop opening, then put a couple of big loopy stitches through the underside so the bean bag is attached to the sweatshirt on either side of the embroidery hoop.

5. Place the whole ridiculous assembly in your cat’s way.

This is one of the sillier projects I’ve ever done! But it was fun, and the cat seems to enjoy it.

The other cat (who does not like to be swaddled) is not impressed.

Done anything silly lately your own selves?