Re: need advice on simple pet blankets

On 23 Nov 2003 07:09:29 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(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