DIY Suitcase Dog Bed

A few months ago I saw a suitcase dog bed on Pinterest and decided it would make the perfect addition to my Mid-Century Modern living room design. So I went searching for an old suitcase. I scored this one for only $8 from Good Finds! Tonight I finally got around to completing my dog bed. Here's what I did:

Supplies

Old Suitcase

Fabric

Old Pillow

Legs & Hardware

Craft Paint

TOTAL COST = $36

First I started with the easy part - Added a pop of yellow paint to the unfinished wood legs

Then I needed to deconstruct parts of the suitcase. I didn't need to keep all the added bulky pockets so I unscrewed some out and cut out the ones that were stitched. Next I measured my top lining fabric.

I ironed down the top edges for a finished look. Then using measrurements from the suitcase's interior height, I calculated how far in I would need to pin the corners together to stitch the corners in place, then sewed.

Zoey seemed to figure out what I was working on before I was finished :) 

I decided to go with a minky fabric for the pillow because my dogs LOVE soft fuzzy blankets and beds. I was able to reuse an old pillow for the dog bed pillow stuffing. I simply sewed up a basic pillow case using the minky fabric and stuffed the pillow inside. 

I'm all about personalization so I wanted to include the dogs names into the dog bed, which I embroidered. I originally was going to make 2 beds (one for each) but I haven't found another suitcase yet and decided they could share. They share everything anyways! So I created a long pocket that I stitched in half so each dog could store some toys or bones or whatever they decided to hide. 

Hot glue will do just the trick for this project. I glued in the top lining. 

Added the finishing touches (once dried)

I think they like it!

Here is Gizmo enjoying his new cozy bed...

But I think Zoey might claim it as her's. She's currently in it now.

And the best part is it can be closed when not in use, and it will be easy to wash the pillowcase if it gets dirty.