Guinea pig cuddle sack tutorial

Now that your piggies have tunnels, they also need sacks!!  The Scoobies always have two in their house, one for each of them.

They really are like Buffy and Willow in matching twin beds in their dorm room.

When we go anywhere, such as the vet, I take both sacks with us.  They tend to feel safer in the sacks, so it helps with the whole vet trauma.

Mama, we're not so sure about this whole vet thing.  Can we go home yet?  What do you mean we're waiting for nail trims?

So, on to actually making sacks.

Again, as with the tunnels, hit up the fabric remnant section of the fabric store.  This pattern uses a 12" or so length of standard 58" fleece.  I used batting for this sack, but you can also use Uhaul liner or a hand towel. You'll also need boning of some sort for the sack opening.  I used these 36" cable ties again.

Tach-It 36" x 50 Lb Tensile Strength Natural Colored Cable Tie (Pack of 50)

First, fold the fleece in half lengthwise so it's 12" (or whatever length you bought) by ~29", with the right sides facing each other.

Now, basically cut the largest sized rectangle you can with the fleece you have.  You'll need two pieces of fleece and one piece of liner in this size.

The strange dancing pandas are face to face.

Separate one piece of fleece, and fold it in half with the right sides facing in.  Pin.

I like to pin two adjacent sides.

Face the WRONG side of the fleece with the liner, then fold in half with the RIGHT side of the fleece facing in.  Pin.

Make sure you pin the same two sides you did above.

Sew along where you pinned.  Make sure to leave a hole in the SINGLE FLEECE piece through which you can turn everything inside out.

Flip the fleece/liner piece right side out, then slide it into the still inside-out single fleece piece.

Pin along the edge and sew.

Pull everything right side out through that hole you remembered to leave in the single fleece layer.

Now, grab your cable ties or whatever you're using for boning.  With cable ties, first cut off the head and pointy tail, then bend it so it'll fit through that handy hole you left, and push the whole thing right up against the seam between the fleece and fleece/liner pieces you just finished sewing.

Make sure the cable tie is flat between the layers.

Pin just below the cable tie.

Time to sew a casing for the boning.

I like to put the foot right up against the cable tie.

Finally, sew that hole closed.  It doesn't have to be pretty.

Yay, a sack!!

One final step before handing this to your piggies. If you didn't already wash the fleece, time to do so now.  New fleece comes with a protective barrier that prevents moisture from going through, so you want to break down that barrier.  Fabric softener and dryer sheets help replenish the barrier, so do NOT use those.  I've had good luck soaking for a few hours in hot water, then one or two hot water wash/dry cycles, but no guarantees. 

Hopefully your piggies love sacks as much as mine do!!  Mine like to nose around in their sacks, talking to themselves and making things exactly right for optimal comfort.

Willow demonstrates two methods of using sacks:  in and on.

Buffy stays warm and cozy in her sack.

Guinea pig tunnels tutorial

Pretty much the main reason I decided to learn to sew was that I wanted to make stuff for my babies.  Yes, you may call me a crazy animal lady.  Everyone else does.

One of the things I decided to make for the Scoobies was tunnels.  I had already made sacks, based on a few tutorials I'd found, but I hadn't found one for tunnels that I liked, so I decided to try figuring them out on my own.

Buffy is hanging out in her astronomy-themed tunnel, while Willow uses the twig tunnel.

So, what do we need, other than a sewing machine and thread?

• One piece of fleece that's approximately 24-28" by 29".  I usually look through the fabric remnant section and buy a piece of standard 58" fleece, which makes two tunnels.  My piggies are larger, so they won't go in tunnels that are less than 7" in diameter.  If your piggies accept smaller tunnels, you can use less than 24".  Just keep in mind to count your seam allowances into your calculations.
• A piece of liner fabric, such as an old towel, Uhaul liner, or just batting, that's the same size as the fleece.
• Boning of some sort.

I did some research and found that an acceptable substitute for the boning you can find in fabric stores is cable ties. So, I found these.

Tach-It 36" x 50 Lb Tensile Strength Natural Colored Cable Tie (Pack of 50)

Alrighty, time to get started.  I started with a full 58" piece of fleece, so I had to start by folding it in half and cutting it so it was 27" x 29".

Apparently the piece I had was 27".

Now, cut that piece in half, so you end up with two 27" x 14.5" pieces.  I like to square off all the edges, which is pretty easy to do with a rotary cutter and a cutting mat.

Ok, down to 26" x 14.5".

For this tunnel, I used batting as a liner, but you can also use a more absorbent lining, such as towels or Uhaul liner.

Cut ONE piece of your lining that's the same size as your fleece pieces.

Line up the lining with the wrong side of one of the fleece pieces.  Fold it in half along the long side (26" in this case), with the right side of the fleece inside, and pin the edge.  Repeat with the single fleece piece.

Time to head to the sewing machine.

First, sew the pinned edges.  Then, turn the fleece/lining piece so it's right-side out, and slip it inside the still inside-out single piece of fleece.  Match up one of the edges and pin.

You should have the right sides of the fleece facing each other, and the lining on the inside of the tunnel.

Sew along that pinned edge.  Then you want to take the fleece only piece and shove it into the center of the tunnel, so all the right sides of the fleece are facing out.  I like to turn things once more so that the fleece only piece is on the outside of the tunnel and the fleece/lining piece is on the inside.

Now, it's time to grab one of those cable ties.  

Cut off the head and the pointy tail first.

Put the cable tie between the fleece/lining piece and the fleece only piece, right up into the seam you just finished sewing.  Pin just below the cable tie.

Pins.  So many pins.

 Alright, time for the sewing machine again.  Basically, we're sewing a casing for the cable tie.

I like to put the foot right up against the cable tie, as close as possible, and sew.

Yay, that end of the tunnel is done!!  Time for the other trickier side.

Grab another cable tie and cut off the ends. Put it up against the inside of the fleece only side and fold the edge over.  Pin from the outside.  Trust me, that's important.  PIN FROM THE OUTSIDE.

See, pinned from the OUTSIDE.  Make sure to leave a large section for sewing.

Once you're done with that, it's time to pin the fleece/lining side.  Basically, fold it down so it's the same height as the other side, then pin both sides together.  You can remove the pins from the fleece only side as you do this.

Remember, pins are your friends.

Finally, sew along the cable tie again.

Yay, a tunnel!!

One final step before handing this to your piggies. If you didn't already wash the fleece, time to do so now.  New fleece comes with a protective barrier that prevents moisture from going through, so you want to break down that barrier.  Fabric softener and dryer sheets help replenish the barrier, so do NOT use those.  I've had good luck soaking for a few hours in hot water, then one or two hot water wash/dry cycles, but no guarantees for you.

Hopefully your piggies love tunnels as much as mine do!!

They like to weave through these three tunnels as they zoom around their house.