No mincing words around here…it’s “fake chenille”, not “faux chenille”.
The appearance of chenille on various design blogs recently got me thinking about all things chenille: “how is it made?” being chief among my wonderings. A little research led me to discover that chenille is not really a DIY-type of craft but fake chenille most definitely is!
And so, over the course of the week (and in between my glass etching adventures), I tried out a prototype of fake chenille. Ideally (in my world), this would make a great dog bed cover. I was a little pressed for time this week (just got back from a week in Oregon, need to prepare for the race meet, blah blah blah) so I didn’t do a full on dog bed. Instead, I made what is essentially a pillow case into which I will put a cheap pillow and let the dogs have.
To start, you need 3 yards of fabric. Apparently not just any fabric will do; you need one that will “bloom”. Natural fibers are supposed to be better for this and, as luck would have it, I just happened to have a bunch of medium-weight cotton canvas stashed away.

On the left is the fabric I used; it’s a home decorating cotton from Waverley that I picked up for $1.00/yard on sale. There are two yards of the lighter fabric and one yard of the dark stripe. After being cut to size (36″ x 22″), the fabric pieces are stacked on top of one another, right sides up. You can’t see it too well because I used the same fabric but that’s the picture on the right.
The stack is basted all around and then sewn along the bias using a small zigzag stitch in 3/4″ increments. Each stitch line is made in a different direction, to avoid stretching the fabric. I marked the first stitch line with a pencil and then just eyeballed it from there. I wouldn’t do that again as my eyeballs were variable in their measurements.
After all the stitching is done, the fabric is cut between the stitch lines through all layers except the bottom one. Then you just need to pop the piece in the washer and then the dryer et voila!

(You can see I didn’t stitch all the way across the piece of fabric. I was very tired and convinced myself that a wee triangle of base fabric in the corner of the bed would look oh-so-artistic.)
No pillow to go inside it yet but Streaka already approves:

Of course, having a Tighe Pillow (TM) for her head probably facilitates her enjoyment…
Things I would do differently next time:
- For an indoor bed, I’d use flannel. The canvas is great for an outdoor bed but it shrank something terrible. I think I lost around 4″ in length and 2″ in width.
- I’d mark all the stitch lines with pencil. It wouldn’t take much time and would result in a better end product.
- I’d be tempted to make these square, rather than rectangular.
I’d love to hear from anyone if they try this!