How to Make a Homemade Pet Hammock with a Pouch

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Published by
Jimmy at
August 29, 2017

Choose Your Material Fleece (sweatshirt fleece, polar fleece, etc.) is a favorite fabric for making homemade hammocks but you can also experiment with different materials to be used for different purposes. Fleece and flannel make cozy beds for winter time and cotton and denim make nice beds for warmer weather but no matter what fabric is used, watch for loose threads and discard the hammock if it is being chewed up.

Clips for Hanging the Hammock Owners usually have to discard a few store bought hammocks due to chewing but the swivel clips they come with can be saved to make your own hammock. You can also buy a variety of clips, snap hooks, carabiners, shower curtain hooks and other assorted hardware or jewelry making supplies that can be used to attach hammocks to cages. Check your local craft, hardware or animal supply store for different options. Whichever option you choose, try to think about it in terms of safety making sure no toenails, feet, heads or other body parts could get trapped in the clips you choose.

The Hanging Loops on the Hammock Bits of fabric, sturdy ribbons, bias tape or nylon webbing (like leash material) can be used for making the loops to which the hanging clips are attached. Thin leashes bought at discount stores can be cut into smaller sections as inexpensive webbing for the hanging loops.

Gather Materials and Cut Your Fabric to Size What You will Need Two pieces of fabric cut to the same size (see below on sizing)
Four clips Fabric, ribbon, or some other material to attach the clips to the hammock (or make loops for hanging)
Sewing machine (or you could sew by hand if desired)Thread
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Size
This hammock can be made into any size you like. For the hammock demonstrated here, two pieces of fleece are cut into 12 inches by 24 inches. The finished hammock is just nine inches wide by 10 inches long (suitable for a rat or smaller pet; a larger one would be necessary for rats to pile in together, or for a ferret).

To make a different sized hammock here is a general guide to sizing your pieces (the exact size of the finished product will depend on seam allowances and may also be affected a bit by the thickness of your fabric). Decide how big you want your hammock then cut two pieces of the fabric. The width of the hammock should have two inches added on for seam allowances and the length should be doubled what you want the final length to be.

Strips for Hanging Loops

You will also need to cut four strips of your chosen material for hanging loops. These can be cut to any length you wish and then doubled over to make a loop so the finished length of the loop will be less than half of the cut length (nine inches is a good starting point to cut the strips to).

Sew the Two Pieces of Fabric Together
Place the two pieces of fabric together with the right sides together (so it appears as though it is inside out). Leaving a small opening that will allow you to turn the hammock right side out, sew around the rest of the rectangle leaving about a half an inch seam allowance. Snip extra fabric from the corners outside the row of stitching as shown in the bottom left hand corner of the photo to make turning the corners right side out easier. Turn the pet hammock right side out through the opening then hand stitch the opening closed as the bottom right hand corner of the photo shows.