I Made A Teepee For The Pigs Today.

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Humfred

Humfred

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Just wanted to share this with you guys. I've been sewing items for my rats for a while now and had some spare time today to experiment with sewing something for the pigs. I have made smaller versions of this for my rats before and wondered if it would work pig sized. So I've sewn a prototype piggie teepee today. It turned out a bit bigger than I wanted. Two pigs can easily fit into it together, but I reckon if I made it just a bit smaller it would be more stable. it doesn't hold itself up very well so I've clipped it like I do with the rat teepees, although I want to experiment with a layer of foam inside to see if I can make them more sturdy. When I've figured it out I may put them on my etsy shop where I sell my rat stuff. For now my piggies get to test them out until I'm happy with them. I also made an absorbent pad that fits inside. The plan is to make a few pads so I can change them daily.
What do you guys think?

The one I made kind of doesn't go with the colours of my set up, but I used my least favourite fabric incase I messed it up. Sure the pigs don't care :-)

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Herbert is testing it for me...
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CarnivalPiggy said:
That looks really nice! How much do you think you'd sell it for on your etsy shop? :)
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Thanks! Oh, not sure yet actually. It depends wether or not I improve on this one by adding foam to make it free standing. That would add to the cost a bit I should imagine. Do you think it's important that it stand on it own or would you not mind it if it clips on to the top cage if the clip was included? (Asking you as a piggie owner- as you would be a potential customer)
As it is now I would probably put it on for about £7,50. The inside is fleece, completely seamless, with an absorbent pad.
Maybe £8,50 for the teepee with a spare pad included. Is that reasonable?

This is what the pads look like to go inside them...

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That looks great , as a crafter myself would using a stiff interfacing work if you wanted to make it stand up?
 
I just went to check on the pigs and my boy if fast asleep in the teepee. Chooken and everything. So at least they have approved of it if nothing else
 
tallulahmay said:
That looks great , as a crafter myself would using a stiff interfacing work if you wanted to make it stand up?
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Thanks for the suggestion. I've never used that before. Would you mind explaining how it works? Would it still be fully machine washable?
I just looked it up and it seems to be quite pricey too, is that right?
 
Humfred said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I've never used that before. Would you mind explaining how it works? Would it still be fully machine washable?
I just looked it up and it seems to be quite pricey too, is that right?
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It shouldn't be that expensive , should be much less that your fabric per metre , you can get different types , it might work if you just add a layer between your outer and lining , it would be washable but a trial to test shrinkage etc might be good , or you could use wadding used in quilting sandwiched between ? Foam thin I would think would work too like you suggested , but they look good like a hammock hideaway.
 
tallulahmay said:
It shouldn't be that expensive , should be much less that your fabric per metre , you can get different types , it might work if you just add a layer between your outer and lining , it would be washable but a trial to test shrinkage etc might be good , or you could use wadding used in quilting sandwiched between ? Foam thin I would think would work too like you suggested , but they look good like a hammock hideaway.
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I hadn't thought of trying that, thanks. I think I'm just going to have to experiment with a few different styles and see what works best. My piggies are the best testers. I'll wash them a few times to see if they hold up and stuff. I'll have to make a trip to dunelm tomorrow and see what they have there. Thanks again!
 
That's really lovely! I was only thinking yesterday about tepees for guinea pigs :-)
 
That looks great. Only thing with needing it clipped to cage top is that it wouldn't work so well for those of us with a top opening cage. I think you would need a free standing designed one too. Great to have interchangeable pads. Nice work!
 
@Gimz - I completely agree. I have an open cage and I had to put some grids up to clip it. Would be so much nicer if it stood up by itself. I'm going to try again and will let you all know when I've figured it out :)
 
Do they chew it ? Only I was going to try and make some snuggle sacks and stiffen the opening , wondering if using plastic boning used in corsets is okay ? Maybe that could be used in the seams to make it stand up ,just a thought !
 
@tallulahmay -They haven't chewed it. My pigs aren't big chewers anyway though. My snuggle sacks (I didn't make them, bought of someone from eBay) have plastic boning in the openening (you can see one in the picture above) Seems to work really well and they have held up in the wash really well. So I'd give that a go if I were you.
I suppose that's another way to go with it. So many idea's to try out...
 
That's really good, a clever design with the removable pad. You could sell them with 2 pads and an option to buy extra, my boys would need more! Herbert looks like Peanut, such a cute little face.
 
That looks lovely and looks and sounds really well made too! I think a single option and a bigger double option wouldn't be a bad idea! You're very talented
 
I have been searching for a pattern to try and make one of these as I have a machine and lots of fabric/fleece! My problem is how it would stand up also ! Yours looks fabulous and would you share the pattern? I won't sell them, just try and make for me lol !
 
oh wow, what a great idea! Please let me know if you end up selling them, looks like a brilliant investment for my piggies! You are very talented!
 
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