Fleece addicted to fleece

Here u goooo!
The purple Gray is a tunnel and the 2x2.5 pad matches

Awesome how fun! It's all great, I particularly love the wonder woman coat it is super fabulous!!

I keep seeing this thread and figured this would be the perfect place to post this. My non-guinea pig friends did not understand my excitement for the holiday sale at Joanns. I bought all this fleece for under $90!!! I too, have become addicted to fleece

Neat! You have some fleeces in there I haven't seen at my joanns store. Love the mustache fleece! What are you making with all these fun stuff?

arod18007 said:

I keep seeing this thread and figured this would be the perfect place to post this. My non-guinea pig friends did not understand my excitement for the holiday sale at Joanns. I bought all this fleece for under $90!!! I too, have become addicted to fleece

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This thread is making me even more anxious to wait for my online fleece to arrive from Joann's! I got
2 yards plain brown fleece ( for inside cuddle cups and cuddle sacks)
2 yards brown w/ white polka dots ( for a cage liner)
2 yards wiener dogs on blue back ground flannel ( for outside cuddle cups etc)
For a total of 16$ I got free shipping and outrageously cheap prices for black Friday (Thursday) hahaha I cant wait it should be here around thursday

Post some pics!! New fleece is so exciting. Fleece is awesome, turns a gross chore like cage cleaning into something a bit more exciting and fun.

piggielover200 said:

This thread is making me even more anxious to wait for my online fleece to arrive from Joann's! I got
2 yards plain brown fleece ( for inside cuddle cups and cuddle sacks)
2 yards brown w/ white polka dots ( for a cage liner)
2 yards wiener dogs on blue back ground flannel ( for outside cuddle cups etc)
For a total of 16$ I got free shipping and outrageously cheap prices for black Friday (Thursday) hahaha I cant wait it should be here around thursday

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Traysea said:

Neat! You have some fleeces in there I haven't seen at my joanns store. Love the mustache fleece! What are you making with all these fun stuff?

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I noticed every Joann store has different stock on fleece. The one in my town has a huge variety, but the one in a town about 60 miles away has so little. I go back frequently as well because I notice they change their stock fairly often.

The plaid style prints are just for lining the cage. More of the styled ones (mustaches, birds, tan print) are for the outside of cozy sacks and the plain colors are for the insides. I'm pretty excited to get started!!!

I'm so jealous of you all having a place like Joanns to get your fleece at. I had to have a look even though they don't ship to the UK and it just made me so desperate to find a similar UK shop that I'm hunting all over the place for one

My girls are in a pet store (plenty big enough, before you worry!) cage, so even though they have fleece in, getting it to stay in place is a little trickier. I was thinking about making pads similar to the ones containing Uhaul that I see on here so as they're a better fit for my cage.

Any tips on making/washing them?

I've seen some nice fleece patterns in the UK too! If you ever fell in love with a pattern and just HAD to have it, I could mail it over to you. Shipping will cost a fortune but sometimes the heart wants what it wants.

As for the pads...
I make my pads with 2 layers of fleece and 1 layer of uhaul inside so they dry faster. If you want to sew a fully enclosed flat pad then stick with one layer of uhaul so you know it's fully dry inside. You need to prep the fleece by washing it a few times (without fabric softener). It works faster if you use vinegar and dish soap or vinegar and detergent. Both the fleece and uhaul shrink a bit so if you don't prewash expect some shrinking. Don't cut your fleece or uhaul until after you prewash because it shrinks and the uhaul will distort a little. It's easier to cut it to side after you prewash. Adding a few extra inches to compensate and also so that when it is finished you have at least an inch going up the side of the cage helps contain the mess.

How I make my liners:

1. Measure the inside of your cage and add a few inches to compensate for the seam allowance.

2. cut your fleece and uhaul.

3. have the good sides of the fleece facing each other with the uhaul on the bottom. so layer it from the top going down FLEECE/FLEECE/UHAUL

4. pin it all together.

5. Starting in the middle of one side, sew around 3 sides and stop about 6" before you get back to where you started so you have enough room to reach in and turn it right side out. Starting your sewing in the middle of the side will be easier to close up the hole since you won't have to deal with a corner.

6. before you turn it right side out, cut off the excess about 1/4" away from your stitch line all around, except for in front of the hole. keeping the extra fabric where the hole is will help you when you tuck it under and finish it off.

7. turn it right side out.

9. fold the fabric in the hole over and sew up the hole.

10. flatten it out with your hand so it's all even and pretty. Pin it in a few places to tack it and then sew a border stitch inside the pad to keep things from shifting around and distorting.

Princess_Piggie said:

I'm so jealous of you all having a place like Joanns to get your fleece at. I had to have a look even though they don't ship to the UK and it just made me so desperate to find a similar UK shop that I'm hunting all over the place for one

My girls are in a pet store (plenty big enough, before you worry!) cage, so even though they have fleece in, getting it to stay in place is a little trickier. I was thinking about making pads similar to the ones containing Uhaul that I see on here so as they're a better fit for my cage.

Any tips on making/washing them?

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@Traysea that's so lovely of you!

I found a huge fabric warehouse not too far from where I live, so I'm sure they'll have patterned fleece. The stuff my girls are on at the minute is lovely but it's just plain. I also think though it is the 100% polyester fleece which I read on here was the best fleece to buy, it's sort of...fluffy. It's got some fluff to it, which means hay is even more prone to sticking in, so I'd definitely prefer the flat stuff (which a lot of my pyjamas are made out of, hehe.)

That sounds simple enough, I'm pretty handy with a needle since my nan taught me how to make cushions etc when I was younger, shouldn't be too different from that I don't think?

Sorry if I've just completely missed it, but do you also pre wash your uhaul? It's quarter to one in the morning here so I'm pretty drowsy hehe.

I'll have to find the UK equivalent of uhaul because the furniture pads I've found here are all way too small and it would take like 4 to fill my cage!

Pre-washing the uhaul pre shrinks it and also the first couple of washes the water will be blue. It doesn't seem to dye the fleece but it might dye other items in your wash.

I will confess that I don't always pre-wash anything until after I make my pads for two reasons. First, I use a portable washer and spin dryer for my piggy stuff. I have a bad back and my regular washer and dryer is down in my basement, which is also a place I dread going. So I use my tiny counter top portable washer for all my pet laundry but it is low capacity. If I preshrink before I cut to size there is too much material for the machines. If I cut the fabrics and pre wash them they shrink and distort more.

Also, fleece is 58-60" wide off the yard and comes folded in half so that it is about 29-30" wide. Making the width already what I need so I can just cut the length. (I don't typically do different patterns on one pad unless I am short on a pattern and need to make that pattern go further in my themed sets). To compensate for the shrinkage I add an extra couple inches onto the length. Then I can just cut the layer of uhaul, pin and sew. I always add top stitching to my liners so they keep shape and don't distort.

When people ask I tell them to prewash because it makes more sense to do it before, especially if you have never made a pad before. I have done it both ways though. When I am being super lazy I don't pin either, but it comes out better when you do. I don't pin any of my potty pads etc, just the full cage liners.

Princess_Piggie said:

@Traysea that's so lovely of you!

I found a huge fabric warehouse not too far from where I live, so I'm sure they'll have patterned fleece. The stuff my girls are on at the minute is lovely but it's just plain. I also think though it is the 100% polyester fleece which I read on here was the best fleece to buy, it's sort of...fluffy. It's got some fluff to it, which means hay is even more prone to sticking in, so I'd definitely prefer the flat stuff (which a lot of my pyjamas are made out of, hehe.)

That sounds simple enough, I'm pretty handy with a needle since my nan taught me how to make cushions etc when I was younger, shouldn't be too different from that I don't think?

Sorry if I've just completely missed it, but do you also pre wash your uhaul? It's quarter to one in the morning here so I'm pretty drowsy hehe.

I'll have to find the UK equivalent of uhaul because the furniture pads I've found here are all way too small and it would take like 4 to fill my cage!

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piggielover200 said:

This thread is making me even more anxious to wait for my online fleece to arrive from Joann's! I got
2 yards plain brown fleece ( for inside cuddle cups and cuddle sacks)
2 yards brown w/ white polka dots ( for a cage liner)
2 yards wiener dogs on blue back ground flannel ( for outside cuddle cups etc)
For a total of 16$ I got free shipping and outrageously cheap prices for black Friday (Thursday) hahaha I cant wait it should be here around thursday

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Sounds like you got a way better deal than I saw. I only saw fleece on Joann's site for $3/yd (only solids) or for $3.90 and up.
I did get 2 yards for my piggie cage (to make potty pads) and
2 yards for my son's rat cage.
I think that totalled about $17.

Gandalf said:

Sounds like you got a way better deal than I saw. I only saw fleece on Joann's site for $3/yd (only solids) or for $3.90 and up.
I did get 2 yards for my piggie cage (to make potty pads) and
2 yards for my son's rat cage.
I think that totalled about $17.

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The trick is to purchase fleece during sales and use your coupons with your purchases.
They almost always have fleece sales. So keep an eye out on them.

Gandalf said:

Sounds like you got a way better deal than I saw. I only saw fleece on Joann's site for $3/yd (only solids) or for $3.90 and up.
I did get 2 yards for my piggie cage (to make potty pads) and
2 yards for my son's rat cage.
I think that totalled about $17.

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I bought fleece on Thursday. They were $2.99 for solid and pattern blizzard. The prices went up on Black Friday!

MrWhistles said:

The trick is to purchase fleece during sales and use your coupons with your purchases.
They almost always have fleece sales. So keep an eye out on them.

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Yes. That was my gripe. I ordered on the Black Friday sale and used free shipping but still didn't get the deal that piggielover got.

We don't have a Joann's here in Canada, but we do have Len's Mills which has tons of fleece to choose from just need to watch for sales as well...we also have Fabricland but they don't have as much selection...yet I did find a deal on some fleece last month which I am just in the middle of making more liners for the 2x6 cage...phew...it's a lot of work but I just need to reinforce it to keep the shape and I"ll be done, would have been finished yesterday but my bobbin ran out and for the life of me can't figure out how to get it to fill back up...LOL sewing newbie here...

try looking on youtube for a video on how to fill a bobbin for your machine. Might get lucky.

lissie said:

I bought fleece on Thursday. They were $2.99 for solid and pattern blizzard. The prices went up on Black Friday!

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I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I still got their $12.99 fleece for $3.90.

Whipped up two where the wild things are tunnels. Also started working on some ramp liners and another winter raccoon patio liner. Here's a pic of the wild thing tunnels. I made them super plush with thick batting since it's winter time:

Those are cute, Traysea!
I've been wanting to make some of those now that it is getting chilly. I am waiting for my sale fleece to arrive from Joann's.