Hi there!

This tutorial will show how to create a reinforced beanie snuggle spot for your rats. Of course, you don’t have to reinforce the beanie to make the hat enjoyable; most rats are happy snoozing in anything soft and warm. The reinforcement is nice because it provides a little structure and I find my boys are less prone to…”redesigning” their own spyholes or windows if I provide a few.



Step one – supplies and tools.

Supplies needed:

Fleece hat

Boning – $6.29 at Jo Ann Fabric store

You’ll want a hat that comes with a sewn-in margin as pictured. This will create a tunnel for you to thread the boning through. If no sewn margin exists, you’ll have to fold the hat and sew the boning in place following the techniques in the reinforced tunnel tutorial – a little more difficult!

Boning is a lightweight, machine-washable plastic material meant to provide structure to clothing. You can buy boning material online or at any respectable fabric store.

Tools needed:

Scissors

Needle & thread (optional)

Step two – measure the boning length. The boning plastic will have a natural curl that will create the “cave entrance” effect when sewn into the hat. Think about how high you’d like the finished “cave” entrance to be and cut accordingly. I cut about 10” in this example.

Step three – make a small incision in the hat and thread the boning through the hole. You can choose to sew the opening closed, or leave it open. I chose to leave it unsewn so the boning plastic could easily be removed.

Tada! Completed reinforced beanie snuggle! Affordable, simple, and easy to clean.

As you can see, Newman finds this snuggle spot quite satisfactory.