Use an Old Sweater to make a Copper Pipe Bed

I have an old sweater that’s definitely seen better day, but our cats love cuddling on it and I couldn’t bear to throw it out. Have you ever had a house full of depressed cats? It’s not pleasant. To keep our purr babies happy, the sweater has to stay. We decided to reuse that old sweater and make the kitties a real cuddle, snuggle copper pipe bed. Copper is in right now right?

 

What you need

To make the copper pipe bed we used

• 4 copper T-pieces
• 4 copper elbows
• 1 copper pipe
• an old sweater (If you don’t have an old sweater, you can use an kind of material that’s soft and kitty friendly).

 

Right, before we get to the copper bed tutorial, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!

How to repurpose a sweater and make a copper pipe bed

Measure the length of the biggest kitty, excluding the tail,  and add 5 cm (about 2″ for my American friends). Merlin is our big boy and is just over 37 cm long. You might remember Merlin? He’s the one that stole the pool noodle bed we made for one of our other fur kids.

 

Anyhoos, cut two pieces of copper pipe using your purr baby as a guide. Ours measure 42 cm (16.5″). Save the offcuts to make these rustic candle holders.

The 42 cm pieces will form the long sides of the copper and sweater bed. We also cut two pieces measuring 33 cm (13″) to form the foot and head of the bed and four smaller pieces of measuring 4 cm (1.5″). These small pieces will be used to join the T-Pieces to the copper elbows. Depending on how high you want the bed to be off the floor cut four legs from the copper pipe.

 

So we have:

• 4 copper T-pieces
• 4 copper elbows
• 2 x 42 cm pieces (long sides of the bed)
• 2 x 33 cm pieces (head and foot of the bed)
• 4 x short 4 cm join bits
• 4 x legs (ours are 15 cm aka 6″ long)

We used this awesome contraption to cut the copper pipes. You can find it at any hardware store. Just ask for a tubing cutter, it’s so easy to use and cuts aluminium, copper, PVC and brass.

 

Assembling The Copper Pipe Bed

To put the copper bed frame together we used Gorilla Glue to join them:

• The legs to the bottom of the T-pieces
• The elbows to the 33 cm (13″) head and foot pieces
• The 4 cm (1.5″) bits to the other side of the elbows

You should end up with something like the picture below.

 

While the glue was drying I could work on the old sweater.

Turning An Old Sweater Into A Mattress

Cut the trimming off the sweater. Lay the sweater face up and fold the sides in by about 10 cm (4 “).

Then push the arms underneath and sew up the folded sides to form a pocket for the long copper pieces to slide through.

 

Try avoid sewing one of your purr babies to the sweater. Merlin’s not quite sure what’s happening to his favorite old sweater. Do you think he’s trying to stop me or help?

 

Oh well, he still has his no-sew bandana pillow ;-) Anyways, when the sewing’s done, the glue should be dry and all that’s left is to put the bed together.

 

Flip the sweater over so the arms are facing up and slip one arm into the other to form a cushion. You can stuff the arms with some batting to make it extra “poofy” and then push the longer copper pipes into the pockets on the sides. Join the ends to the T-piece legs and finish off the frame by pushing in the short head and footer pieces.

 

Use Gorilla glue to glue the frame together if it seems unstable. Our pipes fit really snuggly, except for one of the legs. I think I pushed too hard when I cut one of those little 4 cm pipes.

Do you think Merlin is trying to tell me something :D

 

Out for the count :D Whoooo, whoooo, I think Merlin likes his new, re-purposed old sweater, copper pipe bed. What do you think?

 

If you like the idea of making a copper pipe bed, with an old seater mattress, don’t forget to pin it for later.

Don’t want to go to all that trouble and find the things we used to make a copper pipe bed for your purr baby? We’ve got you covered Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more amazing ideas to share with you ;-)

 

Until next time, hope you have a beautiful, love filled week. May the furry cuddles be many ;-)

Last update on 2026-04-15 / Source Amazon Affiliates