# Simple NO-SEW Hammock Tutorial



## LittleBird

By request, I've put together this tutorial for my simple no-sew hammock. It can be either a regular rectangle style or a corner hammock. Enjoy CatsRatsVeggies and PaigeRose! I wanna see pics of your hammocks when you finish them! 

I made this from fleece but I bet really any fabric would work. 

1) Cut out a doubled piece of fleece in the desired size. For a small corner hammock, make it about 12" wide. For a larger corner hammock, you should go up to about 16" wide.








2) Fold over the fabric into the shape of a triangle to get the length of the fabric you'll need and then cut along edge of the folded fabric.














This is what your fabric should look like after you've cut it.


----------



## Adeliek

Was looking at the other thread and there was a really pretty twisty purple bit on the blue one, how did you do that!?


----------



## LittleBird

Sorry, this is broken up into two posts. I wasn't able to add anymore pictures so I had to convert to using Flickr and my original post wouldn't allow editing so I couldn't continue with it. 

3) Next, choose either contrasting fleece or use the same color, it's up to you. I like to use a different color just because I think it looks nice. Cut two long strips that are at least double the length of the hammock fabric plus about 10". So if your hammock is 12", double that would be 24" and you would cut at least 34" long strips. Make them about an inch wide.
 

4) Then you start at any corner about 1/2 an inch from edge of fabric and use scissors to make a small hole in the fabric through both layers. I like to use my small scissors for this task as they work better than my big scissors. (please don't look at horrible my nails look! I'm overdue for a manicure!) 


 

5) Starting from underneath the fabric, push the end of one of your strips up through the hole you just made in the corner of the fabric. Sometimes it helps to use the point of the scissors to help push it through. 


6) Pull your strip all the way through leaving about 5-6 inches hanging on the end. Then create another hole about 1 1/2 inches from the corner hole and bring the strip up from the bottom and put it through the top of the hole. 


7) Continue punching holes about every 1 1/2 inches and pulling the strip from the bottom and putting in through the top of the hole until you get to the next corner. At the next corner, try to make sure you place your hole as evenly possible in the center of the corner and then keep going down the next side of the hammock doing the same thing. 


8 ) Once you get to the second corner, just leave the tail hanging and pick up your second strip of fabric. The first strip's tail should be hanging downward, so start the second strip by pushing the strip in through the top of the hole and pulling it all the way until just a tail remains. Now you should have a tail hanging from the top and the bottom of that corner. 




9) Repeat the same steps from above with the second strip until you get all the way around the edges of the hammock. When you're done with this part, it should look something like this:


10) Tie the tails on each corner into a knot. At this point, you can choose to keep the tails if you don't have any hooks for hanging, or cut them off. NOTE: Don't cut them yet if you're doing a corner hammock. 


11) Now comes the fun part! Are you going to use this as a corner hammock or a rectangle one? If you plan to use it as a plain rectangle hammock, simply put some shower hooks in each corner and hang in your cage. Or if you don't have any shower hooks, you can cut two more smaller strips and tie them to the corners without tails and tie the hammock up in your cage. Be warned though! Ratties will sometimes chew the fleece strips holding up the hammock and it could fall. If you want to use this as a corner hammock, (which is what I did) all you have to do is fold it in half- the corners without ties together. Then if you haven't already cut the ties, tie the lower half to the upper half just for added stability. (then you can cut the ties) Thread your shower hooks into each of three corners and hang in your cage. Again, if you don't have shower hooks, keep the tails and cut one more strip to tie that third corner together and tie up in your cage. PLEASE NOTE: Amazon has these shower hooks for like $5.00 for a box of 50 and they really come in handy when you're wanting to hang things in your cage. They're very versatile and chew proof! Just go to Amazon and search "shower hooks" and you'll find them.


 

And that's IT! I hope someone out there has found this to be useful! I would love to see pictures of what you all create using this method. Please post them here!


----------



## LittleBird

Adeliek said:


> Was looking at the other thread and there was a really pretty twisty purple bit on the blue one, how did you do that!?


Sorry, I had to break the tutorial into two posts because I was having issues posting pictures. But you can see the rest of it below now and that's how I made the blue one.


----------



## theAfanc

Awesome! I am adicted to buying remnants from Joanns. This is an awesome way to use them!


----------



## LittleBird

theAfanc said:


> Awesome! I am adicted to buying remnants from Joanns. This is an awesome way to use them!


It is! It's perfect! You could do a really cute multi-colored one.


----------



## PaigeRose

Alright, so I'm really awful at cutting straight, I don't have sewing scissors, and all my xactos are too dull to cut fleece! So please excuse the horrendous jagged edges. I didn't have a long enough piece of fleece so I used another type of material but even that was too short... well, I did the best with what I had! It was last minute but a really fun, simple project! I think I'll definitely be making more of these with proper supplies  Thanks so much for the tutorial! 















Lucky was the first to test it out!


----------



## LittleBird

Great job PaigeRose! Did he try to get in the inside of the hammock yet? 

It IS a fun and easy project and as you just proved, can be done with virtually any material! And truly you don't need to worry about jagged edges because once you get strips threaded in and everything put together, those edges aren't show anyway. I'll sometimes lay down a ruler or book and draw a straight line with a pen on the fabric before I cut it which makes it easier to cut a straight line.


----------



## ratsaremylife

Will definetly try this, maybe tomorrow!


----------



## Adeliek

Oh god sorry I'm so impatient! Will definitely be trying this out tomorrow they're so pretty


----------



## Adeliek

Okay I'm all left handed so I got the threading a bit backwards but here's my attempt!


----------



## LittleBird

Adeliek said:


> Okay I'm all left handed so I got the threading a bit backwards but here's my attempt!


It looks perfect! Are you going to fold it in half for a corner hammock or keep it open and use it as a rectangle one? Looks like all you have left to do is to decide how you wanna use it and then either put some hooks in or use the ties to tie it up your cage.


----------



## Adeliek

I think I'm going to keep it as a rectangle  I know they're going to trash it but I'm so proud! I'll swap it for their scramble net later and see if I can get some snaps of them snuggling


----------



## Jessiferatu

Very cool.


----------



## darkiss4428

i so wanna try this


----------



## Adeliek

Yay first ever homemade hammock! Thank you for sharing this method


----------



## LittleBird

Adeliek said:


> Yay first ever homemade hammock! Thank you for sharing this method


Awww That's so awesome! Now that you know how to do it and how easy it is, you can make other hammocks and do them in different sizes or maybe do a corner one next time since rats do love to climb into dark places. That same technique can be used on virtually any size or shape you want to try! Great job and I love seeing your babies lying on it!


----------



## ratsaremylife

Adeliek said:


> Yay first ever homemade hammock! Thank you for sharing this method


 Great job for your first try! I am expecting you'll be making more?


----------



## Adeliek

Definitely going to be making more...back to the fabric shop I go


----------



## Roonel

I'm going to make a tripe hammock this way, I think. I can sew, but it's very time-consuming doing it by hand. So I'll make three different-sized hammocks using this method, then sew them together to make a triple hammock. Thanks for the idea!http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


----------



## LittleBird

Roonel said:


> I'm going to make a tripe hammock this way, I think. I can sew, but it's very time-consuming doing it by hand. So I'll make three different-sized hammocks using this method, then sew them together to make a triple hammock. Thanks for the idea!


That's a great idea! I hadn't thought of that! I can sew as well and make all the hammocks and beds for my girls. But you're right, sewing can be time consuming and doing it like this, you can literally throw it together in an hour. That's what made me think to do it this way in the first place. Plus, when I first got my rats, this style was the first hammock I made them. I was so sure they'd tear it up in a matter of days, I didn't want to spend a lot of time or trouble on it. 

As it turned out, they still have that first hammock and it's their favorite one. I talked about them outgrowing their pink hammock in another thread in the Behavior forum. But they won't give it up and they haven't torn it up.


----------



## nanashi7

I hadn't seen this post but recently made a hammock using this similar method. In the upper right hand you can see a "swing" hammock https://img0.etsystatic.com/037/1/6073018/il_340x270.574170896_pvmw.jpg

I simply cut a square of fabric, put holes in the four corners, gathered said corners in the center and attAched a single hook, then hung low in the cage (if you have a CN, it's perfect to hang on top of a high level or underneath one) so that the "bottom" of this barely touches the floor. It makes what I call a "fleece hut" and is a great hit with my older rats, it's very warm and snuggly.


----------



## LittleBird

nanashi7 said:


> I hadn't seen this post but recently made a hammock using this similar method. In the upper right hand you can see a "swing" hammock https://img0.etsystatic.com/037/1/6073018/il_340x270.574170896_pvmw.jpg
> 
> I simply cut a square of fabric, put holes in the four corners, gathered said corners in the center and attAched a single hook, then hung low in the cage (if you have a CN, it's perfect to hang on top of a high level or underneath one) so that the "bottom" of this barely touches the floor. It makes what I call a "fleece hut" and is a great hit with my older rats, it's very warm and snuggly.


I love that idea too! So simple! And well if the rats chew it up, just make another! Of course, I've made SO many hammocks and beds and snuggle sacks and tunnels, that I'm running out of room in my cage! LOL I love making stuff and I keep thinking up new ideas or seeing things that I wanna try. If I don't stop, there won't be any room for my rats! Hehe!


----------

