I'm coming in late on this thread, but I'm considering doing this for my three cages. The Beaks' cage is enormous and we simply can't keep up with enough newspaper for it. I usually disassemble all the junk mail that comes into the house and we layer the sheets a few deep. Being that the cage floor is about seven feet by three feet, it takes a huge amount of junk mail, all in roughly A3 or tabloid sheets. Madness!
So-oo-oo... do we have a consensus on what the very-best-most-fabulous fabrics are? I doubt I'll be able to find flannel wide enough for the Beaks' cage on account of, it's sold over here in 30" widths. I don't fancy piecing it together because that will put a big, fat, poo-trapping seam in the middle. So I thought maybe some el-cheapo jersey or interlock fabric? I'm afraid of towelling because of the thought of mountainous mega-poos worming their way into the towelling and not being washed out adequately. Maybe canvas? Denim even?
Also, how necessary is the quilt batting? That costs megabux here in Oz. S'pose I used a towelling layer instead of batting and covered one side with (insert useful fabric) and the other with ripstop? That'd be way cheap, wouldn't it?
Also, what about using an el-cheapo vinyl tablecloth as a backing? Would that work? Or even an el-cheapo shower curtain? Suddenly, this whole idea is feeling a lot more attractive to me as I can imagine a much cheaper alternative... What with two Really Big Cages and one Ordinary Big one to keep clean, I'll be up for at least a dozen liners. And I don't have megabux, sadly. Hmmm... Lemme think on this for a bit. If I manage to construct anything worth singing about, I'll post pictures. Everyone else who does it, please also post your pics. April's liners are perfect! We have a high standard to live up to!
PS. Here's how I end off my serging.
1.Always chain off a goodly length of thread at both ends. You want enough tail to be comfortably able to tie a knot in it. Say, four to six inches.
2. After cutting the project free from the serger, gently run your fingers from the fabric out to the end of the chained-off thread tail. This lines the threads up ready to be tied and makes sure there's no slack to ruin the knot you're about to make.
3. Tie a granny knot as close as ever you can to the end of your serging. I keep a big fat tapestry needle (size 18 or 16) near my sergers for this purpose. Use the needle to pull the loop of the knot right down and then pull it as tight as you can. Remove the needle.
4. Now, thread the end of the chained-off tail into the tapestry needle and thread it back through the loops of your serging between the two halves of fabric in the seam allowance. This way, your ending-off is invisible. Make sure you pull the knot into the serging as well. I thread my tails about two inches in, weaving them a bit into the serging to be sure they don't work loose (which they never do).
5. Repeat at the other end of the serging.
Hope this helps? I invented this method when making cuffs for babies' sleeves. There is no way on the Good Lord's earth I can put ribbing cuffs on 'the right way' in those teensy sleeves. So, I attach the cuffs before stitching the sleeve and then stitch the lot in one straight seam. I finish with my knot and weaving and bob's yer uncle.
