a pillow for my princess

 several months ago i made a couple of matching dog beds for my beagle and my bassett.  they're brown with flat, white piping and their names are appliqued on the front (though they rarely sleep in "their" bed) and they're kept in the dogs' room, which is attached to our laundry room. 

the dogs are quite happy with them.

so is my youngest daughter.  if i'm doing laundry, there's a 50/50 chance that she's laying on one of the dog beds, rolling around (laughing at me for freaking out) in all the dog hair, drool, blech...

so i needed to make her a giant pillow of her own to roll around (sans dog hair and drool).

yes, i made my toddler a dog bed.

she's pretty happy with it.

(i apologize for the poor quality of the photos; my camera's in the shop at the moment)

i used red & pink michael miller ta dot fabric and white piping i picked up at wal-mart and filled it with an entire 2 lb bag of polyfil. 

from a sewing perspective, it's not the most perfect thing i've ever made - i had a rough time getting the piping sewn in and it shows. 

does anyone have any tips on sewing with piping to make it easier?  i have a cat bed to make (not that the cat will ever use it) and i'd like to add some piping to that as well.