Previous Halloween Crafting Posts
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**A quick note before we begin**
All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design, and we share them for purrsonal/home use only.
So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purrposes.
Copyright ©BionicBasil®
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TODAY WE'RE MAKING:
Pumpkin Pouffe with Catnip Leaf Cushions and Catnip Stalk Kicker Toy ~ OH YEAH!
Cute Mini Pumpkin Trimmed Halloween Bandanas
Easy Peasy Pumpkin Collar
First up is the
Pumpkin Pouffe with Catnip Leaves and Catnip Stalk Kicker Toy
What Mew Will Need:
Pumpkin - Orange faux fur - our piece was 1m x 1.5m
Stuffing/wadding - we used the filling from 2 x 18" square cushions we had spare
Leaves - green fabric, wadding, catnip
Stalk - 2 x beige felt squares, wadding, catnip
threads - orange, brown and green
needle, scissors, chalk, tape measure
sewing machine or mew could hand sew if mew wanted
Optional Cat/s ~ Parsley, Smooch and Fudge were today's Craft Room Snoopervisors
TOP TIP
As we've never made a pumpkin before, instead of cutting into the faux fur straight away, we made a toile, aka mock-up of the pumpkin to a: see if the pattern worked and b: check that it was the right size - so if in doubt always make toile out of some old fabric or calico first, as then if it doesn't work mew've not wasted your expensive fabric.
1. Cut 6 x ellipse shape; ours were approx 12" wide by 27" long.
2. Pin edges together and sew each panel in turn. On the last panels to be sewn, leave a 6" - 8" gap to turn right sides out before stuffing.
3. Check size suitability - Parsley was on paw for this step, and he said it was purrfect.
4. Stuff to check the overall shape and finished size.
So now that we're happy with the size, plumpness and dimensions, etc, we took the faux fur to make our pumpkin - mew don't have to make a toile unless mew want a bigger or smaller version than ours and to test it with your pet.
1. to 4. Same steps as above on toile: cut, pin right sides together, sew and repeat with all panels, leaving a gap on the last seam.
5. Turn right sides out.
6. Begin to stuff with the wadding.
7. Shape your pumpkin as you stuff until mew're happy with the desired amount of plumpness. We didn't over-stuff ours as we wanted it to be nicely spongy without being too full. Hand stitch the final part of the seam closed.
8. This is how your finished pumpkin should look.
Optional Catnip Leaf Cushions and Catnip Stalk Kicker Toy
We had a look online as to the shape of a pumpkin leaf and drew straight on the fabric freehand. Our leaves are approximately 9" x 9"
1. We cut 4 pieces of some old green curtain fabric we had in stock from about 1999, but mew could use felt squares or any cotton fabric.
2. & 3. We used the same technique as with our Snuggle Mats to sew the wadding in place: Place the wadding on top and the two green leaves underneath, with right sides together, and stitch all the way around, leaving about a 4" - 5" gap to turn right sides out.
4. Turn right sides out and stuff with as much catnip as mew want, and hand-sew the final part of the seam together. We grow our own organic catnip, so we used loads, as we think more is better!
And mew should now have something that looks like this. Many apologies for the cat fur, crumpledness, drool and teeth marks; we got a little carried away before the P.A. could take a picture - OOPS! MOL!!
Next, we made the stalk.
1. Take your first felt square as modelled by Smooch.
2. Fold the edge over approx 1" and stitch the entire length - on the shorter side of the square - to create a ridge effect.
3. & 4. Repeat until mew have something like this.
5. Fold felt in half, ridge sides together, and draw a stalk shape and sew.
6. Cut excess felt away.
7. Turn the ridged side out.
8. Stuff with catnip and wadding to your desired plumpness.
9. Measure the diameter of the stalk and cut a right-sized circle from the remaining felt sheet, as modelled by Fudge.
10. & 11. Check it fits and hand-stitch all the way around.
12. Mew should now have something that looks like a pumpkin stalk.
After all of that, put it all together mew should now have something that looks like this!
OMC, IT'S FLUFFING EPICALLY EPIC! MOL
Talk about an ALL-IN-ONE solution for snoozing, playing and recreational nip activities; this is beyond purrfection, and let's see who loved it the best! MOL
Well, we think the photo speaks for itself, everypawdy loved it!
Cute Mini Pumpkin Trimmed Halloween Bandanas
What mew will need:
Fabric - we used cat-themed Halloween fat quarters
Mini pom pom trim in orange
Cotton thread; orange and colours to match your fabric
Quick-release collar safety collar
1. This is our fabric; isn't it epic?
2. Cut a triangle-shaped pattern with a straight edge at the top on the sides - this is for the collar to go through. Our pattern dimensions are: 9.5" across the top edge, and from the top to the point at the bottom, it's 4.5", including a 0.5" seam allowance.
3. Cut 2 pieces of each fabric.
4. Fold over and sew a small straight edge with a zigzag stitch. Repeat on all other pieces of fabric, so in our case, we stitched 8 x edges.
5. & 6. Place the right sides together and stitch from the bottom of the zigzag seam to the pointy bit, then back up the other side, finishing at the zigzag stitching. Then sew across the straight top edge, leaving a small gap to turn right sides out, as it would be rather fiddly to try and turn it right side out where the collar holes are.
7. Turn right sides out and press.
8. Mew should now have something that looks like this.
9. & 10. Take your pom pom trim and sew it around the bottom edge.
11. Topstitch across the top straight edge to finish off the seam.
12. Thread your collars through the holes, and mew should now have at least one mega, funky bandana like this.
Don't Fudge and Melvyn look epically EPIC?
**SAFETY NOTE**
Never leave your cat alone wearing a bandanna or clothes of any description.
Easy Peasy Pumpkin Collar
What mew will need:
1 x collar - quick-release safety type is our fav
Some orange pom poms, approx 1"in size
Non-toxic glue and/or glue gun
1. Lay the collar out and see how many pom poms are required.
2. Start glueing pom-poms onto the collar.
3. Continue glueing, leaving the clasp area free.
4. It should now look like an oversized orange caterpillar! MOL
Find a willing kitty model and voila, one pumpkin collar, looking epically epic on our very own Parsley, who was the purrfect choice to wear this fun creation.
Doesn't Parsley look SPOOKTACULAR?
**SAFETY NOTE**
Periodically check for loose pom poms, and don't leave your kitty unattended while wearing them.
And that epic furiends sadly brings us to the end of our third Halloween Rerun.
Until then....
MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Disclaimer:
We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable fur any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned. By using this information, you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.
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