How to Make an Anime Cat Wig

Summer is the best time for sewing projects since there are so many conventions during the summer. Kons allow for lots of creativity and your imagination can run wild. With the recent "Alice in Wonderland" movie out, A Cheshire Cat is bound to be a popular costume at Kons and possibly for Halloween too.  I wanted to have a way to quickly do my hair and not have to worry about a lot of pieces to my costume. By combining a wig and cat ears, my problem was solved.

To complete this project you will need a few tools. All colors are up to you so use your imagination and have fun. I liked the contrasting colors of a darker lace on a lighter background.

1 cheap wig
1 yard by at least 8 inches wideof lace
20 inches by 6 inches wide felt
thread
needle
scissors
straight pins
seam ripper
measuring tape
pencil
half circle template 8 inches wide and 4 inches across
brush
hair dryer

Optional:
Sewing machine - makes thing go faster

I do a lot of thrift store hunting for fabrics and other items. The lace is actually a curtain I found for $1.00 in one of the bargin bins. This is where the seam ripper will help you get the most out of fabric finds. Carefully undo any stiching and be sure not to snag the lace.

The template is just a 8 inch wide circle cut in half. You can use scrap paper, tape measure and a pencil to draw and cut it out with scissors. This will let you use it several times instead of having to measuring out each piece.

Next fold your fabric over 3 times to create layers. This will help you cut out 4 pieces at once using the template. With the thin lace I was abe to fold this 5 times without any problem to yeild 6 pieces. Now using straight pins, secure the template to the lace and cut out.

I also found that lace doilies folded in half (like what grandma used for tea cups) makes an excellent  shortcut.

Now using the same paper template, cut out 2 pieces for felt using the same method of folding the fabric to cut out 2 pieces at once.

Next, layer the lace over the felt pieces. Dependng on how much lace you want you can do one layer of lace or more. I went with two layers on mine. Pin fabric together and get ready to sewit all together.

You can hand stitch this or use a sewing machine. A sewing machine will give a variety of stitches to secure any wide holes that may be in the lace.

Sew the lace to the felt using a wide stitch along all of the edges using a 1/4 inch seam. This will make sure things don't move on you.

Next turn the fabric lace side down and fold one side corner of the curved side to the other. Secure with a strait pin strait edge with points toward the edge. Sew along the strait edge.

Now fold in half again and make a stitch about 1/2 inch from the bottom on the folded side and sew 1/4 inch wide to give a curve to the fabric.

You can either use something to hold the wig or put it on your own noggin'.

Using a hair dryer on medium heat with the low setting, straighten out the wig and style. I found this one in the $1.00 bin at the thrift store and it took a while to get it to untangle. Be patient and work from the bottom up if this is the case.

Next, detemine the placement of your ears. Using a mirror will be helpful and mark this on the wig. You can use a straight pin to do this, but be careful not to hurt yourself if you have it on your own head wen marking.

Part the hair as best you can and pin the back of the ears to the wig using straight pins. You will need 2 pins at each point and middle to hold the ear while stitching. Slightly open the front of the ear and pull forward to shape ear.

With a needle an thread attach each ear to the wig.

TA-DA!!! You now have your own Cat Wig.

Try using diffent fabricsand styles of ears to create your own. I can't wait to see what everyone else makes.