Pete the Cat Costume

I am a librarian and love cats, so a Pete the Cat costume seemed like a perfect fit.

• Blue felt
• Yellow felt
• White felt
• Black felt
• Red felt (optional)
• Scissors/Xacto knife
• Fabric glue
• Stuffing
• 18 gauge wire and wire cutters (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0752645Q3/ref=p...
• Velcro (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAYP8I3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
• Ruler
• Hot glue (optional)
• Thread and sewing needle (optional)
• Snaps (optional)
• Hoodie (optional)

First get the Pete the Cat face template from this website:

http://blog.educationalinsights.com/acting-out-diy...

Next you'll want to cut out each piece and lay it out on the correct felt color.

Blue for face

White for nose

Black for inner part of eyes

Yellow for outer part of eyes

Then either attach the paper to the felt or trace shape onto the felt. Just trace the outside portions of the shape. Then cut the felt to the shape.

Note: If you want to put a string onto the face to create the mask make sure you don't cut off the tabs on the side of the face template. I will be attaching the face in different manner and didn't need the tabs.

Glue the black part of the eyes onto the yellow eyes. Then glue the eyes and nose onto the blue felt. Use whatever glue you'd like. I used fabric glue, but hot glue would also work.

Finally, cut out six strips of black felt to serve as the whiskers. Glue about 1/2" of each strip to the mask. This will create floppy whiskers.

Measure the distance between the eyes of whomever will be wearing the mask. Place a dot for each eye on the mask, then cut an eye hole around each dot.

Congratulations! You now have a Pete the Cat mask.

This step is entirely optional. If you have, or would like to purchase, red Converse style shoes you can. I have some joint issues which severely limit the type of footwear I can wear, so I decided to make these toppers instead.

Put a piece of red felt on the floor and place the foot of the costume wearer on it. Make sure you have some overlap on each side of the foot and trim the felt.

Once you have a rectangle, measure the circumference of the costume wearer's ankle. Cut out a circle of the same size on the felt near one of the ends.

Round out the toe, again making sure you leave enough felt to overlap the foot.

Next, place the felt shoe on top of the white felt and trace the rounded area. This will be the toe cap. Cut the white felt and glue it onto the shoe.

Now we need some laces. Cut some strips of white felt. I used 8 short pieces and 2 long pieces. The long pieces will be twice as long as the short pieces. Lay the short pieces out in whatever way you'd like and glue them down.

Take one of the long pieces, overlap the ends, and glue them together. Repeat with the other long piece. You now have two loops. Glue the ends together to make a figure eight shape. This is your bow. Glue to the top of your laces.

Repeat all these steps to make a second shoe.

You will need a big piece of felt for this. I got a yard, which is too much, but I can always find a use for felt.

First you will need to figure out how wide you want your tail to be. Once you know that, you plug it into the diameter field of this circumference calculator. http://www.onlineconversion.com/circlesolve.htm This will give you the circumference. So if you want a tail that is 2" wide, you will need a piece of felt approximately 6.3" wide.

Once you have a strip of appropriate width, trim it to your desired length.

Now fold it half length wise and either glue the edges together or sew them together. You will need to leave one end opened and glue/sew the other end in a curve. Trim any excess felt.

Turn the tail rightside out, so that your sewn/glued edges are now on the inside of the tail.

Cut a piece of 18 gauge wire the same length of the tail. The wire will help to shape the tail once it's completed.

Stick the wire inside the tail and start stuffing it. You will need something to force the stuffing all the way done the tail. I used a yard stick. Stuff the tail all the way to the top.

Next cut out a circle of felt to attach to the open end of the tail. BEFORE you attach the circle figure out how you're going to attach your tail to the costume. I decided to use velcro. I attached the velcro to the circle with hot glue. Once that dried, I sewed the circle to the tail.

Congrats, you know have a completed tail.

Attach a red heart to shirt/hoodie. (optional)

Attach the other piece of velcro to the hoodie/shirt to where you want to the tail to be attached. You can also just sew the tail onto the hoodie/shirt.

Bend tail into desired shape.

Finally, attach the mask to the hood. I used snaps to make it easy to get the mask on and off. You can also sew the mask onto the hood or, if you kept the tabs from the original template, you can tie the mask on.

Pair with some blue jeans and blue shirt and you're all set!

Thanks for reading my Instructable!