Tag: sew

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DIY: Cat Toys To Sew, Knit, Or Crochet

Fun toys for the kitties you know.  Mice, olives, & owls—Oh my!  Just add some catnip to their stuffing and you’ve got some sweet gifts!

Very dapper mice to sew for the discerning feline.  And a great way to upcycle out-of-date menswear hanging in the back of a closet or at your favorite thrift store.   You can hand stitch these or use a machine.  I wouldn’t use beads for eyes—just embroidery floss.  You’ll need:

  • Assorted menswear fabrics (such as wool suiting, cotton shirting, corduroy, and cotton velvet)
  • Iron
  • Fusible webbing
  • Sewing machine and sewing supplies
  • Loop turner
  • Fill
  • Catnip
  • Embroidery floss
  • Embroidery needle

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Festive stuffed green olive to knit for the martini loving cat. (via i-like-lemons)  These are super cute.  These can be left as-is or you can lightly felt them.  You will need:

  • 2yds (1.8m) sport weight or baby weight wool. Mary Jane used Jamieson and Smith 2ply jumper weight #83 dk olive, FC11 bright olive, and #9436 Dale of Norway Baby Ull pale olive (Baby Ull, a superwash yarn, won’t felt much, but it will get fluffier)
  • 1.5 yds (1.4m) Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper weight #125 pimento
  • 1 set dp needles size 2 (3.0mm)
  • catnip
  • 1 crewel embroidery needle

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Soulful owls to crochet for the serious cat.  You can make him just the size you want.  If your cat might eat off the eyes, use yarn instead of safety eyes.  You’ll need:

  • < 25g of scraps of wool, in at least two colors
  • 17mm color safety eyes (x 2)
  • catnip
  • A 3.5mm crochet hook, a little stuffing and a needle and thread
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DIY: Silhouette Pet Portraits Round-Up

                                

(via SilhouetteArt)

A reader asked about tutorials for making silhouette pet portraits, so here you go!  You can do this for any pet, so don’t limit yourself to cats and dogs.  A budgie portrait would be really cute!

The video shows 2 techniques—a higher tech version that uses Adobe Illustrator & a robot cutter and lower tech version that uses tracing paper.

 

Here’s a second tutorial on how to make another version of a silhouette plaque.  Just use your pet’s portrait instead.

 

More ideas on ways to use pet silhouettes from Martha Stewart.  I think the suggestion to have a custom rubber stamp made of your pet’s silhouette is a great idea.  It would also make a nice gift for a pet lover.

 

I love this tote bag tutorial—it’d make a cute pillow too!  I think I’d sew the silhouette rather than glue it though.

 

Larger scale pet silhouettes made from plywood are a unique application.  You’ll need a jigsaw, router, or something similar for this project.

 

This two-toned silhouette portrait is lovely.  You can use all sorts of colors and patterns to create something really nifty!

 

An appliquéd onsey or t-shirt is pretty cute.

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DIY: Valerian Fish Toy

Here’s an easy cat toy project that uses valerian, so if your cat is one of those that doesn’t react to catnip, this might do the trick.  Valerian, like catnip, is an attractant for cats and they respond to it in much the same way.  It’s available in the healthfood section of your grocery store and online.  The tutorial is from Craft Leftovers where you can find heaps of tutorials,  projects, and general cleverness.  (In this project, valerian is being used to make the toy smell wonderful to cats.  It’s not advocating it’s use as a medical herb.)

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DIY: Easy Cooler Coat

Is it toasty where you are?  Some dogs are especially sensitive to heat and others, like my Saffron, often look for shady places on our summer walks.  Your dog doesn’t have to be uncomfortable.

Here’s a great project (from Finland, nifty!) for a DIY version of the cooler coats like the Swamp Cooler, the Keep Cool Coat, or the Cool K-9 Cooling Vest. All of them use evaporative cooling to keep your dog from over-heating, though obviously you shouldn’t rely on it to keep your dog cool in a locked car or anything like that.

Once your DIY Cooler Coat is finished, just soak it in cool water, ring it out lightly, and place it on your dog.

You’ll need:

  • an old towel (try a thrift store if you don’t have one) or terry cloth yardage, amount depends on size of dog
  • seam binder (at least 1.5″ wide)
  • velcro
  • sewing machine
  • thread

The instructions recommend leaving the collar off this pattern when making the Cooler Coat.  They also suggest fitting the velcro closure on the neck before working on the stomach closure.

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DIY: 3 Easy Cat Toys To Sew

If you’re not totally swamped by holiday preparations, you might have time to crank out some of these cuties for gifts.  Here are 3 easy, inexpensive, and fun cat toys to sew.

cattoymouse A mouse tutorial from atinyhouse.  You could skip the ears if you wanted.

 

 

 

cattoyfish copy A fish from Martha.  She made a wand type toy with them by attaching them to a pole.

 

 

 

cattoywrestlesausage A crackly wrestle sausage from Green Little Cat.  A plastic grocery bag provides the crackle.

 

 

 

 

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