today i'm sharing how you can make your own cat mask, because it's time for handmade costumes! specifically, the 3rd annual handmade costumes series from The Train to Crazy.
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i'll just confess right here that costumes are one of my least favorite sewing projects. i know, i know... sewists everywhere are busy creating fantastic costumes and they are having so much fun! trust me, i'm wowed and inspired. but i'm also painfully practical (at times). i just don't want to make something that will only be worn once. so, making simple and/or reusable costumes has become my yearly halloween challenge.
the girls have always decided their own costumes, but that isn't to say it happens without a littleconvincing guidance. when Kahlin told me she wanted to be a mushroom, for example, or when Brenna wanted to be princess jasmine but wearing a different outfit (huh?), we decided together that perhaps there was a better costume idea that we would all be happy with.
because i was just not enthused about the idea of morphing pounds of brown felt into a mushroom costume, i asked Kahlin to sketch some other ideas. inspired by this cat and bird print, Super Cat was born!
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what we have here is really two costumes in one. girls dressed as cats...
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we decided on felt masks for the cat portion of the costume, and the great thing about these masks is that they can be made so many ways! (click here to download the cat masks template)
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template includes two different cat masks, each in color and black & white, that you can use to make up your own masks in a few ways.
ready-to-go
supplies needed: paper and scissors
instructions: just print the color version of the mask, cut, and wear!
coloring time
supplies needed: paper, scissors, and crayons
instructions: print the back & white mask template, color, cut, and wear.
(for all versions) add elastic by stapling/gluing/sewing to sides of mask OR you can follow this tutorial from Suburbia Soup to attach your mask to a pair of glasses (genius!).
fun with felt
supplies needed:
one felt sheet each light pink, gray, black, and white
scissors, pen, glue or Pellon® EZ-Steam II tape
(optional) sewing machine and/or needle & thread
instructions:
1. print the black & white mask template and mask outline.
2. use pen to trace templates onto felt. (hint: trace on to the back of felt so that you won't see pen on your finished mask.)
3. cut out individual pieces (ie. nose, ears, whiskers) and mask background (use outline template) from appropriate colors of felt.
4. place pieces on background and glue in place. (optional: tack in place with EZ-Steam tape and stitch either by hand or with sewing machine. whiskers can also be sewn by hand or machine instead of cut from felt.)
5. wear!
should you be interested in turning your cat costume into a Super Cat costume, just add one superhero mask and one cape. my go-to cape tutorial is The Long Thread's Superhero Cape. i've made this cape quite a few times, like here and here, and i can't resist this awesome flashback photo from Kahlin's super-hero seventh birthday.
![super-hero girlies]()
these girls do love a good cape! i think these will get plenty of wear, which satisfies my i-don't-want-to-waste-effort-on-something-that-will-only-be-worn-once rule.
you can check out my previous halloween costumes here: abby cadabby tutorial, last-minute ladybug, tinkerbell pajamas, dorothy and a cheetah.
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happy save the world-ing!
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i'll just confess right here that costumes are one of my least favorite sewing projects. i know, i know... sewists everywhere are busy creating fantastic costumes and they are having so much fun! trust me, i'm wowed and inspired. but i'm also painfully practical (at times). i just don't want to make something that will only be worn once. so, making simple and/or reusable costumes has become my yearly halloween challenge.
the girls have always decided their own costumes, but that isn't to say it happens without a little
because i was just not enthused about the idea of morphing pounds of brown felt into a mushroom costume, i asked Kahlin to sketch some other ideas. inspired by this cat and bird print, Super Cat was born!
what we have here is really two costumes in one. girls dressed as cats...
...dressed as super heroes.
we decided on felt masks for the cat portion of the costume, and the great thing about these masks is that they can be made so many ways! (click here to download the cat masks template)
template includes two different cat masks, each in color and black & white, that you can use to make up your own masks in a few ways.
ready-to-go
supplies needed: paper and scissors
instructions: just print the color version of the mask, cut, and wear!
coloring time
supplies needed: paper, scissors, and crayons
instructions: print the back & white mask template, color, cut, and wear.
(for all versions) add elastic by stapling/gluing/sewing to sides of mask OR you can follow this tutorial from Suburbia Soup to attach your mask to a pair of glasses (genius!).
fun with felt
supplies needed:
one felt sheet each light pink, gray, black, and white
scissors, pen, glue or Pellon® EZ-Steam II tape
(optional) sewing machine and/or needle & thread
instructions:
1. print the black & white mask template and mask outline.
2. use pen to trace templates onto felt. (hint: trace on to the back of felt so that you won't see pen on your finished mask.)
3. cut out individual pieces (ie. nose, ears, whiskers) and mask background (use outline template) from appropriate colors of felt.
4. place pieces on background and glue in place. (optional: tack in place with EZ-Steam tape and stitch either by hand or with sewing machine. whiskers can also be sewn by hand or machine instead of cut from felt.)
5. wear!
should you be interested in turning your cat costume into a Super Cat costume, just add one superhero mask and one cape. my go-to cape tutorial is The Long Thread's Superhero Cape. i've made this cape quite a few times, like here and here, and i can't resist this awesome flashback photo from Kahlin's super-hero seventh birthday.
these girls do love a good cape! i think these will get plenty of wear, which satisfies my i-don't-want-to-waste-effort-on-something-that-will-only-be-worn-once rule.
you can check out my previous halloween costumes here: abby cadabby tutorial, last-minute ladybug, tinkerbell pajamas, dorothy and a cheetah.
happy save the world-ing!
