Folk Art Cat Ornament

Hi there! It's Jeanne here and welcome to Day 2 of Joli Paquet's Fall Season of Tutorials. Today I'm going to show you how to make this fun and funky Folk Art Cat Ornament. My DH told me it reminds him of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. I think he may be onto something!

To get started you will need to gather a few supplies:

* Felt in 4 colors - black, white, red and orange

* Fabric glue

*Fiberfill

* Black & white baker's twine - string or ribbon will work as well.

* Embroidery floss in 3 colors - black, red and grey

* 2 small black buttons

* 1 small black bead

* Fabric scissors

* Pinking shears (not shown)

* Needle (not shown)

* Ornament pattern shown below

Right click on the pattern sheet above to enlarge and then print out. Use the templates to cut the ornament parts out of felt.
We'll begin with the base of the ornament. For this you will need to cut 2 identical circles from the orange piece of felt using a picking shear scissors. I placed the template on top of the 2 layers of felt and then cut just outside the outer edge of the template creating 2 circles that are slightly larger than the template.

Next you will need to cut the following:

* 2 eyes from the orange felt

* 1 lip from the red felt

* 1 cat head from the black felt

Glue the eyes and mouth to the cat head using fabric glue.

Sew a black button to the center of each eye using red embroidery floss.

Cut the teeth from white felt. Using black embroidery floss, stitch the teeth to the red lips using a back-stitch horizontally across the middle of the white felt. (Stitch all the way through the red and black felt.) Then repeat this same stitch vertically to create the individual teeth. (Don't worry if the spacing isn't exact, as it adds to the folksiness of the ornament.)
Using 6 strands of grey embroidery floss, make a French knot for a nose. Then make 3 long stitches on both sides of the French knot to create the whiskers.
Using 3 strands of black embroidery floss, attach the cat face to one of the orange circles by stitching along the outer edge of the black cat head using a running stitch.
Cut a strand of baker's twine and tie the two ends into a knot. Thread the looped end of the baker's twine though a needle. Attach the twine to the wrong-side of the orange circle by making one stitch behind the cat's head. (Refer to photo above for proper placement.)
Now place the two orange felt circles on top of one another, right sides out, trying as best as you can to match up the pinked edges. (Make sure the baker's twine loop is on the outside of the ornament.) Stitch the two orange circles together along the outer edge using 6 strands of black embroidery floss, leaving a small opening to stuff the ornament. Using fiberfill, lightly stuff the ornament through the opening. Afterwards finish sewing the ornament closed with the black embroidery floss.

To finish off your ornament, slip a black bead over the baker's twine loop and secure with a little clear-drying glue. And that's it!!! Now you have a funky ornament to hang on a Halloween tree or a cabinet knob or use as an embellishment on a gift or trick-or-treat bag!

Happy Halloween!

xoxo

jeanne