Catnip Mouse Toy II

My cats loved the catnip heart toy that I made. I think the best part for them was that it was made from a wash cloth. My cats seem to love towels of any sort (even better when filled with catnip, I'm sure!).

Here is a catnip mouse toy made from the wash cloth. I did the sewing by hand. I couldn't find my pink felt, so no ears for this mouse!

Need:
paper
wash cloth
scissors
marker
needle and thread
pins
filling
catnip

Make a heart template or use this template for the catnip mouse toy (click to make larger).

I cut the washcloth into fourths. You can make the mouse any size.

Trace the template onto the washcloth with the marker. To save cutting time, I folded the template and the washcloth in half.

Cut out the heart and pin the edges together.

Sew the edges together, but leave about two inches open so you can flip the toy right-side out.

Flip the sewn together heart right-side out. Fill with a mixture of filling and catnip. Pin together the open edges. Sew the edges together.

Decorate the mouse. I used the thread to make a nose and used a fabric rope as a tail. You can also add ears and eyes. I wouldn't recommend adding too many details that can be ripped off. I doubt it would be good if your cat ate them!

Towel Catnip Heart Cat Toy

Tess loves towels. Whenever towels are being folded, she's right there and ready to steal one to cuddle. I have a few old towels and wash cloths, so it was time to turn one of those into a toy for Tess! She appreciated it immensely!

Materials Needed:

old towel or wash cloth

paper and pencil (or printer)

scissors

marker

pins

needle and thread

Fiberfil

catnip

First, draw a heart slightly larger than you want the finished toy to be. If you can't draw a heart to your satisfaction, feel free to use the template below! Simply click the image, save to your computer, then resize it before printing.

Cut out the heart template. Trace the heart onto the towel or wash cloth with your marker. Fold or wash cloth in half (or cut out the two hearts separately!). If you fold the material, pin the two layers together to prevent shifting to make cutting easier.

Pin the two heart pieces together along the outside edge.

Sew along the edges, leaving approximately 2 inches open. I decided to hand sew and used a backstitch, but you can use a machine if you want!

Turn the heart right-side out. Stuff the heart with a mixture of Fiberfil and catnip. Pin the open edges together and sew closed.

Present the toy to your very lucky cat!

Catnip Toy: Bag of Feathers

Ginger loves feathers. She will usually pounce on and try to kill anything with feathers. She also loves catnip toys.

Ginger is a lucky cat, because, along with a large amount of scrap fabric, I have a bunch of feathers. I recently decided to make her a "bag of feathers". It only has a few feathers, but it looks like an open bag stuffed with them!

What you need
a piece of fabric that is about twice as long as it is wide
needle and thread
pins
fiberfil stuffing
feathers
catnip
scissors

What you do

With the wrong side facing out, fold the fabric almost in half (leave an inch or two free on one end)  and pin along the sides. Hand sew the two sides together. Turn right side out. You should now have a small bag with a flap that has raw edges.

Make a small hem along the top of the flap. Sew it down.

Fill the bag with a mixture of fiberfil and catnip. Pin the raw edge of the bag down with the edge tucked under. Place some feathers between the pins. Hand sew the bag closed.

You should now have what looks to be an open bag of feathers!

This toy has been inspected and approved by Ginger: (the color is off because I'm still not sure how to use this camera!)

Catnip Mouse Toy

For more cat toy ideas, click here!

I'm not sure if the cats were jealous of the dogs and their cookies or not, but I didn't want to risk it. I made the cats a few cat nip mice just to be safe. They are easy to make and don't leave you standing in the pet toy isle thinking, "Why are these things $3?!" Also, if you are anything like me, you have a box full of scrap fabric that you save and keep insisting you will use one day. If you have a cat, let today be that day.

What you will need: scissors, sewing machine, needle for hand sewing, fabric, matching thread and contrasting thread, yarn or string for tail, fiberfill of some sort, cat nip.

I printed out this tear drop image and used it as a template. (image) It makes a mouse that is 3 1/2 inches long. Feel free to resize it for a larger or smaller mouse!

First, fold the fabric with the wrong side of the fabric out so you can cut two pieces at once. Pin the tear drop template onto the fabric. Cut out the tear drop. Unpin the template and set it aside. (Alternatively, trace the template onto the fabric and cut it out.)

Cut a piece of yarn or string for the tail (I used a leather string). Knot one end. Place the string between the two body pieces with the knot on the inside and a bit of the unknotted end sticking out of the "bottom" of the tear drop shape. Pin the unknotted end to the edge of the body pieces. If you don't pin the tail to the body pieces, your sewing machine made decide to eat it.

Pin the body as shown and stitch the pieces together with matching thread. Be sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of your stitching. I went back over the stitching just to make it stronger. Tip: When you get to the nose point, with the needle down in the fabric, lift the presser foot and rotate the fabric. This will make it easier to retain a point in the nose.

Turn the mouse right side out. Fill with a mixture of fiberfil and cat nip.

Pin the opening together, tucking in the edges. Sew together. You can sew this by hand or with the machine.

With contrasting thread, sew eyes and a nose onto the mouse. I decided it would be better for the mouse to be dead, hence the x'd out eyes. If your cat won't chew off stray threads, leave the ends of the nose threads out for wiskers.

Give the mouse to your cat. Now you can clean up without help from your cat.

Don't worry if your mouse doesn't look perfect; mine was far from perfect (the machine kept eating the fabric). Your cat isn't going to care how the mouse looks, he or she will be too distracted by that amazing cat nip you put inside of it.

This cat toy project has been Ginger tested and Tess approved.