For my kitty sidekick, Punk’s, 14th birthday, I made her some southwest inspired catnip toys. Using felt, thread, stuffing, and some very potent catnip I created three different cacti for her to tear apart. The best part is that with so many colors and varieties, you can really get creative and have fun with it!
Materials
- Barrel Cactus Supplies:
- Circle pattern or something to trace around
- Ink pen or chalk
- Scissors
- Green felt
- Green thread
- Organic catnip
- Pillow stuffing
- Yellow felt
- Yellow thread
- Potted Moon Cactus Supplies:
- Circle pattern or something to trace around
- Ink pen or chalk
- Scissors
- Pink felt
- Pink thread
- Green felt
- Green thread
- Brown felt
- Brown thread
- Organic catnip
- Pillow stuffing
- Prickly Cactus Supplies:
- Cactus shape pattern
- Ink pen or chalk
- Scissors
- Green felt
- Green thread
- White thread
- Organic catnip
- Pillow stuffing
How to make it
Step 1: Barrel Cactus Instructions: Start by tracing a circle onto your green felt. Mine was about 5 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut out and sew around the outer edge. Add a small amount of catnip and then stuffing.
Step 2: Pull the thread tight to form it into a ball and add more stuffing as needed.
Step 3: Tie a knot to secure and then run the thread up through the center. Pull it over one edge and then back up the center again.
Step 4: Repeat until you have a pumpkin-like shape with 8 little sections. Secure thread by tying several knots. This is optional, but I placed a small bit of felt where there was still an opening at the bottom. The cats can get a little crazy and I didn’t want them ripping the stuffing out of there.
Step 5: To create the “cactus flower” on top I traced around a spool of thread on the yellow felt and cut out a small circle.
Step 6: I cut small notches around the edges of it to create fringe-like petals.
Step 7: Run yellow thread through the top in the center and stitch the flower on like you would a button onto a shirt.
Step 8: Secure with a knot in the thread and it’s finished!
Step 9: Potted Moon Cactus Instructions: Trace a circle onto your pink felt. Mine was 4 inches in diameter. Cut out and sew around the outer edge, just like you did with the barrel cactus.
Step 10: Add a bit of catnip, then pillow stuffing, and pull the thread tight to gather into a ball.
Step 11: Tie a knot to secure and then run the thread up through the center. Pull it over one edge and then back up the center again.
Step 12: Repeat until you have a pumpkin-like shape with 8 little sections. Secure thread by tying several knots. No need to hide the bottom since it will be attached to the next piece that we’re making.
Step 13: For the body of the cactus, trace out a coffin like shape onto paper and cut out to use as a stencil. Mine was about 2 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches tall. Trace around it on the green felt to make 4 total. Cut them out and sew two pieces together by stitching around the edges, leave the bottom open. Lightly stuff them with catnip and pillow stuffing. Repeat with remaining two shapes.
Step 14: Line up your two little stuffed coffins and sew through both of them down the center.
Step 15: Attach the pink top we made earlier to the top of the body. This is how you’ll fan out the coffin pieces to create a symmetrical body (like a cross) and keep it in place by sewing it to the pink top.
Step 16: For the base I cut out two trapeziums (I knew my elementary school knowledge of geometric shapes would come in handy one day) from the brown felt. Mine were about 3 1/2 inches wide and 2 inches tall. Sew the two together by stitching around the edges and leaving the top open. Add catnip and pillow stuffing. Start stitching the top closed until you just about reach the middle. Plant your cactus about a half inch into the base and stitch into it as you seal the top closed to secure it all together.
Step 17: Prickly Cactus Instructions: Trace a cactus shape (just Google image search some for inspiration) onto a piece of paper and use it as your stencil. Fold a sheet of felt in half and trace cactus shape onto the felt. Cut out two identical shapes.
Step 18: Run a piece of 4 to 5 inch long piece of white thread through a needle, but don’t knot the ends. Stitch down from the top of the cactus shape and come back up, leaving the thread sticking out.
Step 19: Tie the two ends together in a knot twice and snip off excess, leaving about 1/4th of an inch of thread sticking out.
Step 20: Repeat a bazillion times. Seriously.. it was fairly time consuming, but I got through half a season of Penny Dreadful while I worked on it, so it’s all good. You’ll do the same on the other cactus shape as well. Sew the two pieces together, leaving an inch and a half opening so that you can get the catnip and pillow stuffing in. I used the end of an ink pen to push the stuffing into the cactus arms. Finish stitching it closed and secure with several knots.
