A DIY unicorn cat hat is the perfect colourful and unique costume for your beloved fur baby. So many of us consider our pets to be just as important as the rest of the family. We love including them and showering them with love and affection. Now that Halloween is right around the corner, why not get them involved with a pet Halloween costume?!
This unicorn pet costume could definitely be adapted for those dog lovers too. You would need to enlarge the template for larger dogs. I had fun making this costume for my kitty Zeus AKA Captain Crank. And he actually didn't seem to mind it either!
Watch the video below. Or you can scroll on further for detailed instructions and pictures if that's more your thing.
SUPPLIES
- Feather trim (approx. 15cm)
- Gold twist rope cord (approx. 110cm)
- White ribbon (2 pieces measuring 24cm each)
- Styrofoam cone (approx 5.5cm or bigger if you can't find a smaller size)
- White felt (an A4 sheet will be plenty)
- Assorted flower embellishments
- Free Cat Hat Template
- Needle + white thread
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Pen
METHOD
STEP # 1 | Cut out your cat hat template
Print out your template. You can use regular copy paper for this. Then cut with scissors, including the ovals for your cat's ears.
Once your paper template is cut, lay it onto your felt, trace around and then cut the felt hat.
STEP #2 | Trim styrofoam cone (optional)
I wasn't able to find a styrofoam cone small enough so I had to trim a rather large one down to size. I cut the length however one thing I would do differently would be to also cut the width. My horn did turn out a little on the wide side, making it look more like a sombrero! I think that a thinner horn would've looked better.
To cut the cone to size I marked a line with a pen then cut it with a Stanley knife. My horn ended up being 5.5cm tall.
STEP #3 | Stitch head seam
When cutting your felt you would've cut a triangle into the top of the cat hat. This is to help the hat round across your cat's head. Pinch the sides of the triangle to hand-stitch together, as shown in the pictures below.
STEP #4 | Stitch ribbon ties
To secure the hat to your cat, you will need to hand stitch a piece of ribbon to each side. The ribbons can then be tied beneath your cat's chin.
STEP #5 | Secure the end of your cord
The beautiful gold cord frays very easily. So first you will need to trim it and then using a glue gun, apply glue to secure the end of the cord. You may need to dab a little with your fingers to ensure the glue adheres to the complete end of the cord.
STEP #6 | Attach cord to your unicorn horn
Once your cord is secured you can begin attaching it to your styrofoam cone. Start by gluing a small amount of adhesive around the base of the cone. Just a little more than enough for 1-2 rows of cord. Attach the end of the cord, holding and wrapping around the cone. You may need to briefly hold the cord to allow it to adhere properly.
Continue adding enough glue for 1-2 rows and wrapping the cord around the cone until you've almost completely covered it.
STEP #7 | Finish attaching cord to the horn and trim
I found this part a little fiddly, particularly with the cord fraying so easily. As you get to the top of the horn, measure by eye where you will need to cut the cord. Trim this and then immediately glue the end to avoid fraying.
Once you have trimmed and sealed the end of the cord, apply your last bit of glue to the top of the horn and attach. Once stuck, use more glue to secure the end of the cord.
STEP #7 | Measuring feathered trim
To attach the feather trim to the cat hat you will need to create a triangle shape as in the picture below. Measure this out against the size of the hat centre and then cut. With your glue gun, secure the triangle shape by dabbing a small amount of glue within each corner.
STEP #8 | Attach feather trim to your cat hat
The feather triangle will now need to sit so that the feathers are pointing upwards. There's not a huge difference between the two but this is to reduce the feathers from bothering your kitty and getting within her line of sight.
Run glue around the triangular seam of the trim, attach and hold to the centre top of your felt hat.
STEP #9 | Trim feathers
Again, to reduce the amount of feathers getting in your cat's face we will trim some of the feathers. In this case, go with less as we can trim more later. For this part, I harnessed my inner hairstylist to point cut into the feathers. This is holding the scissors vertically and cutting into the feathers. This helps to create a softer look without harsh lines as you would get from cutting across the feathers.
My inner hairstylist isn't that great (just ask my son who only had one Covid isolation haircut from mum!). But take it slowly and I'm sure you'll do just fine.
STEP #10 | Attach unicorn horn to felt cat hat
Now things are starting to take shape! All you need to do for this part is to simply apply glue to the base of your unicorn horn and attach to the centre of your feather trim triangle. Hold briefly so that the horn adheres.
STEP #11 | Add the finishing touches to your cat hat costume
Look back over the feathers and trim again if necessary. I wasn't planning on putting any embellishments on my unicorn hat however once it began to look more like a sombrero, I had to improvise!
Trawling through my old scrapbooking supplies, I found some small fabric and paper flower embellishments. I added brads and gems to the centre for some extra colour. Adhere your flower embellishments and then your unicorn cat hat costume is complete!
Pet Halloween costumes are so much fun. It does, however, make you wonder if our pets love these costumes as much as we do?! I think for sure it depends on the temperament of your little cutie. Cats can be hit and miss but I'm happy to report my model did very well.
Zeus is my 13-year-old Himalayan boy. And he is incredibly cranky! He always has been, that's all just part of his charm. He was a little uncertain at first but then with some pats and cuddles he forgot that he was the most colourful and pretty unicorn cat going around.
I'd love to see pics of your adorable pet Halloween costumes! Tag me @avisualmerriment on Instagram or Facebook.
Other article/s you may like:
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34 Spooky Halloween Party Food Ideas for you to Try
Etsy Gift Guide for the Family (including fur babies!)
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