About a dozen years ago, when I was active in 4-H, we had an arts and crafts group, where we made all kinds of fun things. One of the things we made were kitty cats, out of scraps of cloth.

I found this pattern in an old magazine, while recently going through some boxes of things I'd put in storage, and made some more kitty cats. And I decided to try my hand at sewing, something I hadn't done in years (trust me: other than fixing buttons that have popped off, I'm no good with a needle). After enlarging and shrinking the pattern to several different sizes,I found some scraps of fabric and got to work.

I ended up with kitties like these (this is the actual size). If they look a little squished, that's because I scanned them, and the lid's a bit heavy. The ears are a bit strange on these two, because I hadn't quite figured out what I was doing with the stuffing. Also, I was sewing by hand, since our three sewing machines have been "not working" for years.

Nevertheless, I continued making kitty cats until I had a good dozen or so laying around on the table. I decided to gather several of them and put them in a basket, and gave them to my grandmother (who was in the hospital at the time). She thought they were cute; so did most of the nurses and CNAs that came in during the day. I decided to scan in the pattern, and put it on the net to share with other people.

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The image for the pattern is *here*. Right click on it to save, then print it out. This size will make the smaller of the two cats shown above. The directions below are for the smaller cat. Use your printer (or photocopier) to make larger versions, if desired.

For each cat, fold fabric in half along grain, pin pattern to fabric, and cut around edge. Unpin pattern from fabric.

Lightly mark dots for eyes on one of the pieces of fabric. Embroider French knot eyes (see diagram at right) at markings with embroidery floss, using dark-colored floss on light fabrics and light-colored floss on dark fabrics.

Place both cat pieces right sides together and use small stitches and matching thread to machine-stitch in a quarter-inch seam around outer edges, leaving the bottom edges open for stuffing. Trim ears close and seam to 1/8-inch. Clip corners to seam. Turn cat right side out.

Firmly stuff cat with small pieces of stuffing until a quarter inch from opening. Fold in bottom edges 1/4-inch, then bring edges together and hand-sew opening closed.

Tie a 12-inch length of 1/8-inch-wide satin ribbon in a bow around cat's neck. If desired, attach jingle bell onto the ribbon bow.

An idea: making three or four kitties in different colors, and placing them in a little basket. Very cute.