Great-grandmother's cat

Our ancestors played with these or similar animals. Most children's toys were homemade, made from scrap materials. At first, parents gave a “master class” for fun, and then the children made crafts themselves, improving creatively in the process. The handicrafts always turned out to be unique and original. I am sure that, despite the abundance of modern toys, both you and the children will be interested in making such a cat with your own hands according to your great-grandmother’s “recipe”.

You won’t need any special sewing skills, so you can safely start creating a fabric toy.



Let's prepare a square-shaped piece (not necessarily perfectly flat). The color and type of material do not matter. Made from variegated or colorful fabric, the toy will look more fancy.
The size of the material is also not of fundamental importance. The larger the flap, the larger the cat will be. But a small cat looks more elegant. Although some may find it convenient to start tinkering with something big. In this homemade product, the square was 18 x 18 cm.



Fold the fabric diagonally.



We fasten the sides of the triangle with a “forward needle” seam, as shown in the photo.The length of the seam is about two-thirds of the length of the sides.



We turn the triangle inside out, hiding the seams inside.
The body is almost ready. Corner 1 will be the cat's head, corner 2 its tail, the bottom corner, which is not yet sewn up, will be future paws.



We take the body at corner 1 and create ears on the head. Bend the tip (1-1.5 cm) of the corner inward. Fold the fabric so that the seam line runs down the center of the flap and coincides with the back (formerly the hypotenuse).
Now in the middle, as in the photo, make 2-3 tight stitches. Fasten the thread and cut it.



We generously stuff the body with cotton wool (or padding polyester).



We make a small fold on the back of the cat to indicate the curve of the back. To secure the fold, baste it in the middle with a couple of stitches.



Two wax crayons are the paws of a cat. They can be replaced with a couple of pencils, or rather, their remains, sushi chopsticks, or any twigs that are suitable in thickness.



Take one piece of chalk and apply it to the edge of the fabric (the left tip “looks” at the cat’s head). Wrap in fabric (2 tight turns).



Use light stitches to sew the fabric along the entire height of the paw. We carry out the same operation with the second chalk.



We put the crayons together. We mask the unsewn part of the corner by hiding it inside. Using a couple of stitches behind the paws, we connect the layers of fabric.



From the unsewn part of the fabric behind the paws, make a fold transverse to the seam.



Fasten it with a couple of stitches on the right and left.



Great-grandmother's cat is almost ready.



On the muzzle we embroider eyes, a mouth, and create a mustache.



The job took about 20 minutes. I wanted to try to make the cat smaller. From a piece of patterned fabric, the purr turned out to look like a fairy-tale character.