Cats, cats, cats .....

As I said in earlier posts I spent Christmas in Kent, where my two little granddaughters have two cats called Coco (the female) and Kiki (the male) who are brother and sister.  When I was down there last spring they were only kittens and it was always Coco who took the initiative; she was the first to venture outside, work out how to operate the cat flap and go out into the big wide world of the garden.  Kiki, the wuss, stood on the doorstep and only ventured onto the patio and had to be pushed through the cat flap!!

I discovered at Christmas that my 9 ("nearly 10, Granny"!) year old grandson is allergic to cats so it was entirely appropriate that the Christmas presents that I made for my granddaughters were 'Cats'!!

Those who know me or follow the blog will know that last year I made the girls these dogs and when a friend asked me if I would like a Sewing World magazine because it had cats in, I jumped at the chance.

I realised straightaway that they had been designed by Helen Rhiannon Gill who Had also designed the dog.  So these were to be the presents for the little girls - sorted!!

As with the dogs I decided to make each one with different fabric - hopefully cats - and I was incredibly lucky when a friend said she had two that I could use.  One was a Laurel Birch design and immediately I knew that this was 'The Cheshire Cat'!

 Heads only!

 

The other fabric was equally exciting and I fell for it straightaway -



This one had to be 'Alley Cat' and the following photos show the fabric in close up

Poor little bird!

He enjoyed that!

There were also mice being eaten and one mouse was holding up a 'Help' sign!!  This was entirely appropriate for a Kent granddaughter as the two kittens are now bringing in all sorts delicious titbits and depositing them on the kitchen floor - worms, dead butterflies, frogs and lately a goldfish!

 

The final cat was going to Kent as well and was called 'Scat Cat' -

He is a comic cat with fishbones and a happy disposition.

These cats were slightly harder to make as I had to ensure that their tails were well sewn on through their 'bottoms' and still look neat!  Luckily I found some eyes in a local haberdashers and they enhance their expression.

 

So Ellie in Cambridge has a Cheshire Cat and her brother does not need to worry about his allergy.  Brilliant and thanks to my friend for giving me two fabrics.

 

Oh, and remember this I made for Ellie's birthday

She wore it on Christmas Day and I have been asked to make another one, exactly the same for L in Kent.  As I only have a pattern for a 7 year old she will have to wait until next January, so I have a year to make it - phew!!