Kitty Halloween Bandannas!

As a part of the month long sew along by Cation designs, 

I have created kitty bandannas for the Halloween holiday! 

Now not only will I be dressed up for trick-or-treater's, but so will Walter and Albert!

I made this bandanna to fit over a normal break away cat collar. I did this so if they get it caught on something, it would break away with the collar. 

Want to have some stylish kitty bandanna's for your best friends? Luckily, I have created a tutorial! Yippee!!! 

My Best Friend Bandanna

This pattern makes one bandanna to fit over a regular break away cat collar. The tutorial is done in a way that will make it easy to size up or down, depending on the size of your cat. It can also be easily sized up for dogs!! 

Materials: 

        ~1 fat quarter of quilting cotton fabric of your choice. You could use a scrap of fabric from your               stash as well. You only need about a 6.5" x 6.5" square. You could need more depending on                       how large your kitty is.   

        ~Thread to match your fabric (or contrast, as I did)

        ~One universal sewing machine needle (meant for quilting cotton)

        ~Scissors or rotary cutter (and cutting mat if you have a rotary cutter!)

        ~Ruler or quilting square (or both!)

        ~Iron and board

        ~Pins 

        ~One break away collar for your kitty

        ~One kitty 

Notes: 

        ~The seam allowance is not standard throughout the project. Please be mindful of your seam                  allowance at each step!

     

Method: 

~To begin, I simply measured the length and width of my cat's collar. 

My cat has a collar that measured 8.5" long and about 1/4" wide. The snap was larger so I went with 1/2" for the width. Using these measurements, I figured out how large my square would have to be to accommodate 8.5". (Luckily, I am a math teacher and know how to use the Pythagorean Theorem!)

To calculate your square dimensions, use the following steps: 

1. Measure your cat's collar length.

2. Divide this length by 1.4 (or if you would like to be more precise, divide by the square root of 2)

3. Add 1" to the resulting length (for the seam allowance). 

    This is the length of the sides of your square.

So for example: 

1. I measured my cat's collar to be 8.5" long. 

2. I divided 8.5 by 1.4 to get ~6. 

3. I added 1 to 6 to get 7. So my square would be 7" x 7". 

   (I made them slightly smaller to accommodate the bow tie on Walter's collar). 

~Using your ruler, measure out and cut a square that fits your dimensions. This is where a quilting square comes in handy! I made two bandannas so I have two squares. :) 

Walter likes to "help".

~Next, using your iron on the steam setting, press your square into a triangle by folding it in half               corner to corner. By pressing your square into submission, you can avoid the use of pins! 

~Using your ruler, measure across the sharp corner the width of your cat's collar plus 1/2". The          pins on the picture below show you the corner you will be measuring. 

Now it's time to sew!
  ~With a 1/4" seam allowance, sew along raw edges, beginning and ending at the pins you put in              place to mark the width of the collar.

~Using one of the two holes you have for the collar, turn your work inside out. I enlisted the help of a chop stick at this point. 

~Now you will have something that looks like this!! Fold the "wings" to the inside of the bandanna so you have a nice straight edge that measures the width of your collar plus 1/2".

~Now once again, were going to press it into submission! 

~Using a 1/8" seam allowance, sew along all edges of the bandanna. Make sure to avoid the opening for the collar at each corner along the flat edge!! 

~To make a pocket for the collar, sew across the flat top with the width of the collar plus 1/4".

~Feed collar into pocket... 

~Place on kitty...

And Enjoy!!!

Feel free to make garments from this pattern or tutorial for personal use or gifts. Please do not sell this pattern or tutorial, or garments made from this pattern, for profit of any kind. Thank you! 

(c) Copyright 2015 Sara Sevald designs.