Craft: Kids’ costumes to sew

Stitch up these fun costumes to keep your little ones entertained

TIME TO MAKE: CAT 3 HOURS LADYBIRD 3 HOURS

Cool Cat YOU WILL NEED

✤ Tracing paper and pencil

✤ 20 x 30cm heavyweight fusible interfacing

✤ 20 x 30cm black felt

✤ 10 x 20cm fusible webbing

✤ 10cm square pale pink felt

✤ 10cm square white felt

✤ White embroidery thread

✤ 40cm of hat elastic

✤ 20 x 25cm white fur fabric, short edges parallel with the pile of the fabric

✤ Black T-shirt

✤ 10 x 55cm rectangle of black fur fabric, long edges parallel with the stroke of the fabric

✤ 56cm of 1.2cm-wide black elastic

✤ 75cm of 2-3mm wire

✤ Strong sticky tape

1 Trace the mask pattern onto folded tracing paper, with the broken line against the fold. Cut out the pattern and trace details on the other half. Open out and draw around it on the smooth side of the interfacing, marking dots and crosses. Fuse to the black felt and cut out.

2 Cut the fusible webbing in half. Trace the ears and nose on the back of one piece and fuse onto pale pink felt. Trace the centre and eyebrows onto the back of the other piece and fuse onto white felt. Cut out, peel off the backing and press in place on the mask.

3 Stitch whiskers between the dots with three strands of embroidery thread. Pierce holes at crosses and insert hat elastic. Check the fit and knot the ends.

4 From the white fur fabric, cut a 15 x 20cm oval for the tummy and a 10cm square for the tail tip. Pin the oval to the T-shirt front, and catch in place at the top, bottom and sides.

5 With right sides facing, stitch the tail tip to one short edge of the black fur tail. Fold in half lengthways, right sides together, then stitch the long edge and across the end of the tip. Turn out.

6 Overlap the elastic ends by 2cm and sew together. Bend 6cm at each end of the wire in a loop and wrap with sticky tape. Insert the wire into the tail. Sew the raw end of the tail to the elastic, catching in the loop of the wire.