When Chowder was a kitten his favorite things to play with were balled up tin foil, a stuffed mouse that I made for him (pictured below), and ponytail holders.  When we adopted Maxine I wanted to make her a mouse of her own, but try as I may I can’t locate the blog I got the pattern from, and I lost the original when I spilled water on my laptop  (while reading Lost forums, nonetheless) causing its untimely death.

Can you believe this tiny baby would grow to be the hulking beast we know as Chowder?

Maxine has never really cared for Chowder’s mouse anyway–she prefers those compact little catnip mice that slide really well across our hardwood floors.  I recently set out to make a few more, because I’ve discovered it’s good to have several of them around.  At any given time there are three or four stuck under the couch or bed (covered in dust and cat hair, of course) and probably one dropped in my purse or floating in their water bowl.   I’d planned on having this done in time for the April Stash Bust deadline (the 22nd), but things were just way too hectic for that to happen last week.

Anyway, these are really easy to make as long as you know what you’re doing.  I didn’t, and my first few prove it.  Luckily my cats aren’t picky and will play with anything that is remotely shaped like a mouse, smells like catnip, and has a “tail.”

To make these mice you’ll need:

• fairly sturdy cotton fabric (scraps work perfectly)
• something that can be used for a tail (ribbon, broken ponytail holders, braided yarn, etc.)
• dried catnip
• stuffing

I used to wear this tank top a lot despite the fact it was always a little too short.

I started with an old tank top that had been in my pile of worn out clothes that need to be mended or turned into something cooler.  I love this fabric, and I used to wear this tank top all the time despite the fact that it was too short because I thought the fabric was so lovely.  See:

I'm a sucker for a nice floral pattern.

So, much like you would a paper heart for Valentine’s Day, you fold your fabric of choice in half and cut out half a heart shape with the fold down the middle–only don’t cut your V’s quite as deep as I did mine.  It’s really a pain to sew up that way, and your mouse might turn out looking more like a hamster or weasel (cats like to chase these too, however).  You’ll also need something to use for a tail.  For some, I used part of the tank top strap with knots at the ends because I love the two fabrics together.  I also tried a broken ponytail holder (still Chowder’s favorite) and braided yarn.

I learned not to make my V's so deep.

Here’s the deal:  At first I sewed up the front, skipped over the tail, and then sewed the back up.  I used the tail to pull the mouse right side out.  While this was a little easier, it was really hard to make the head look right and not dented, and I had a hard time telling which part went up and which went down.  So, after I messed up the first few (visually, Chowder and Maxine don’t seem to notice a difference), I started tucking the long part of the tail inside and sewing the whole thing up except for the inch or so below the tail.

The white lines are where I did sew. The orange lines are where I should've sewn.

Once sewn up and turned right-side-out, I stuffed the mice.  About halfway through I used a small funnel to add around 1 to 1.5 t of organic catnip, then continued to stuff until they were pretty full.  Then I simply sewed up the bottom with a horizontal line below the tail.  You can add circular ears, embroider some eyes, or whatever else you like.  I still may add some of that stuff, but for now my cats don’t seem to notice they’re missing.

A handful of misshapen mice.

Maxine is very happy with all her new toys.  I feel like a bad mom, but these are the first new toys I’ve bought, made, or received since before we got Maxine (close to a year ago), and I think she was glad to be able to stake her claim on a few.  She’s even been bringing them to bed with her at night, which is pretty cute if you ask me.

If you look closely you can see that her fat little belly is still shaved from when she was spayed a few weeks ago.

A tip about catnip: not all cats are into it, so before you sew too many of these make sure your cat actually cares about catnip.  If the toys sit around or your cats like them but seem to lose interest, try squeezing the catnip (you’ll feel it in there even with all the stuffing) to encourage the release of its smells, oils, etc.

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