Last week, the PTO hosted a read-a-thon and a Dress Like Your Favorite Book Character Day. As an elementary librarian, I thought Pete the Cat was a great idea. I gathered templates online and materials to start creating Pete the Cat and the Four Groovy Buttons.
DIY Pete the Cat and the Four Groovy Buttons Costume
I got all of the materials from Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. Any craft store would do!
Materials:
- Yellow T-Shirt (I got a plain one from Michael’s)
- Blue felt (used to make cat ears headband and the tail)
- Fabric Glue Gun Inserts
- Foam paper or felt (4 different colors for buttons)
- Plain headband
- Yellow foam paper (for glasses)
- Sunglasses (You can use any sunglasses. I bought a cheap pair, but I just used tape for the eyes, so I didn’t ruin them)
- Animal Tail
Step 1: Create your shirt!
Print out button template and trace onto felt or foam board (whichever you chose). Cut out all 4 buttons. Using the fabric glue inserts and glue gun, glue them to your yellow t-shirt.
Here are the fabric glue inserts that I used from Hobby Lobby.
Step 2: Create your Pete the Cat Headband
Using your blue felt, your headband, fabric glue, and cat ear template, now you need to create your headband. Print and cut out your template. Then, trace it onto your blue felt. You want to make sure you have excess felt on the bottom of your cat ears so you that you can wrap it around the headband and glue it together. This helps the ears to stand out. I did not use the headband tab on this template, just the ear portion. Wrap your ears around the headband and glue fabric together. When you are done, cut off any excess fabric around the ears.
Step 3: Make your Sunglasses!
I bought a pair of sunglasses for this, but I only attached the eyes with tape so you can use any sunglasses that you have. I use a Pete the Cat eye outline from this mask template and traced it onto the yellow foam board. Then I created the same shape, but smaller inside to cut out a piece of the eye in order to see! When I was done, I just scotch taped the eyes on to my sunglasses. They were a huge hit with the students and with my toddler!!!
Step 4: Make your Tail!
This was super easy for me because I just used a dinosaur tail that my son already had. I taped down the spikes on the tail and then simply covered it in blue felt using the glue gun and fabric glue.
You’re done!!
That’s it! It was a fairly simple and easy costume to make and it was a big hit with the kids! If you have a pair of high top “pete the cat like” shoes, that would be great for the costume! He’s barefoot in most of this book, but he is wearing shoes on the cover. I happen to have a pair of blue flats that are the same color as Pete the Cat, so that’s what I wore! I also drew on some whiskers. Pete the Cat has a white nose, so next time I will get some white face paint too!
Hope this helped you create your costume! If you have any questions, please comment below!
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