How to make a cat-ear headband

1. Materials & tools

Materials (For two ears)

• Main fabric (felt, heavy cotton) — scraps about 20 cm square each
• Fusible interfacing (to stiffen the ears)
• A ready-made plastic headband
• Craft glue or sewing thread

Tools

• Sewing machine (or needle and thread)
• Fabric marker or pencil
• Ruler and scissors
• Iron
• Pins or clips

2. Make the pattern (auto-generated in Katagami)

With the Katagami pattern tool, you just enter the finished size and it drafts a seam-allowance-included pattern, tiled to print at actual size on Letter or A4.

1. Open the tool
   Open the pattern tool and choose “Accessories” → “Cat-ear headband” from the tabs at the top.
2. Enter the size
   Enter the ear width, ear height and headband length. Presets for cat, bear and rabbit. Change the ear shape freely with width and height.
3. Set the seam allowance
   Use the slider at the bottom (beginners: 1.0–1.5 cm / about 3/8–5/8 in).
4. Print
   Press “Print (actual size)”, then in the print dialog set Scale = 100% and turn “Fit to page” OFF. Check the 50 mm calibration box on the first guide sheet with a ruler.

3. Cutting the fabric

1. Decide the ear shape
   Enter width and height. Tall and narrow reads as a rabbit; rounded reads as a bear.
2. Cut
   Cut four ears (two per ear, front and back) and one headband cover. Fuse interfacing to one side of the ears. Felt can be left with raw edges.

4. Sewing

4-1. Make the ears

1. Put an ear front and back right sides together and sew the two sides, leaving the base open.
2. Trim the seam allowance at the tip, turn out, and push the point out with an awl. Interfacing makes it stand.
3. Make the second ear the same way. In felt, you can simply layer two pieces wrong sides out and edgestitch.

4-2. Cover the headband

1. Fold the cover in half, wrap it around the headband, and stitch close to the edge by machine or by hand (craft glue also works).
2. Fold the ends under to finish.

4-3. Attach the ears

1. Fold the ear base under and stitch each ear a little out to each side of the center (glue also works).
2. Match the spacing and angle of the two ears so they look balanced.

✏️ If the ears will not stand, use a heavier interfacing or fuse two layers. Even two layers of felt will stand up reasonably well on their own.

5. Tips & variations

• Change the animal: long ears for a rabbit, round ears for a bear; add a contrast inner fabric (pink) for a realistic touch.
• Vary the color: black cat, white rabbit, brown bear. Pair with a tail (separate pattern) for a matching set.
• The easiest way: cut two layers of felt, and glue them to the headband. Great for a quick costume for a small child.