"You have to wear a bell so I can find you if you run away and hide under a car"

You know, like a cat would.

Since I put together this witch outfit for myself for a Halloween party, and my boyfriend likes it when I dress him up, I wanted to make some sort of matching "costume" for him. We decided on kitty ears and a tail (he also has a collar with a bell on it, so he doesn't get lost of course.)

This isn't my boyfriend, clearly, but he wasn't available when I took the photos and Bria here agreed to help (thanks Bria!).

I used the same pattern for the ears as I use for my animal hats, for example these or this one. They are a layer of fleece, interfacing, and faux fur, sewn together then attached to a headband. For this set I also added little bows. We have a bit of a joke going about having bows on everything.

I free-handed the tail. It's a rectangle with rounded ends, about 24" by 7". There's a belt loop on the end that can also be safety pinned on if you're not wearing a belt.

I wanted to put the tail up on Etsy but without the bow, so I made a second set (It seemed easier than taking the bow off for pictures then sewing it back on...) I also thought the ears could be a little smaller so they stayed on better, and therefore cut down my pattern a little bit.

When I sew the ears onto a headband I try to shape them a little bit. You can see here I also zig-zag across the bottom of them where I flip them right side out. I'm not sure how to do this so it looks neater. It's hidden by the fur when worn, but I still want to find a nicer way to do it. On the tail, I leave the opening to flip it on the length and it gets hidden completely.

I like the idea of making tails that have a different color tip. If I need to make one again for myself, I'll probably make something like that.