How to sew a house for a cat with your own hands

A do-it-yourself cat house is not only economical, but it also allows you to personalize the layout to your cat’s tastes and the style of your house. The process can be enjoyable and rewarding, from picking the perfect fabrics to incorporating playful elements.

This post will walk you through the process of making a hand-sewn cat house. The instructions are simple to understand and follow, so it won’t take long for your cat to have a cozy spot to curl up—whether you’re a novice or seasoned DIYer.

A satisfying do-it-yourself project that doesn’t require expert sewing abilities is making a warm and inviting home for your cat. You can make a chic and cozy area where your cat can unwind and feel safe with just a few basic supplies and techniques. This post will walk you through the steps, providing advice on selecting the appropriate fabric, cutting patterns, and putting everything together to create the ideal small cat retreat.

Important points

The layout of the house and its installation location should be selected separately, keeping the pet’s personality traits in mind. Male and female cats have distinct priorities. Generally speaking, cats like closed homes that are elevated. The genetic duty of safeguarding potential progeny is to blame for this.

Large, soft houses with two entrances are more likely to be preferred by cats, who are not particularly troubled by these issues.

To build a house, one can use a variety of materials, including cardboard, wood, plastic, felt, and fabric.

Synthetic padding, foam rubber, and other fillers are used for reinforcement and insulation. Let’s examine the construction of cat houses in more detail.

Cat tent from an old T-shirt

Before building a cat a house, you must:

• a T-shirt, preferably made of thick knitwear;
• flexible and durable wire Ø 4…5 mm;
• a sheet of thick cardboard;
• wide tape;
• pins, needle, thread;
• pliers, awl, nippers.

Step-by-step master class: how to sew an original house for a cat

We create wire arcs that resemble semicircles; these will serve as the support posts for our design’s frame. Each semicircle’s ends should be spaced apart by an amount equal to the cardboard sheet’s diagonal. The future hostess should find the height comfortable.

We drill holes for the wire in the cardboard’s corners. The distance between the axes that go through the middle of the holes and the cardboard’s edges should be 10 mm. puncture holes big enough to keep the wire firmly in place and prevent it from slipping out.

Using electrical tape or tape, join the wire arcs together, making sure they are perpendicular to one another.

Place the frame inside the tent’s cardboard base.

Bend the wire ends beneath the cardboard.

Cover the sharp edges of the wire with electrical or sealing tape to keep it safe.

Verify the structure’s symmetry, strength, and stability.

Put the cardboard-supported frame inside the T-shirt. Since the neckline serves as the cat’s entryway in this scenario, position it at a comfortable height for them.

Tuck the extra T-shirt material beneath the cardboard, secure with pins, and stitch. You can either just lay fabric in multiple layers or sew a soft mattress inside.

The feline shelter is prepared!

A house for a cat with walls reinforced with foam rubber

Your pet will be warm and comfortable in such a home.

For the task at hand, you will require:

• fabric;
• sheet foam;
• faux fur;
• sewing tool.

Step-by-step description

Pattern construction

Make a line that is horizontal. On it, draw two circles with a 20 cm radius. Ten centimeters separate the centers. Along the upper and lower limits of the diameters, draw a tangent line. For the bottom of the house, we now have a pattern.

Draw two additional semicircles with a radius of 30 cm from the same centers, and join them with straight segments. This will serve as the house’s roof base. Draw 45-degree straight lines on both sides of the horizontal from the center of each arc. We construct cutouts symmetrically from them; see drawing.

Using a cutout, we create the side pattern as a 20 by 150 cm rectangle as shown in the drawing.

Mark the pieces and cut the rubber foam out.

Assemble the building, attaching the roof and side pieces with screws on separate occasions.

We cut out the side with the bottom and the sheathing of the house’s roof using the same patterns. We use fur for the interior lining and fabric for the exterior. Don’t forget to allow for 15 mm when cutting.

We sheathe the house separately, starting with the roof. We "finish build" the cat house by attaching a roof to the wall and hand-stitching it in place.

A cat house made of foam rubber. Option 2: video master class

Cat wigwam

To create this straightforward design, you’ll need:

• upholstery fabric;
• cardboard for the walls and bottom;
• sheet foam rubber or synthetic padding for insulation;
• furniture stapler;
• threads, needles.

How to sew a soft house

The house is designed in the shape of a 45-centimeter square. On each side, add triangles with equal sides. One of them has a 20 cm-diameter entrance hole. Cats tend to favor circular windows or doors. However, you can adjust the window’s size and shape to suit your cat’s preferences.

The teepee’s cardboard base can be constructed with separate panels or as a solid piece.

A house assembled from several parts

We remove every component from the insulation. You can make the bottom of such blanks softer by cutting out multiples. Furthermore, we advise creating a distinct, washable set of removable bedding.

Using foam rubber and a stapler, we insulate the panels. Alternatively, you could just use thick threads to sew the insulation on.

We cover the inner surfaces of the walls with cozy cloth.

We use sturdy threads to stitch the house’s walls together.

We fold the side panels with their right sides facing each other and sew the seams at the sheathing joints. Gently tuck in the entrance’s cuts and stitch. Bias tape can be used to process the cuts of this opening if preferred.

Another option is to sheathe each house wall independently before joining them to form a single structure. There are a variety of ways to join the walls, including using Velcro or ribbons (sew a narrow ribbon to the top and bottom of each wall). Using a decorative seam to connect the walls through the top could be an intriguing alternative.

The bottom should have a zipper sewn all the way around; this will make cleaning the house much easier.

Additionally, we cover the bottom with fabric and insulate it with foam rubber. The second zipper tape is sewn around the bottom perimeter of the design if it is to be detachable.

A house made of one piece

If a house is constructed entirely of one piece, the seams at the wall joints must be made external. However, this will only make the cat teepee more unique.

Following the pattern, we cut out the inner and outer lining details. It is preferable to create the foam rubber bottom and walls as separate components. The foam rubber pieces with tiny gaps (equal to the thickness of the foam rubber) are placed on the incorrect side of the inner lining that has been cut out and secured with pins. Every component is sewn around the edges. In order for the walls to fit together flawlessly and without overlapping with the bottom when they are raised, the spaces between the pieces must be left.

We handle the entry window cuts in the same way that we would sew the first teepee.

After that, take out the fastening pins and put the entire framework together.

Place the cardboard base on the back of the outer lining, then the inner lining with the sewn-on foam rubber (insulation down) on top of it.

Attach the components with pins. Stitch along the sides and the outside of the square base. Cover the outside corners. It is possible to manually sew the square’s perimeter seam. Elevate the walls and attach them using a decorative hand stitch.

A cat house made of a blanket from Fix Price: video master class

A felt house

A house like that is simple and quick to sew together. A cozy pillow is provided for sleeping in.

To construct a house, you must take:

• dense felt, 4 mm thick – with a width of 0.8 m, you will need 1.0 m;
• fabric for sewing a pillowcase – 0.4 m by 0.8 m;
• white fabric scraps for the ear;
• ready-made red piping or fabric for making it;
• cord or ribbon for the tail, feathers;
• filling for the pillow;
• threads, sewing tool.

How to make a house for a cat with your own hands: a master class on sewing

Let’s begin by creating a pattern. It measures 35 by 38 cm in total.

A = 38 cm, B = 35 cm, F = 25 cm, C = 5 cm, E = 20 cm, and D = 18 cm are the line lengths.

We have two of these sections to cut out.

We made an opening on one of them.

We use the following drawing as a guide to create a pattern for the side walls.

A = 35 cm, B = 38 cm, F = 25 cm, C = 8 cm, and D = 5 cm are the line lengths.

We use a convex curve to create the side line, as shown in the drawing. The paper should be folded and aligned when creating a pattern along line A.

The completed patterns are laid out on the felt and secured with pins. We used 6 mm seam allowances when cutting out.

We can draw ears any size up to 9 cm in height. We used felt and white fabric to cut out the details.

We use piping to neaten the edges of the white details.

The inner sections of the ears are sewn to the felt.

We stitch the back wall and the central detail together using vertical seams.

The front wall is then sewn.

Cut out the lower portion by marking it with a template, like a house. We affix a pin. We verify that the design complies with the pattern.

We sew on the bottom if there is no need for adjustment.

Two blanks were cut out for the pillow. We lay them flat and sew on three sides.

We insert filler into them after turning them inside out.

The exposed side is sewn up.

We create a tail out of feathers and cord for a cat’s amusement. On the rear of the house, we sew it. The pet-friendly living area is prepared!

DIY cat house: video master class

House made of tourist foam mat and fleece

To construct a house, you must take:

• tourist foam mat, can be used;
• fleece for upholstery;
• synthetic padding for floor insulation;
• threads, sewing tool.

How to sew a house for a cat with your own hands

We create house part patterns based on our individual sizes.

We remove the mat’s bottom, roof, and walls.

Next, cut out identical pieces from fleece, making sure to cut two copies and allow for seams.

We use large hand stitches to sew the fleece parts together. We also added synthetic padding to the bottom portion so that the home owner would have softer sleep.

The front portion with the window is sewn along the inside first. Using a standard hand stitch, we cut the fleece almost to the edge of the window and sew it in place. Next, we seal it using the outer part’s allowance.

Next, we stitch the exterior of the cat house’s front wall. In this instance, we stretch the allowances by folding them inside the window’s perimeter.

Using needles, we secure the pre-wrapped fabric within the home.

See the image below for a view of the interior of the front wall.

We leave one seam open when we sew the parts of the house with the wrong sides out.

The last seam is sewn by hand. The basting threads are taken out.

Step	Description
1. Gather materials	Get fabric, stuffing, cardboard, thread, and sewing tools.
2. Prepare patterns	Cut fabric pieces for walls, roof, and base following your design.
3. Assemble the structure	Sew fabric pieces together, insert cardboard for stability.
4. Add stuffing	Fill the house walls and roof with soft stuffing for comfort.
5. Sew final edges	Secure the open edges neatly to complete the cat house.

Building a comfortable cat house by hand is a fun and fulfilling project. You can make your pet’s room fashionable and comfortable with careful fabric selection, cutting, and sewing techniques.

Beginners can easily complete the process because it doesn’t call for expensive materials or sophisticated skills. Moreover, you can match the design to the rest of your home’s decor and accommodate your cat’s preferences by personalizing it.

You can give your cat a unique space they will adore and experience the joy of creating something by hand with a little imagination and work.

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