How to Make a Pumpkin Cat House – A Kbatz Kraft!

How to Make a Pumpkin Cat House – A Kbatz Kraft!

By Kristin Battestella

When doing some of our seasonal Halloween Shopping, I’ve seen several types of fabric cat houses in assorted pumpkin shapes. Some are just orange tent styles and other are more rounded, so I decided to give it a go and make my own sort of insulated cat house. It didn’t come out perfectly like I expected, however I hope this gives you an idea on how you can make something fun and fall inspired for your pet.

First, I had to gather my sewing supplies and cut my fabric. I made a football-shaped pattern to create a dozen ovals, sewing them together to make the outer section of the pumpkin. For the bottom I cut two circles from the orange baby blanket I bought at Goodwill for $4 (Don’t judge me, fertile people without four legged children!) One circle was sewn to the outer sections, then the other was sewn on top and I stuffed between the two with styrofoam to make a little padded base before sewing it closed.

Next I sewed the inner flat wall along the bottom circles’ rim. This left a channel that I could being stuffing with plastic bags – insulation along with heaps of catnip sprinkled inside the sections as I went. I began sewing the top of the inner wall and the outer section top together as I stuffed, adjusting to make the outer sections plump like a pumpkin on the outside while the inside remained flat and smooth. Once I was satisfied with the stuffing I sewed the entire top of the walls closed. Of course, you don’t want your wall to go all the way around – there has to be an opening for the cat, Poe fans!

Finally, I sewed another circle of fabric to the top of the walls and went around with the last of my fabric on top of that. Like the base I stuffed the top before gathered the fabric closed. I glued artificial leaves on top of my seam and added coiled pipe cleaners for whimsical stems and tendrils.

As I said, there were a few places where I was somewhat unhappy with the project, mainly some of my seams in the front that were a little unsightly and the final gather at the top. At first I thought it looked okay to be a little off to one side – a little off center whimsy! However, it just looks…off center.

Of course, you may expect something designed for a pet to get chewed on or messy perhaps, so I figured it doesn’t matter if there are a few less than perfect spots in this a quick weekend project you may only use for a few months out of the year. Unfortunately, my familiar is a very finicky little feline…

He doesn’t like his pumpkin cat house and won’t go in it!