Cat Butt Valentine Banner – FREE PATTERN

I know I risk being known as The Cat Butt Lady with this project, but I just couldn’t resist…

Here’s the backstory.

I was in cat butt Christmas ornament production mode when I saw two of my cat pieces laying side by side on my table. The curls of the tails created kind of a heart shape and I was like, “Ohhhh noooo, now I have to make a cat butt Valentine project!” And so, I give you…

The Cat Butt Valentine Banner!!

Because we all know cats show their love by showing you their very fancy cat butts. And with 5 cats who love us most of the time, we see lots of cat butts in our house.

The pattern is a larger version of the cat butt Christmas ornament, but with a little reshaping at the tail to create the heart shape when the cats are placed side by side.

Materials

Black fabric (or other fabric for the cat bodies) - enough to cut out 2 cats. Each cat is 6” x 14”, so a piece either 6” x 28” or 12” x 14” will be big enough to cut two.
Fusible webbing - same amount as the black fabric
Banner fabric – 2 pieces 16” wide x 20” tall
Fusible fleece – 15” x 19”
Pom pom trim for bottom edge (optional) – 20”
Cat butts - 2 1” pink fabric yo yos or felt circles. Here is a tutorial showing how to make one using the Clover yoyo maker. I used the 30mm size yoyo maker (the green one) for this project. And here is a tutorial showing how to make one without the special yoyo maker.
½” diameter wooden dowel – 17 ¾” long
Yarn or twine to hang the banner
Free pattern

Let's Make It!

Fuse the fusible webbing to the back of the black fabric. Cut out 2 cats, mirror images of each other. Don’t cut the circle out for the cat butt. That’s just a placement guide.
Fuse the fusible fleece to the back of one of your banner pieces. This piece will be the banner front.
Position the cats on the banner front and fuse down. Keep in mind that there will be 1 ½” folded back at the top to make the casing.
Top stitch around the cats, reducing your stitch length as you go around the tight curves.
(Optional) Baste pom pom trim across the bottom of your banner front, with the pom poms facing the top of the banner and the top of the tape hitting just at ½” above the bottom of the fabric.

I used mini pom pom trim, which had a very narrow tape that was hard to hold or pin in place while I basted it down. I ended up gluing it in place before I basted it down with my machine.
Layer the banner back over the banner front, right sides together. Sew around all edges with ½” seam allowance, leaving a hole at the top to turn.
Trim your corners.
Turn the banner right side out and press. Top stitch around the edges of the banner.
Turn 1 ½” of the top edge to the back. Stitch along the edge of the folded piece to create a casing.
Glue the yo yos to the cat butts using the pattern as a placement guide.
Drill holes at either end of your dowel, or use a knife to carve notches in either end.
Thread the dowel through the casing. Tie a length of yarn to the ends to hang.