Felines love to play (at least when they aren’t sleeping), so those of us with cats typically end up buying them piles of toys (many of which our cats end up not even touching). Rather than spend money on cat toys your pet may or may not actually play with, have you considered making cat toys yourself?
If you aren’t naturally a crafty person, the thought of making anything by hand may sound impossible, but cat toys generally tend to be fairly simple to put together. Most only require glue (though a few do need a tiny bit of sewing done on them), and many are made of felt material because it’s soft on kitty’s paws. Throw in a dash of catnip to entice your favorite feline to play, and you’ve got yourself a homemade felt cat toy!
Want to know just how easy making your own felt cat toys can be? Well, here’s a list of 13 DIY felt cat toy plans you can make at home today. Plans range from beginner skill level to advanced (but most are on the easier side), and the majority require materials you already have lying around the house.
Whatever type of cat toy your kitty enjoys playing with most, you’ll find a plan below so you can create one all on your own!
The 14 DIY Felt Cat Toys
1. Crafty Lumberjacks Ghost Toy by crafty lumber jacks
| Materials: |
White and black felt, orange embroidery thread, batting, catnip, felt glue, cardstock or template
|
| Tools: | Sewing needle, scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Intermediate |
Halloween will arrive before you know it, and what better way to celebrate with your pet than with this cute ghost toy? You’ll need to do some hand stitching again, but other than that, this toy is a breeze to put together.
Besides the stitching, the most challenging part might be drawing your ghost shape onto the cardstock. If you aren’t great at art, you can easily find a ghostly template online, though. Once you have your outline, you’ll make two ghost shapes, stitch them together, then stuff with catnip and batting. You can use the black felt to add eyes and a mouth.
And you’re all finished! Halloween-themed or not, this toy will be a blast year-round.
2. Dans le Lakehouse Fish Toy
| Materials: | Felt, catnip, thread |
| Tools: | Needle, scissors, sewing machine |
| Difficulty Level: | Advanced |
This person tried making a couple of other cat toys before landing on this felt fish toy as the winner. We’re labeling it as advanced mostly for the use of the sewing machine, but if you can sew, you’ll have no problems making this plan.
You’ll need to cut out a few shapes to put together your fish—the fish body, fins, and eyes—before sewing it together with a combo of hand stitching and the sewing machine. Then, stuff the body with catnip (no stuffing this time), and hand it over to your favorite feline.
Ta-da, a felt cat toy that’s done in minutes!
3. Dream a Little Bigger Easter Bunny Peep Toys
| Materials: |
Craft felt & matching embroidery thread, black embroidery floss, felt marker, catnip, template
|
| Tools: |
Scissors and straight pins OR Cricut Maker and StrongGrip Machine Mat
|
| Difficulty Level: | Intermediate |
You can make this toy with either hand cutting and stitching or a Cricut Maker, so choose your difficulty level! Overall, though, these adorable Peeps are pretty easy to complete.
It’s just a matter of cutting out your bunny shapes and sewing them together with catnip stuffed inside. The biggest issue with this one seems to be making the bunny eyes since they’re so small. So, you can embroider some on, or you can simply do dots with a felt marker, whichever you prefer.
These little guys are perfect to put in your kitty’s Easter basket!
4. Fluttery Feather Cat Toys by Catster
| Materials: | Felt, satin cord, jingle bell, jewelry jump ring |
| Tools: | Scissors, iron |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
Our feline friends love feathers—especially when they’re dangling from something, so the cat can jump around and catch them. That’s what makes this fluttery feather toy an excellent option for your favorite cat. Add a jingle bell to it, and your pet will have days of fun with this one!
This toy is incredibly simple to put together, too. You’ll have to design your own feathery shapes (though you can probably find some templates to trace online if you prefer). Then once these are cut out, you’ll add a bit more leafy detail to them and attach to the cord with a jingle bell.
Easy peasy! And the plan is easy to tweak if you want to turn this into a cat wand or other version of a cat toy.
Do not leave your cat un-attended with this toy as the satin cord and bell could pose a risk especially if they get them off the toy.
5. Dream a Little Bigger Distressed Gingerbread Man Toys
| Materials: |
Felt in tan and other colors, rick rack (optional), matching embroidery thread, catnip, template
|
| Tools: | Scissors, needle, disappearing ink fabric marker |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
Making your pet holiday-themed toys is another popular thing, and these distressed gingerbread man toys will make an adorable and hilarious addition to your cat’s toy collection.
This one comes with a template, so you don’t need to worry about drawing the gingerbread man freehand. Once you’ve traced the template out on felt and cut it out, you can then cut off whatever pieces you want to make them “distressed”—cut off an arm or take a nibble out of one side of the body, etc. Then you get to do the decorating part of your gingerbread man (just don’t use beads or buttons!) before stuffing with catnip and stitching up.
This little guy will make a fun holiday present for your kitty!
6. No Sew Cat Toy by Sensibly Sara
| Materials: | Felt, cotton string, catnip (optional) |
| Tools: | Scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
If sewing really isn’t your thing, then this is the plan for you!
This cat toy couldn’t be simpler to make; you only need to cut out a scrap of felt, fold it and make a few minor cuts along the side, then roll the fleece up tight and tie it with a string. That’s literally all that’s required.
Smoosh the felt into a ball shape on the string, and have fun with your pet!
Don’t leave your cat unattended with a string toy to avoid ingestion.
7. Refillable Catnip Toy from Finding Our Frugal
| Materials: | Felt, velcro, catnip |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun, cookie cutters, pencil, scissors |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
Instead of making a cat toy filled with catnip that you can’t refill once the ‘nip has lost its smell, why not make a refillable toy instead? These are super simple and require no sewing at all. Plus, you can make them in any design you want, so long as you have a cookie cutter in the shape you want.
Yep, cookie cutters are used to shape these toys (just trace), then it’s a touch of cutting and gluing to get the velcro in. You might have to repair these a time or two over the years if the velcro comes loose, but it’s worth it for the fact you can refill them.
Making a few of these should take you less than an hour, which means more ‘nip for your cat to play with sooner rather than later!
8. Rhythms of Play Mouse Plush Toy by rhythms of play
| Materials: |
Mouse sewing pattern (on website), cardstock, embroidery floss, wool or yarn, stuffing, catnip
|
| Tools: |
Sewing scissors, fabric marking tools, large sewing needle, darning needle
|
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
These cute little mice were designed to be sewn with kids or grandkids, so they’re pretty basic to put together. You can fill them up with catnip, though, to make a fun toy for your cat (because what feline won’t love some mice to play with!).
There’s a free mouse pattern on the website for you to use, so your first step is printing it on the cardstock (or tracing it there). Then, you’ll trace the pattern out on your felt—every mouse needs two body pieces and two ears. Finally, comes sewing it up and stuffing it.
Toss a handful to your cats and watch them have a blast!
9. Jack-O-Lantern Catnip Toy from Dream a Little Bigger
| Materials: |
Orange, brown, black, and green felt, orange, brown, and green embroidery floss, SVG files (on website), catnip
|
| Tools: | Scissors, embroidery needle, cricut, masking tape (optional) |
| Difficulty Level: | Intermediate |
You’ll need to subscribe for free to the website to get the pumpkin pattern, but once you have that, this toy isn’t too complicated. And the pumpkins are fun for the fall season (or anytime), especially since the toys have a face on each side—one mean and one friendly.
After you have your template downloaded and all cut out, it’s a matter of sewing the two sides of the pumpkin together (leaving room to stuff with catnip). And though the pumpkin toys might look a bit complicated when you first see them, you’re only sewing the pre-cut orange piece to a green piece for each side, then sticking black felt between them. It’s much easier than you’d think.
Break these fun toys out anytime you and your cat want a hint of fall!
10. Girls Gone Mom Cat Wand
| Materials: | 9” x 12” felt sheet(s), wooden dowel |
| Tools: | Scissors, fabric tape, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
Our feline friends love cat wands about as much as they love feathers and mice, so why not make one yourself in under half an hour? Sure beats buying one, especially since this cat wand only costs roughly $3!
This cat wand doesn’t require sewing at all. You just need to cut felt strips (use one color or many colors, whatever floats your boat), glue them onto your dowel, and tape. It may not be as pretty as a cat wand from the store, but the website claims it holds up much better.
Give your pet something it’ll really love with this one!
11. Junk Food Cat Toys by A Beautiful Mess
| Materials: | Colored felt, colored embroidery thread, catnip |
| Tools: | Fabric scissors, yarn needle |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
Give your kitty a bunch of junk food you wouldn’t normally give them with these toys! Not only are these fun, but they’re a breeze to create.
The website shows you how they did a doughnut and taco, but you can easily design whatever foods you want. These toys don’t require a pattern, just the food shapes you’re going for in a design. Once you have your shapes, you’ll throw on decoration if you want (such as doughnut sprinkles), then sew what you need together and stuff it with catnip.
Now your cat doesn’t need to steal food from your plate anymore!
12. Rainbow Cloud Toy from Orange Bettie
| Materials: |
White felt, rainbow felt, felt or ribbon for loop, stuffing, catnip, crinkly plastic, pattern, thread
|
| Tools: | Fabric scissors, hook and loop tape, needle, glue (optional) |
| Difficulty Level: | Beginner |
This rainbow toy will bring a little color into your favorite feline’s life! There’s barely any sewing required with this one, so it shouldn’t take you long to make.
Once you’ve downloaded the pattern from the website, you’ll tape (or glue) the rainbow pieces of felt to the first cloud piece. Then sew on a loop at the top and the two cloud pieces together, leaving room to fill with stuffing, catnip, and plastic.
Now you have a toy that smells enticing, makes fun noise, and involves long pieces for your cat to drag it around. It’s pretty much perfect!
13. Instructables Conversation Catnip Hearts
| Materials: |
Pastel felt, heavy duty heat’n’bond thermoweb, catnip, batting, thread
|
| Tools: | Pinking shears, needle, iron |
| Difficulty Level: | Advanced |
Don’t celebrate your next Valentine’s Day alone; bring your pet in on the love fest with these adorable conversation hearts!
Now these toys are a little more complicated to make than most of the others on this list, if only for the letters involved. The person who designed this cut out their letters and then made them into iron-on patches with the thermoweb. That seems to be the challenging part of this design, as the rest is cutting out heart shapes and sewing them together with the catnip and batting inside.
You might need some patience for this one, but it’s nice spreading the love around to our pets on Valentine’s or any day of the year!
Final Thoughts
Our kitties love to play with toys, but store-bought ones can add up in cost. So, why not save money and make your own adorable cat toys for your pets? It might seem like hard work, but DIY felt cat toys are much simpler to make than you think. Most involve materials you have lying around the house and only a little time to create. Have fun and happy crafting!
Featured Image Credit: Lukasz Pawel Szczepanski, Shutterstock
- 1 The 14 DIY Felt Cat Toys
- 1.1 1. Crafty Lumberjacks Ghost Toy by crafty lumber jacks
- 1.2 2. Dans le Lakehouse Fish Toy
- 1.3 3. Dream a Little Bigger Easter Bunny Peep Toys
- 1.4 4. Fluttery Feather Cat Toys by Catster
- 1.5 5. Dream a Little Bigger Distressed Gingerbread Man Toys
- 1.6 6. No Sew Cat Toy by Sensibly Sara
- 1.7 7. Refillable Catnip Toy from Finding Our Frugal
- 1.8 8. Rhythms of Play Mouse Plush Toy by rhythms of play
- 1.9 9. Jack-O-Lantern Catnip Toy from Dream a Little Bigger
- 1.10 10. Girls Gone Mom Cat Wand
- 1.11 11. Junk Food Cat Toys by A Beautiful Mess
- 1.12 12. Rainbow Cloud Toy from Orange Bettie
- 1.13 13. Instructables Conversation Catnip Hearts
- 2 Final Thoughts
