Pete the Cat Four Groovy Buttons Costume

My kid cries over spilt milk. That's why I love Pete the Cat. This series of children's books has an underlying message of don't sweat the small stuff. The repeating line from the four groovy buttons book is a repeating line in our household as well.

"Did Pete cry? Goodness no! Buttons come and buttons go." 

The four year old has multiple costume parties this year and asked if she could be Pete the Cat for the Halloween party at the library (and Frozen's Anna for the school party and trick-or-treating). Loving the character, I was more than happy to oblige and put this entire costume together for less than $7.

In the Four Groovy Buttons book, Pete wears...
- a yellow shirt with long sleeves and a collar
- four groovy (aka large) buttons: teal, dark blue, green, and red
- Optional red sneakers. Pete is barefoot for most of the book, but the opening page shows him wearing his famous red sneakers. (Which he also wears in several of his other books.)
- Pete has blue fur, a white nose, and yellow eyes.

Our costume....
Yellow cardigan - $5 Walmart
Yellow sunglasses - already owned
Red sneaker shoe slipcovers - 2 sheets of red felt $0.23 each and spool of white ribbon $0.44 Walmart (template to follow)
Blue cat hat - scrap fabric (template to follow)
Four groovy buttons - scrap fabric and Cheerios box

To Make Buttons
Trace and cut four circles from an empty cereal box. Glue teal, blue, green and red fabric to cardboard circles. Paint on button holes with white paint. Attach to shirt with safety pins.

To Make Pete the Cat Shoe slipcovers (for child size foot)
1. Cut two of the following shapes from each sheet of red felt. You will need four total. Fold felt in half hamburger style before cutting to get matching shapes.

2. Cut small holes for shoelaces.

3. Hot glue along back seams only. Also add a small piece of scrap felt to the bottom center.

 

4. Using child's shoe as a sizing guide, attach strap to other side.

 

 

5. Use ribbon to lace shoes in the oh-so-cool (but not very practical) horizontal bar way that Pete does.

 

Blue Pete Hat

If you use polyester or fleece this hat is easy enough for even a beginner like me because it's all straight lines and you can cheat and leave unfinished edges because polyester is a non-fraying material.

 

I am not a sewist -See? I don't even know the correct term!- so I am not even going to attempt a full tutorial on the hat. But I will share my crappy scribbly template sketches - just to give you an idea of what shape to cut your fabric. Don't forget to measure your kid's head! (My kid has a huge head!)

You will need TWO of each piece. I should note that the seams for the top of the hat will be at the sides and the seams for the ear flap pieces will be the center of forehead.

 



*If I were to do it again, I would make the ears a bit smaller and reposition them more medially.

 

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons

 



 

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