Zombie Catnip Toy

Whenever I walk into a Petsmart or Petco, the cat toys are ridiculously cute. Pink feathered birds, blue mice with little red noses... not exactly my style. So when I saw this post from DreamALittleBigger for zombie catnip toys, I knew I wanted to make one. Now I don't have a sewing machine so I sewed it all by hand, which does make it take a little longer but you can definitely conquer this project.

So to get started, you'll need:

1. Green, pink, white, and black felt
2. Corresponding thread and a needle (if sewing by hand)
3. Catnip
4. Scissors
5. (optional) A marker


First, create your zombie body template. I drew mine by hand and have uploaded the pdf here, to save you some time Otherwise, create your own, cut it out, and trace around it on the green felt. Cut out two bodies (one for the front and one for the back).


Put the two bodies on top of each other and cut off whatever body parts you like. Be creative! Cut off a leg, part of the head, maybe some of the insides (but only cut the front body, in that case). It doesn't have to be perfect because, after all, it is a zombie.




 I decided to go with the original's and show the zombie's intestines. To do that, cut out a light pink piece of felt and using your red thread, stitch in the lines of the intestines. Once you're done, sew the pink felt to the green piece of felt that has a hole in it. Don't worry if the back looks like a mess because it will be hidden.



I decided to add some exposed brain so I did the same thing to the brains as I did with the intestines. Small piece of pink felt, red thread for the lines, and sewed to the head of the green piece of felt. I also added an eyeball, a line under the eye, and an X for the missing eyeball, just to give our little guy some character. And don't forget the mouth!



Once all the pieces of your zombie are in place, do a blanket stitch around the sides (if you're not sure how to do one, I walk through the steps in my "How to Make Felt Booties" post). Be sure to leave a 1-2" opening to pour in the catnip. Use a funnel or use your fingers to push the catnip to all the corners of the zombie. I decided to have the opening be the head so I could use my finger to push the catnip through the extremities.





One word of caution, if I may.... the thicker the felt, the better. The reason being, if you overstuff your toy (like I did), your cat may or may not chew a hole through it, which will require some repair. This happened about 15 seconds after I gave him the toy...

Other than that, you're all set! Your little zombie catnip toy is ready to be devoured!

Now isn't this so much cooler than a stuffed purple mouse? My thoughts exactly. 

WARNING: Your cat may or may not act like a zombie wanting brains. Batman was first curious, then ravenous, then paranoid.

TOTAL COSTS: About $6.50

$.33/color of felt at Michael's

$4.99 for catnip at Vons

Thread and needle on hand

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: About an hour and a half

20 minutes to make the template, trace, and cut out felt

20 minutes to make the intestines

10 minutes to sew them to the body

10 minutes to make the brains

5 minutes to make the eyes

15 minutes to sew the body

15 minutes to fill the body with catnip and sew together

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very hard): 3 out of 5

If you're not good at sewing (like me) you may find this more difficult than if you actually had sewing skills or better yet, a sewing machine. However, it's a zombie, so if the stitching isn't perfect, that'll just add to the zombie's character!