This is a simple costume you can create out of things you may already own.  It is great for small children because it is comfortable and it is also a good costume for a cool or cold Halloween night of trick-or-treating. Making the ears and the tail of the cat costume may be the most difficult parts, but can be created without sewing. Here is the basic idea to get you started.

What You Will Need for a Cat or Black Panther

• Matching Sweat Shirt (hooded or regular) and Sweat Pants (Black is the most common color)
• Black face paint or marking pen (eye liner also works well)
• Black Socks (or match your sweat clothes)
• Black, Brown or White Shoes
• Black Ribbon (about 18 inches in length–match your clothes)
• Black felt, Craft Foam or other material to make ears (match your clothes)
• Plastic Head Band
• 3 safety pins or stapler (or you can sew or staple on the ears and tail)
• Scissors

How to Make Cat Costume Ears

Step 1: Cut out two ears large enough to resemble cat ears. The ear should be triangular in shape. Craft foam is pictured here because it is a sturdy material that will stand up on its own to form the ears.

Step 2: Fold the craft foam in half.

Step 3: Cut the foam in half.

Step 4: Cut triangles with the foam folded. Unfolded the ears will be in the shape of a diamond.

NOTE: If you are making a panther costume, the ears of a panther are still in the shape of a triangle, but slightly curved at the top. Simply trim away the top point of the triangle to create a rounded top.

Step 5: Place the ears around the headband and staple the ears together as shown (see Making Mittens Ears Below for more detail).

NOTE: You can also attach the ears to the hood of a sweat shirt or if you do not have a hooded sweat shirt or a black headband you can purchase a set of costume cat ears from a local retailer such as Halloween Express or on line from Shindigz.

How to Make A Cat Costume Tail

Step 6: Create a tail using the black ribbon. If you want a more three dimensional look you can roll up a piece of fabric and glue or sew it in the shape of a tail.

NOTE: The tail should not drag on the ground or weigh too much. This could be a potential tripping hazard as your child goes trick-or-treating.

How to Assemble the Cat Costume

Step 7: Assemble the costume by putting on the pants, shirt and ears. (Apply layers of clothing underneath the outfit if the weather is going to be cold.)

Step 8: Paint a black or pink nose using face paint or eye liner. Apply lines for whiskers and other facial accents.

Step 9:Put on the socks, shoes, and gloves to finish the costume.

NOTE: This process can be simple or as complex as you want. Young children will often do better if the make-up is kept simple and non irritating.

Alternatives: This outfit can be transformed into Mittens from the Disney Pixar hit movie, Bolt (2008) with a few modifications. Simply add white gloves and shoes, and a white tip to the tail. You may also want to add white “fuzzy” material to the chest of the sweat shirt. You can by small remnants from local fabric stores for a fraction of the price and this can be sewn on or simply glued on to the front of the shirt. The left ear of Mittens has a small piece missing, so just add a small triangle cut out of the ear to enhance the look of the costume. You can also add small triangles of pink to the interior of the ears with glue. Mittens nose is pink. You can use heavy blush or lipstick if you don’t have costume makeup.

Making Mittens Ears

Step 1: Cut off small strip of pink craft foam.

Step 2: Cut out triangles to fit in black cat ears.

Step 3: Staple on pink to black ears.

Alternative: Another simple cat idea is to use a hot pink sweat suit and add Cheshire Cat Ears and Tail available at ShinDigz.com to create the purr-fect Cheshire Cat costume. Use costume make up to create the huge devious grin the Alice in Wonderland character is known for.

Creating a cat or black panther costume is simple. Remember to add on glow in the dark accents such as glow bracelets, flash light or light up shoes to prevent accidents. Use caution when crossing streets. This is a great project for young children and it is cost effective. Have fun and be creative when designing your own costumes.

Do you have any suggestions or comments? Happy Halloween!