SANTA CAT COAT

I have made some crochet kitty and doggy clothing before, and today I’m making a tiny little crochet Santa inspired coat for a kitty cat and I've made a little crochet Santa inspired cap to match here .. so yet again ho  ho ho.. meow! Thank you for joining me.

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Materials used : Today I’ve used about 70 gms of our lovely Indian Oswal Cashmilon acrylic yarn with a 3 mm crochet hook ; a little embroidery thread ; embroidery needle ; sewing needle ; fabric glue to seal ends ; crochet stitch markers ; beads n more ; buttons

For Indians : You could use Anchor , Red rose , 4-ply knitting cotton , or unbranded knitting cotton or White Rose or bamboo knitting cotton , Milk cotton ; Silk yarns as well as Vardhaman acrylic yarns ; Baby soft acrylic yarn , Ganga Spectrum as well

General yarn info : The yarn used today is not specific to this pattern.

You can use any yarn with a suitable hook to make this project to any size.  

International yarns :  Among the international yarns I have used in this thickness, I’d suggest Aunt Lydia Cotton 10, Aunt Lydia Bamboo-Viscose 10, DMC Petra, Sullivans knitting cotton (Australia), Milford Soft, Hilaza Rustica Eclat , Alize cotton yarn and Alize bamboo yarn , Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn, Caron Simply Soft , Bernat Softee chunky.

Skill level : Easy to intermediate

Stitches used :

Starting slip knot :  https://youtu.be/lJcqsVcs8cw 

Starting slip knot 1 or the Sloppy Slip knot :  https://youtu.be/YfC7KmGpifs 

How to change colors seamlessly : https://youtu.be/fRzSBja9jno 

Magic circle :  https://youtu.be/ISC39yOqWro 

What is a slip stitch : https://youtu.be/weB3QNbA8Iw

Single Crochet : Sc : yo, insert hk into st ; yo (2 lps on hk); yo, draw through both lps.  One sc made.  Check out the video at https://youtu.be/ghACqBpA-3k

First stitch for Single Crochet : This is how I like to start my row of sc. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/6pVYRfsf4_M 

What is a chain stitch ?  https://youtu.be/pXx5ukBjKkY

Instructions using U.S terminology

Please note that I start all my rows with a ch 1, turning chain for ease.

Please check the top of this blog for easy video tutorials on all stitches used in today's pattern. 

This is a general write up.  As always I suggest that you read through all these notes before you pick up your hook.  Depending on the size you are making this coat, you may need to work out a set of row counts for yourself.. so pen in hand, let’s start.

For your coat, you will need the following measurements – unless you have the cat on hand to be a ready mannequin for each check ;)

1)  Length of coat (measure from neck to as long as you want along back of cat)

2)  Round neck (around neck of cat)

3)  Round waist / chest

4)  Arm hole (around top of front paws) – also check how much lower from the neck you will need to work this opening.. or how much down the back.

5)  Remember the ‘front’ of the coat will go under the cat.. the back of the coat will be draped across the back.

We start with around the neck and work side to side making a rectangle that is just slightly under the length of coat.  The rectangle is worked all in red.

We will work in a small armhole opening as we work the rectangle - and work in a sleeve later.

After we are done with our rectangle in red, we will work in the white piping all around.  Remember that one side (of the front) needs to have button holes – so get your buttons ready before you come to this part.
We will then return to that armhole and work in a small sleeve.

Foundation Single Crochet : fsc : https://youtu.be/mcT85fwh4mA  

Start (using red yarn) : 

with as many fsc as needed for the round neck of your cat.  Turn.

Half Double Crochet : Hdc :  yo, insert hk into st ; yo (3 lps on hk) ; 

yo, draw through all 3 lps.  One hdc made.  

Check out the video at https://youtu.be/sDiELJdB2Dg

Chainless start for Half Double Crochet : I dislike the ch-2 start, and this is what I do to start my row of hdc. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/lWXpl1KdbZ8 

Row 1 : (using red yarn) : 

hdc in the 1^st fsc and in each fsc till end.  Turn.

Row 2 : (using red yarn) : 

hdc in the 1^st 2 hdc ;

(ch 1, sk next hdc, hdc in the next hdc) ;

rep (to) till the last 2 hdc ; hdc in the last 2 hdc.  Turn.

Row 3 : (using red yarn) : 

hdc in the 1^st 2 hdc ;

(hdc in the next ch-1 sp ; hdc in the next hdc) ;

rep (to) till the last 2 hdc ; hdc in the last 2 hdc.  Turn.

Rep Rows 2 & 3 till you reach just about midway down your coat ; ending with a Row 2.

So say you are making a coat of 8”, you will work in red till say 3.5” and then we will work the black belt.

How to change colors seamlessly :  https://youtu.be/fRzSBja9jno 

Black belt rows : The black belt is worked in all hdc all through.

You will work two rows for the belt.

You will then switch back to red yarn.

Armhole opening : We will work an opening for the armhole, and return later to work in the sleeve.

So check your notes for how large an armhole you need, and you will need to skip some sts to get that opening.

So say you need an armhole opening of 7”, in your 1^st row for the armhole, you will skip as many sts as required to give you 3.5”.

How do you decide where your armhole comes in ?

Check your measurements!

So for this opening, you will work per pattern from the front till you reach the first front paw, you will then start skipping sts, and work in as many chain as the number of sts you are skipping.  So say you are skipping 12 sts, you will work in 12 chain, and then resume the pattern till you reach the 2^nd paw.  For the 2^nd paw you will once again sk the same number of sts you have skipped first time around.

In the following row, you need to fill the sts back in. 

So once again, working per pattern, you will work 12 sts in the ch-12 sp (per my earlier suggestion.  Note that this is not the exact number of sts that may work for your cat!)

Once you have finished these two rows, you are back to working the pattern again.  So once again rep Rows 2 & 3 till you are at just about the length needed for your coat.  We will work the last 2 rows in white.

Border white rows : 

We work 2 rows for the border in either hdc or sc all through.

Fasten off.

You now have a rectangle in red, black and white. 

We need to work on the front panel – so re-attach your yarn and work 2 – 3 rows in hdc or sc (depending on how large a button you are using) all the way up and down that front side.

Remember that one side has buttons and one side has button holes.

For the button hole : 

All you do is mark where you want your button holes.. at those points, you skip 1 – 2 sts (depending on how large a button you are using – I skipped 2 for my 0.5” button).  On the next row working back down, you will work 2 sts in each of the ch-2 sps that you have worked.. Remember if you skip only 1 st and have worked only ch-1, you will work only 1 st in this ch-1 sp.  Got it?

Sleeve : 

Re-attach your red yarn to any st along the armhole opening.  Work sc all around evenly.  The number of sts you work does not matter but write it down so you work the same number for the other armhole.

Work an sc in each sc all around for 2 or 3 rows using red.

For the last 2 rows, work an sc in each sc all around using white.

Fasten off.

Repeat all of this for the other sleeve too.

Collar : (Using white) :

Re-attach your white yarn to the top front lapel and work an sc all the way down the top row.

Single crochet 3-tog : sc 3-tog :   https://youtu.be/pprfB-z607Q

Row 1 : sc 3-tog over the 1^st 3 sc ;

sc in each sc till the last 3 sts ;

sc 3-tog over the last 3 sc.  Turn.

Rows 2 - 4 : Rep Row 1

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Belt buckle : (Using yellow)

Little bit of a judgment call needed here.  

I just worked a chain of sts and held it against my belt and decided when I had a rectangular shape that suited my belt.  Join the chain at the end and work a sc in each st all around, working 3 sc in each ‘corner’.

So decide on your belt shape, and mark 4 corners – work 3 sc in these marked sts. 

Once you have finished working sc all through, fasten off and leave a long yarn for attachment.

Finishing : Attach your buttons.

Attach your belt buckle.

Fasten off and weave in all loose ends.

After I had finished and shown this to a friend, she shared this link with me here

 My initial order was just this jacket, but on seeing it (as I had predicted 😊 ), I was requested to make a Santa kitty cat hat as well.. so do follow me to see how we make that ..

Hope you had a fun creative day today.  Do join me again tomorrow for another fun crochet session.  Byeee!

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Have a great day and see you soon. 

Here are some of my other creations.  Have fun with these free patterns too

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.com/2018/06/kitty-cat-jacket.html

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2017/03/kitty-cat-extravaganza-5-paw-bookmark.html

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2017/03/kitty-cat-extravaganza-4-long-tailed.html

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2017/03/kitty-cat-extravaganza-3-cat-bookmark.html

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2017/02/kitty-cat-extravaganza-2-my.html

https://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2017/02/kitty-cat-extravaganza-1-my-bouncy.html

http://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2015/10/bambi-bumble-neckwear.html

http://shyamanivas.blogspot.com/2015/09/all-for-maya-our-dingo-coat-clean-up-bag.html

http://shyamanivas.blogspot.in/2015/05/bob-cats-lego-blankie.html