As a crafter, experimenting is something I do often. Sometimes the experiments are a success and sometimes they are a failure...or I end up somewhere in between where the outcome isn't exactly what I had imagined but the results are just as rewarding.

This cat brooch falls under the "somewhere in between" category - originally I was going to embroider the face details but as I said, experiments don't always go according to plan. I suppose it would help if I planned every little step ahead of time but that takes the fun out of random crafting, right?

Making mistakes and working with those mistakes (or creative attempts, as I prefer to call them) is what helps to develop creativity and imagination.

I mean, how else would I come up with this funny-looking cat brooch?

This felt cat brooch was made from a test batch of felted yarn from when I was experimenting with how to felt yarn by hand. I was impressed by how sturdy and thick the felted square was and wanted to know if I could cut it - would the yarn fall apart? Would it hold together? I had to find out and the first shape that came to mind was a cat's head.

Next came eyes and a nose. As I mentioned I had intended on embroidering the face but I was really curious about how Mod Podge would do on felted yarn. The short answer is that it's a very effective stiffener. Once the Mod Podge had dried I could not insert a needle through. Plan B - hot glue eyes and a nose!

I wasn't happy with how the eyes looked (just a tad soulless for my taste) so I thought a little paint would give it some character. I also painted a mouth using white acrylic paint.

And the last step was to hot glue a brooch pin to the back.

My favorite part about this pin is the cat's expression - a mischievous alley cat with a really good sense of humor. And of course I love that this experiment didn't fail because my head is now swimming with ideas for future pins and brooches!

If you make this felt cat pin I'd love to see your creation, just tag me on Instagram @popsdemilk_crochet and use the hashtag #popsdemilk

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This pattern is for personal use only. The pattern and its photos may not be reproduced, distributed or resold, translated, published, altered, shared or posted in any way over the internet or offline.

You may sell finished items made from this pattern as long as it is handmade by you, not mass produced, giving the credit to Pops de Milk / Patricia Castillo as the designer. If you have any questions, you can email me at patricia@popsdemilk.com