My husband has been nagging me about making a new walking harness for Skyline as the first one I made for him is now too small. Actually, let’s take a step back and I’ll explain why my cats need walking harness.
Boffi and Skyline are exotic shorthair breed, I think their ancestors are Persian and American shorthair. The breeder lady recommends keeping them indoor as they are less agile. There’s also a busy road in front of our house with buses and cars speeding pass so we decided to give them supervised walks in the nearby park instead.
The walking harness I just made is the 4th one and I used left over cotton fabric from a dress which I made last year (no idea why I chose such pink colour and why would I get super big polka dot print…). Firstly, I re-drafted the pattern to make it longer (along Skyline’s spine it is).
Secondly, I interfaced the pink fabric to stablise it.
After cutting out two layers of fabric (front and lining), I sew along the edges with right sides together but leaving a 10cm gap for turning over. After I flipped it right side out, pressed it flat to get nice rounded edges then I edge stitched along all sides.
Next, my new addition – a 3M reflective tape which I found on eBay. I top stitched two cut strips onto the harness like a cross.
Then I sew a grosgrain ribbon along the centre of the harness to hold a metal ‘D’ ring in place where the walking lead will be attached to.
Lastly, velcros are sew to the four straps (2 for the neck and 2 for the tummy). I always remind myself that the hooks tape (the stiff scratchy one) should be facing out, the soft fluffy tape would face into the body.
Finished!
Skyline showing off his new outfit:
He’s now ready to go out!
The cat harness pattern is available for download now. The pattern will need to be printed on A3 paper at 100% scale. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Love it, and he really looks like he is looking forward to his walk.
yes he was. he loves going out…:)
I really love the design of the walking harness though pink seems to look more girlish for male cat. Your cat is so cute? How did you manage to walk outdoor with them? I rarely see anyone walking cats without struggle.
Thanks! The fabric is a left over and it gives good visibility. I guess skyline won’t mind being a bit girly
We are lucky to have a park near us and we just give him a tuck when he’s not moving… He won’t walk long distance though.. 15 mins is more than enough.
That’s a really great design of a walking harness! It also looks very comfortable. My cat wants to go outside as well, he is always sitting at the door when I am about to go out. So I thought of sewing a harness as well. Could you send me your pattern? How much does your cat weigh? Maybe they are about the same size? What I am also wondering about is this: does your cat follow you like a dog? I can’t imagine my cat would actually do that!
Hi, Skyline weights about 4.5kg but the harness is big enough for Boffi who is 6.3kg (he’s still too chubby). Although I don’t have a dog, I think walking the cats are quite different. Boffi likes to take a long rest sometimes so we’ll have to give him a gentle tug as encouragement. They also like to eat grass at the park while being walked. They don’t always walk where you want them to as well. I must admit that 99% of the walking are done by my hubby who’s utterly patience. I’m happy to post the pattern as PDF onto the blog this weekend. I’ll keep you posted!
Thanks! Looking forward to the pattern. My cat Felix weighs around 5 kg so the harness should fit him
I went twice now for a (very short) walk with Felix. Yes, patience is required!!!
Hi, just to let you know that I’ve posted a link to the pattern at the end of the blog post. This pattern does not include seam allowance for bias bound finish. If you want to do a stitch and turn edge finish like I did you’ll need to add 1/4″ seam allowance. Don’t forget to interface 1 of the fashion fabric as well. Let me know if you need more help. Have fun!
Wow this is great, I just got a kitten and when she is big enough I would like her first outside adventures to be supervised so this is perfect and looks much more comfortable than what I have seen in the shops