When I saw this adorable bow tie for cats on Fab last week, I had to resist the urge to reach for my wallet. I’ve recently paid some unforeseen veterinary bills (to treat my dog’s allergies) so I forbade myself from spending even $19 to dress up the cat. Sticking to a budget blows.

Lucky for me I had some leftover fabric scraps and a hot glue gun. I knew I could make my own and not spend a dime. The finished product turned out better than I expected. My sister even requested one for herself. With how quick and easy they were to make, I’ll never buy a bow tie from a store. Try it out for yourself! Instructions adapted from Style Me Pretty:

Supplies

- scrap fabric

- elastic (or any other sturdy band)

- velcro strips

- hot glue gun

- a pair of scissors, a ruler & a pencil

Step 1: Cut 2 pieces of fabric measuring 9″ by 4.5″. Take one piece and fold the long ends in until the edges meet in the middle.

Step 2: Dab hot glue in the middle to secure the ends down.

Step 3: Flip the fabric over and fold the short ends in until the edges meet in the middle.

Step 4: Dab hot glue in the middle to secure the ends down.

Step 5: Repeat the steps above for the second piece of fabric. I folded the ends more to make the final rectangle slightly smaller than the first.

Step 6: Take the smaller piece and create a pleat with the long ends. Dab hot glue on each side to secure the pleat.

Step 7: Take the larger piece and place it behind your basic bow. Hot glue the long ends to the smaller piece.

Step 8: Cut a 1.5″ x 3″ piece of fabric and fold into thirds. Use hot glue to secure the fold.

Step 9: Glue this onto the middle of your bow tie and secure in the back.

Step 10: Cut a 1.5″ x 17.5″ piece of fabric and 16″ strand of elastic. Hot glue the long end of the fabric down so you don’t have a raw edge. Then place the elastic on top and use hot glue to secure the other end onto it.

Step 11: Glue the finished edge onto the elastic.

Step 12: Fold the tips in and secure with glue.

Step 13: Glue both sides of the velcro onto each end (the length of these will depend on your or your pet’s neck size).

Step 14: Secure the bow to the band with hot glue.

And you’re done! No thread and needle required!

I guess there’s one last step – Step 15: Tie around your neck, your friend’s, or your pet and admire your work.

You can easily adjust the measurements when making one for your pet. Kittles is modeling a single bow tie (I didn’t use a second piece of fabric) that was made from a 6″ x 3″ piece of cloth.