Sewing around cats

I was a fashion designer for several years. The most important thing is to make sure you never leave any needles, pins, thread, or any other sewing supplies out that they may ingest. Otherwise you can't ask for a better helper! For example...
This is Maia making sure my sewing machine is covered properly!

Aya living dangerously...



Here let me help you with that....


Ooohhh! moving target, what is this thing that goes up and down?... must be a cat toy...



Needless to say with a 5 m/o kitten in a studio apt. its hard to get any sewing done except on wkends while she's taking her mid-day siesta. Even then if she sees you unraveling soemthing or waving ribbon around god help you she's there with her teeth and claws in the middle of it!

Thread, pins and needles (esp. the one going up and down in the machine) seem to be the exact kinds of things that attract her too... I'm waiting to see her get her paw stitched to whatever I'm sewing pulling this stunt. No sooner do I pry her off the machine than she's back in front of it again. One track mind!...

I have to start my own sewing too since I need some clothes and I have the fabrics and everything. Thanks for warnings on pins and needles cheylink.

Aya sure lives dangerously. She is love with your sewing machine. I guess once I get into my cross stitch and sewing, Avalon will forget Sanjay, my canary. She is no longer obsessed with him like she was last week when I first got Sanjay.

Originally Posted by tweetykiss

Aya sure lives dangerously. She is love with your sewing machine. I guess once I get into my cross stitch and sewing, Avalon will forget Sanjay, my canary.

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Hmmm string vs. bird?...

Aya is a cat who thinks she can fly, and is therefore always living dangerously. No surface is too high too crowded or too dangerous for an impromptu cat-landing!...

I'm an avid cross stitcher and have 2 cats. I've lost one project to my cat when she first came to live with me, and that was all it took for her to teach my to put my "toys" away. I use those mesh project bags for my stitching and put my chart, floss, fabric, and scissors in it and zip it up at the end of the evening. I store my floss in Floss Away bags so that the skeins are not out loose. Everything is put out of kitty's reach whenever I'm not around. If you use a fob on your scissors, be prepared for it to attract your kitty!

When we first got our second kitty, she was interested in watching the needle and floss go through the fabric, but I taught her to lay down beside me and not touch my stitching. Now, both of my kitties will lay down on the couch beside me while I stitch and don't bother my stuff.

Lol, Hemmy sits in my lap when I'm at my sewing machine. He likes to watch it but leaves it alone.

He did attack a cross stitch I was doing once. I had tucked the needle in the corner and set the piece down right in front of me for a moment. It wasn't doing anything interesting whatsoever. When he bit it, the needle stuck in the soft pallet of his mouth. We dashed to the vet's and they found the needle only because I'd taken care to leave the long red thread on it and hadn't allowed Hemmy to swallow it. Thankfully, they were able to remove it with very little intrusion and six years later Hemmy still keeps a respectful distance from my needlepoint.

When I cross stitch my greeting cards, I can stay up here and do it and make sure Avalon does not get in it? I will make it a point to put things away so that she does not get in anything.

My sewing room is in the basement and I never have her go there since she would never find her way back up or are cats smarter than that?

Click on my link by my signature and you will realize that I'm not only challenged because I sew, I sew things with catnip in them.

My fabric is locked in a closet. I have another cabinet with all the sewing supplies (pins, needles, thread). My garbage can has a lid so that they can't fish out thread clippings.

I added a tall cat tree in the room where I sew. Since I've added that, they tend to sit on the tree and look down on me sewing. Before that time, I'd have 1 in my lap, one sitting behind the machine, a few more on the floor around my feet. When I have catnip out, I have to sprinkle a generous amount on the floor to get them away from my sewing table.

Muddy loves to nibble on thread, and it doesn't matter how many times I've scolded him for it, he waits until my head is turned then grabs the thread from the spool to the top of the machine where it threads into the machine. If I walk away for any reason, even to press something, I have to turn the machine off, put the pressure foot down to tighten the thread, and put the cover on top of it. All he needs is 1 second.

When I need to do some power sewing, I just lock them out of the room now.

I just went to your site and it is awesome. You are so talented. That white and grey kitty is so cute. How long have you been sewing and is that how you get your kitty to use that bed. I bought a same bed for my cat and she has never used it.

Originally Posted by tweetykiss

I just went to your site and it is awesome. You are so talented. That white and grey kitty is so cute. How long have you been sewing and is that how you get your kitty to use that bed. I bought a same bed for my cat and she has never used it.

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Thank you! I have beds that aren't on the site at all - I make them to fit in the cat condos, on chairs, on tables, etc. Mine use their beds because I put them on things they like to lay on in the first place. I've just made those places a little more cushy for them.

I've been sewing roughly 40 years. Auntie Em came about 5 years ago.

I second everything everyone else has said about pins, needles, and thread. Be VERY careful about these things. Your kitties can get hurt very badly!

That said...

Bamf and Pixel both regularly attempt to leap onto the sewing table and investigate whatever I am doing, but I knock them right back off, so they don't do it too often. I have made sure that they know that the sewing machine is not for cats! The biggest problem I have is when I need to use a tape measure for something. Apparently, the tape measure is an awesome toy... Probably because it is a plastic tape measure with a shiny metal end. It's like asking the cats to play with it, obviously.

Originally Posted by zorana_dragonky

The biggest problem I have is when I need to use a tape measure for something. Apparently, the tape measure is an awesome toy... Probably because it is a plastic tape measure with a shiny metal end. It's like asking the cats to play with it, obviously.

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Yes they are and I forgot about those! I haven't used one of those in years for that reason and you just reminded me why I bought the heavy plastic quilters rulers, along with a metal yard stick. They work great btw.....

I want to start some cross stitching but I am still concerned and afraid.

What type of fabric should I use for making catnip toys? I want to sew some of those for Avalon. The sewing machine is in the basement where Avalon never ventures so I am or should I say the kitty is safe with that.