How do I turn vicarious petting into real petting?

I'm currently fostering a feral kitty in addition to caring for my own cat.

My cat was bottle-fed and hand-raised by me and my cousins since she was about three weeks old. She's a giant cuddle bug with people but not with cats. Feral kitty LOVES my cat, but I can't figure out if she likes me or not.

Often, when I'm petting my cat (who loves it), the feral kitty will walk up and start purring. She will rub against things as if I'm petting her vicariously, through my cat, and yet will NOT let me actually touch her. Sometimes she even purrs when I put my hand close to her without my cat in the vincinity, and yet, again, won't let me get close enough to pet her.

She also loves to roll around and cuddle with my recently-worn clothes. Not just any clothes, but clothes I just took off, and especially my shoes. Does this have any significance?

She's coming around, just the fact that she is cuddling with your clothes rather than peeing on them means she likes you. Depending on her age when she was rescued it may just take a while for her to get the nerve to disregard what her mama taught her and take a chance on getting close to you. I have one that it took 21 months! She still bolts after just a little petting, but demands that little every day now and I will sometimes wake up to find she's been sleeping against me. She slipped out side one day, and decided it was scarier out there than I was and actualy allowed me to pick her up and bring her back inside. Ferals require a lot of time and patience, and a thick skin both literaly and in terms of handling a ot of rejection before they trust you.

I have one for you.

My feral who is 5 months old and who I have had for 2.5 months wakes me up in the middle of the night and asks to be pet at length. I usually fall back asleep before she quits asking for more. At all other times, if she sees me, she bolts and hides.