When Zoloft was diagnosed with cancer, we tried chemotherapy to help give him some more quality time. I was hesitant at first, but after talking with his vet it turns out that most cats do really well with chemo so went for it. Unfortunately, this meant frequent trips to the vet.
His chemo treatments started in the spring when it was still chilly out so I wanted to make sure his trips to the vet and back were comfortable. I had been using a blanket to protect him in his carrier from the wind, but it was hard to keep on. I didn’t want to cut a hole in my blanket so I had to come up with a solution.
Ultimately, I settled on crocheting him a cover for his carrier using scrap yarn. I wanted the cover to be thick enough to keep the wind out and keep him cozy and have a few features I couldn’t easily get with something premade. I designed this project myself without using a pattern and decided that it may be useful to other crafty cat parents out there who happen to have advanced crocheting skills.
With winter coming, it’s a great project to work on now so it’s ready in case your cat needs to go to the vet in the next few months. It’s a perfect chilly fall weekend project as you can get it done in a few days even if you commit to it!
Feel free to make this for personal use or to donate to shelters or rescues, but I ask that you don’t sell anything you make using my guide without my direct permission. Please link back to this guide guide regardless and give credit to Class Act Cats/Joey Lusvardi for the anything you make based on it.
Skills Required
This is more of a guide than a pattern. You can easily adapt this to a different size or shaped carriers (like the one I got when I adopted Poutine that is more rounded), though hard sided carriers are going work a bit better. That said, this does use freeform crocheting so this isn’t a beginner project. Don’t let that scare you off as it doesn’t require anything too weird beyond being able to think about an object is made.
I assume if you’re reading this you understand the basics of crocheting. If you don’t, you can take a class online or you can teach yourself. I’m actually self taught using this book which remains helpful to this day. Start with an easier project first unless you want to be really frustrated. You should be able to do the following at a minimum:
- Single crochet
- Chaining
- Sewing on a button (and optionally, creating a button hole)
- Adding in new strands of yarn
- Crocheting with multiple strands of yarn at once
A Word To Knitters
I both knit and crochet. This project could be pretty easily adapted to knitting, but crochet will be thicker and the stitches tighter so it does work better. Plus, it’s easier to free form something with crochet. Maybe I’ll make a guide on knitting a cover one day, but if anyone tries this with knitting I’m interested in your results!
Supplies List
The exact supplies you’ll need depend on your specific carrier so these are guidelines about what to have
Yarn
This project is a great stash buster or way to use up yarn scraps. You’ll need approximately the same amount of yarn that you would for a large baby blanket. If you’re using scrap yarn, you can combine different weights together to make a thicker yarn. If you go with a bulky (size 6) or jumbo (size 7) yarn, you’ll need approximately 900 yards of yarn. Have a bigger carrier? You’ll need more yarn.
For most folks with a big enough pile of scraps, you can safely assume you’ll have enough yarn. You will want to save thinner yarn or thread for sewing on the buttons and creating clasps, but you won’t need much.
Material
While you can use whatever you have, the carrier cover ideally would be easily washable and should be a stronger material. This isn’t the time to use your flimsy silk lace. Cotton, linen, or acrylic can work well. If you’re going to use multiple strands of yarn, you can incorporate a less study strand with more sturdy ones if you have a few less than ideal scraps that need to be used.
Hook
Go for a bigger hook with this one. I used a 15mm (US size P/Q) hook, but there’s nothing wrong with going bigger. Smaller hooks will take longer and limit the size of yarn you can use. Make sure whichever hook you use is thick and well made so it doesn’t snap as you’re working!
Buttons
Buttons are used to help keep the carrier cover tight against the carrier to protect your cat from drafts or peeping out. Bigger buttons (like these 1″ cat shaped buttons) are best because the fabric with be thick and you want them to be sturdy.
Basic Notions
You’ll also need basic crocheting notions and accessories such as removable stitch markers, a darning needle, and scissors. A tape measure, especially a cat shaped tape measure because this project is for cats, may help, too. You won’t need a row counter, though, because you won’t be counting rows.
Your Carrier
You’ll want your carrier handy as you’ll be determining the size of the project by comparing it to the carrier. It’s a good idea to keep your cat’s carrier out at all times so they get used to it being around. If you aren’t already doing that, this project is a great reason to start.
Getting Started
Once you have your supplies, time to plan. For a rectangular box style carrier, you’re going to be creating a piece of fabric that’s shaped like a lopsided cross or distorted plus sign. See the photo below.
Instead of doing a particular number of rows or stitches, you’ll be going based on size so this can be individualized to your carrier. Crochet is great because the fabric stays about the same size it will be through the entire project unlike knitting which may be distorted while still on the needles.
Gather Your Yarn
Create a strand of yarn using various sizes of your scraps to get thickness of yarn that was approximately jumbo sized. As long as it works with your hook, thickness doesn’t really matter. You can also just do this with a single strand, but using multiple strands held together allows you to create a cool blended effect. It’s your project so you get to choose!
Make A Foundational Chain
Start by creating a chain that is approximately the length of your carrier plus 4-6 inches on either side and one extra chain. If you hold up the chain up in the middle of the carrier with loose tension, it should wrap around the front ever so slightly. The goal is to have some overlap around the sides so you can get the fabric to completely cover the door to the carrier with some wiggle room.
Optionally, you could also make it extra long so you can attach buttons on the sides and add button holes in the flaps when you get to the next step. That’s a bit more work, though, so I personally don’t see much of an advantage and won’t go into anything about adding button holes.
Tie off the tail of the yarn at the end. Because this won’t be worn, knots don’t matter so you can just make a nice thick knot and weave over the tail, lazily weave it in, or just snip it off.
Crochet Away
Turn and crochet into the second chain from the hook. Single crochet into each stitch until your reach the end of the chain. Chain 1, turn, and single crochet right back.
Repeat this until you teach the desired length of the front flap of the carrier cover. The flap should span from just below the bottom of the door to edge of the roof of the carrier. Hold up your work at the end of each row when you think you’re getting close and once it looks correct, you can move on to the next phase.
A Word On Yarn
If you’re using scrap yarn, you’re probably going to run out of yarn as you go. That’s okay! Just tie a new strand of yarn to the end of the strand before you finish and keep going. No ends to weave in!
You can use this method to slowly transition to a different color by changing to different colors (for example, going from green to blue) one strand of yarn at a time. Should you decide to drop a strand (for example, rather than using a new sock weight yarn, you want to use a worsted weight yarn but don’t want one section being weirdly thick), leave a long tail and weave that in later.
You can also do the lazy method I did and just tie the end to one of the other yarns. Lazy crafting is still crafting. Your cat won’t care.
Optional: Decorative Stitching
While I suggest single crochet to keep the fabric thick and tight, you can incorporate other stitches to make it decorative if you’d like or add a fancy border. Remember that the goal of the cover is to prevent cold drafts or your cat being able to see anything scary outside so using a larger stitch may make this less effective on the flaps. Fancy stitches for the middle of the cover won’t create drafts or unintentional peep holes.
Completing The Side Flaps And Body
You’ll start the next part by creating the side flaps that will cover any of the side windows on your carrier. The exact length depends on the size of the windows so you may or may not need to do the full height of the carrier, but you’ll want it to go at least 2 or 3 inches below the window to make sure they are totally covered. Consider making the the full length of the carrier as well to aid in button placement later. You can skip ahead a bit to see an explanation of why to help you decide.
At the start of the row, create a chain that reaches from the corner of the front flap to just below the side windows. You are only doing this for the first side to start. Add an extra chain, turn, and single crochet into the second chain from the hook. Single crochet all the way across until your reach the other corner of the front flap.
After you single crochet the corner stitch, start chaining again to create a second side flap of approximately the same length. Same as before, make an extra chain, turn, and single crochet into the second chain from the hook. Keep going the full length of the fabric until your reach the end of the other flap.
Will this result in a slightly uneven fabric? Kind of. Does it matter? No. Don’t worry about it. You’ll barely notice and it will function without issue.
Work Until You Reach The Handle
At this point, the next phase is pretty boring. Keep repeat the same pattern of rows of single crochet, chain 1, and turning until your cover reaches the point where it hits the handle. You’re now ready to make the opening for the handle.
Working Around The Handle
There are two methods for how to do this part and they’re basically just variations on a theme. Hold the fabric up to carrier and allow it to drape over the edge as you want it to sit when the full thing is completed. Mark the stitches on either side of the handle using a removable (cat!) stitch marker.
Creating The Opening
Single crochet until you get to the first stitch marker. After you single crochet into that stitch, you can remove the first marker. This is where you’ll need to choose your own adventure for what to do next. The end result will be basically the same so it’s a matter of personal preference.
Option 1: Create A Chain
For the first method, you’ll create a chain to go around the handle. Create enough chains that you think it will fit around the handle and then test it out by holding the hook/final chain to the second stitch marker around the handle. If it’s a good size, keep going. If not, either add or remove chains until you’re satisfied. Add a removable marker to the chain that is approximately in the middle of the series of chains you just made.
Take your hook and single crochet into the stitch that has the second stitch marker. You can remove the second marker at this point. Single crochet the rest of the row until the final stitch, chain 1, turn. Single crochet until you reach the chain. At the end of the row, chain into the last chain (the one that is joined to stitch where the second stitch marker was).
For the rest of this step, you can kind of do whatever speaks to you because we’ll be going over it later to make it look nicer. I did a single crochet into the next chain up, but you can add an extra chain if you’d like. The most important part is that you are turning and single crocheting down and back until you reach the middle chain.
Test Before Moving On
At this point, test the hole over the carrier handle. Do another row or two if needed. It doesn’t matter which side you end on because the next step is to cut the yarn, pull the tail through the last stitch, and tie it off.
Option 2: Freestyle
The second option is similar, but you don’t make the chain. Single crochet along until you get to the first stitch marker. Single crochet into that stitch, chain 1, turn. Single crochet back, chain 1 after you’ve single crocheted into the last stitch, and turn. Repeat this pattern until you think the fabric is slightly longer than the length of the handle.
Like with the other method, compare your fabric to the handle. You can either add or undo rows to reach the right length. If you’re satisfied, cut the yarn. Pull the tail through and tie a knot to secure it.
Switch Sides
By this point, you have some weird amounts of the top and both side flaps completed. You also don’t have any working yarn. What the heck, Joey? What am I supposed to do now?!
Clearly I’m getting there. Jeez, give a guy a moment.
Regardless of which method you chose, rejoin the yarn to the first stitch on the flap of the carrier that you haven’t worked yet. Tie the end so it is snug. You’re going to be shocked by this, but you just repeat the same method you did before until the other side of the fabric is (the body and the other flap) is even with the first side you completed. Join the sides with a single crochet
Finish The Body
Moving on to the last part of the body, crochet to finish the row until you reach the end of the side flap. Simply single crochet back and forth again for the full width of the cover until you reach the end of the the roof of your carrier. Single crochet to the end of the row, chain, and turn.
Finishing The Last Flap
Onto the last part of the carrier cover itself: The back flap.
Unlike with knitting, there’s no need to bind off stitches so this last part isn’t too tough. Single crochet until your stitch lines up with the opposite side of the carrier. Chain, turn, and single crochet until you get to the other side of the carrier. Chain, turn, single crochet across. Repeat this until you’ve reached the desired length. Cut the yarn, pull it through the last stitch, and tie it off. If you feel adventurous, weave in the ends but I think we all know how much of a nightmare weaving in ends is.
How Long Should You Make It?
If your cat’s carrier has a back window, the back flap should cover the entirety of the window with an inch or two of wiggle room. However, consider making it a bit longer because it will help with the final step which is adding buttons or ties to keep the cover snug and your kitty snug.
Pretty Up The Handle Opening
Making the handle cover a bit sturdier and look better is easy. Join your yarn into really any opening along the inside of the handle opening. Single crochet around it once. You can do it twice or three times if you want to make it more sturdy. This will not only reinforce the opening, but it will make the opening look a little nicer.
Adding Buttons
The final step in making your cat carrier cover is adding buttons (or ties) to the carrier. The buttons function to keep the cover tight to the carrier to minimize drafts. You can also add a few option buttons so the flaps can be rolled up individually.
This part is pretty easy: figure out where you want the buttons to go and sew them on. Make sure you sew them on so they’re nice and secure using a strong yarn or thread.
Placement Considerations
You want the buttons near the edges of the flaps so you can use the clasps you’ll make in the next step. At least one button and clasp combo on each corner of the carrier. I suggest doing a button on one side of the carrier cover and a loop clasp on the other side. You’ll add four buttons total. The buttons should be placed toward the bottom of the flaps. If the both flaps don’t go all the way to the ground, place it near the bottom of the shorter flap.
Creating Clasps
Once you have your buttons placed, on the flap that is directly next to where you placed the button (not on the same flap), take a cotton or other thick, strong yarn. Join the yarn to the edge of the flap and tie the yarn so it doesn’t come loose. Chain until the chain can fit all the way around the button and back to the same spot where you inserted the clasp yarn. The carrier should be pulled snug, but not too tight.
Insert your hook next to where you joined the yarn, make a single crochet, cut the yarn, pull the tail through, and tie it tightly. One down, three more to go! Repeat this next to all four buttons.
An Alternative To Clasps And Buttons
If you don’t want to create a loop or add buttons, make a nice long chain using a strong cotton yarn in the same locations you’d put the buttons and/or loops. You can either loosely tie these together or tie the chain into the loop. The downsides to this method are that if you tie it too tightly, untying it will be a problem.
To make this, just attach a new strand of yarn to where you want to place the tie. Chain until the tie is your desired length, cut the yarn, pull it through, tie a knot, and trim it. Easy, right?
Optional Step
This step is recommended, but not 100% necessary. On my carrier, I added extra buttons next to the handle cover so I could roll up the front and side flaps individually.
My carrier doesn’t have a back window otherwise I would have done a fourth button. This part is very similar to the last step in that you attach a button to the carrier cover to start, but the button is placed near the handle hole. Use the same process to add a loop clasp on the far end of the flap directly opposite to the button. No need to worry about the clasp being super tight this time though as it’s mostly just to get the flap out of the way.
You’ll notice in the first picture that the front flap in mine is rolled up. Because that flap is longer, simply folding it up wouldn’t have left the full window open for Z to see out. Instead, I rolled the flap up and added the loop clasp in the middle of the inside of the flap. This way, I could roll the flap up and have it stay in place so he could fully see out the front. The method is the same.
Keep Your Cat Cozy
If you’ve finished your cat carrier cover, congrats! Your feline friend will thank you. It will make trips to the vet easier and help them feel more confident in their carrier. If my method doesn’t quite work for you, there are a lot of variations you can try to do what works for you. Crochet is super flexible within certain limits.
If you’re now looking for something else to crochet for your cat, why not a couch? I didn’t make the pattern, but you can easily get a pattern book, grab the pattern from Etsy, or take an online class if you want more guidance. My own cats, including the cat who inspired this post, love the couch I made them.
And if you’re feeling lazy, there’s the option of ordering one premade.
There are a lot of ways you can show your love for your cat with some yarn, a hook, and some patience. Happy stitching!
Side note: This is my first ever attempt at creating a pattern or guide with crochet. If you do send me feedback because you notice a mistake or have feedback, please be kind. I’m a cat behavior expert who loves crafting, not a professional crafter. I share this to help other cat parents and their cats be more comfortable.
