The Story Behind the Fat Cats
When people ask me what I do for a living I proudly say: I make Fat Cats! Chubby little works of art! Or in more basic terms I run a small handmade business called “The Fat Cat Factory”. I'm a one-woman shop, but it's my dream job. I get to let my imagination run wild. I get to take all my quirky cat designs I have in my head and turn them into tangible products for other people to love and enjoy. Or at the very least, make someone smile.
I love cats, that's no secret. I think they are one of the cutest things to walk this earth. I'm pretty sure I will become a crazy cat lady one day, along with my husband who will be crazy cat man. So it's not really a surprise to me that I opted to focus mostly on cats. I view my late Spooky to be my muse and my original Fat Cat. She was a fluffy overweight black cat. Though she wasn't too overweight, the vet always gave her a pass since the majority of her overweight appearance was from fur – she was half a cat when she got her bi-yearly shave. The vet called her Fluffy Beastly. And she was my fat lil' baby. I based the pincushion design around her sitting shape. A little head upon a big round belly with little feet. And so the Fat Cat pincushion, after many many failed pattern shapes and sizes, was born!
The pincushions started out as just basic cats sitting down and now they've pretty much taken on a life of their own. They have personalities and characters and stories to go along with them. The stories are mainly just in my head, but they are stories nonetheless. I like to think that the people who buy my products also make up stories of their own to accompany their specific character.
I honestly cannot believe how much these pincushions have evolved from that first felt black cat, sitting on all four. Now they're standing up with many wearing very elaborate clothing. Some designs include clay, paint, beading and embroidery.
There's been lots of trial and error along the way. And I'll admit I've had my share of disastrous prototype pincushion characters. One particular one that my husband has dubbed “The Turtle-Pig”. Because yes, it really did look like a turtle/pig cross-breed and sadly I don't even remember what I was trying to make. I just remember the look of that unfortunate prototype.
I'm extremely proud of what these quirky lil' cats have accomplished! They seem to bring joy to people and that's pretty much all we can do in this world, right? Just try to brighten someone's day and make the world a little happier.
I'm hoping to just keep on going, trying to expand the Fat Cat product line to garlands, wall hangings and clay figurines. I have a whole notebook full of ideas just waiting to be made!
And thankfully, I feel like I've only had one major down in my Fat Cat adventures. I was diagnosed with Lupus a few years ago which forced me to reevaluate how I can do things or more importantly the pace at which I can do them. I still sew, and I don't plan on stopping, but I do need to do it at a slower pace and take more rest time for myself. Mostly I just need to use common sense, don't push myself too hard, take care of myself and eat better. I'm trying to learn to love those leafy greens and yoga!
And on a personal happy note: I just got married to my boyfriend of lots and lots of years in October 2017! Yay!
If you've made it through the entire page of my rambling, I thank and applaud you! I tend to get excited when I talk about these Fat Cats. I hope you found my story enjoyable and that my products bring a smile to your face.
Also to keep up-to-date on all my Etsy products, learn about future sales and all things Fat Cat related, visit my Facebook and Instagram Pages! I can be found under my shop name.
"A Fat Cat in Every Home" is my motto and I'm sticking to it!
