Last month I got a head start on Halloween with my Bat Plush pattern, but this month I really wanted to pay homage to the beautiful ornate artistry found in the Mexican Dia de Muertos holiday. I haven’t been to a festival myself, but I would love to one day because I can’t think of a better way to honor the dead.

I’ve had this idea in my head for a little while now, but I wasn’t sure how best to execute it. Once I had the plan for arms and legs the rest finally came together 🙂 It’s a simple little kitty plush with a very detailed, sugar skull-inspired mask! I like to think that if you use it to celebrate the Day of the Dead it could be to honor a favorite cat in your life that has passed on ♥

The skull is a little bit of applique and a little bit of embroidery, because it seemed so fitting to use embroidery for all of those colorful details. I’m not an expert at embroidery, so the stitches are very simple and I freehanded most of the design. So I encourage you not to take it too seriously either if you’re also not an embroidery master 🙂 Of course you could leave off all the bright details and still have an adorable skeleton kitty!

The arms and legs are attached with colorful buttons to add more color. So I’d say both the skull and the buttons are the most difficult part of the plush, which is why I gave it a 4/10 stars in difficulty.

I hope you’ll give it a try in remembrance of a special kitty that was close to you!