Easy DIY Pete The Cat Costume

This DIY Pete the Cat costume couldn't be easier to make! Whether you DIY your four groovy buttons or buy them, your kiddo will be rocking their school Book Character Dress-Up Day or Halloween party!

Confession: It is September 2026 and I am just now getting around to sharing this DIY Pete the Cat costume that I made for my oldest son...back in 2018 when he was in kindergarten (he's currently in the 8th grade). 🫠

Hey, if you've been around these parts for a while, you've probably picked up on the fact that I am a terrible blogger. I don't blog on a schedule and social media hurts my head (and often my feelings).

Long sabbaticals are pretty much the norm in these parts.

Luckily, I had these pictures saved on the cloud and finally have the headspace and breathing room in this stage of my life to get this baby posted.

So, without further ado, this is how easy it is to make a classic DIY Pete the Cat costume for your child's storybook character parade or Halloween!

Easy DIY Pete the Cat Costume at a Glance

Difficulty: Easy (maybe Easy-ish if you want to bust out the power drill like we did)
Time: One hour (way less if you're not DIYing the buttons)
Cost: Depends on what you already have on hand, but probably less than $50
Skills Required: Maybe some hot-gluing and a little painting and power-drilling if you want to get fancy with your buttons
Best For: Storybook Character Dress-Up Days, Book Parades, Halloween

What You'll Need to Make a DIY Pete the Cat Costume

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES:

• Yellow long sleeve button-up shirt
• If you're not DIYing your own groovy buttons: Large (2-inch+) plastic buttons
• Blue pants
• Blue cat ears
• Blue cat tail (either semi-DIY or store-bought)
  • Semi-DIY: Jumbo blue pipe cleaner attached with a safety pin (worked great!)
  • Blue cat tail costume accessory
• Black and white eyeliner pencils

SUPPLIES:

• Pipe cleaners or floral wire
• Hot glue gun and glue stick (for the pipe cleaners)

ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES IF DIYING GROOVY BUTTONS:

• Four 2-inch circular wooden discs
• Four craft paint colors (red, green, royal blue, and light blue)
• Small paint brush(es)
• Black Sharpie
• Optional: Power drill or screwdriver to make the button holes

How to Make a DIY Pete the Cat Costume

Our family has always loved the Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons storybook, and this DIY Pete the Cat costume is super easy to make.

Either buy the large colorful groovy buttons or DIY them if you're feeling extra crafty.

Then just a couple basic clothing items, a few cat accessories, and little makeup will turn your kiddo into the cat's meow.

Step 1: Prep Pete the cat's groovy buttons

I wanted to really make the groovy buttons on this Pete the Cat costume the star of the show, so I DIYed them instead of buying them. But there's no shame taking the quicker/easier route!

Buy Route: Grab some jumbo plastic buttons, making sure you get a pack that has Pete's classic button colors (red, green, royal blue, and light blue).

There are 2-inch, 3-inch, and even 4-inch (extra groovy!) size buttons readily available that are very inexpensive.

DIY Route: If you're up for some DIY buttons, just grab a pack of 2-inch (or larger if you'd like) unfinished wooden circle blanks.

Next, add the button holes to the blanks by either using a power drill or carefully carving them in with a screwdriver.

You could also skip this step and just paint the button holes on if you'd like.

This DIY costume is very flexible.

I had my husband pull out his power drill and drill four small holes in each soon-to-be button. He just loves joining me in my crafty pursuits. #sarcasm

Step 2: Paint Pete the Cat's groovy buttons

Next, paint each wooden circle one of Pete's groovy button colors.

Be sure to cover the back of the royal blue button since that one will be springing out from Pete's shirt and will therefore be seen from all sides.

The other three buttons only need color on the front and edges.

Step 3: Embellish Pete the Cat's Groovy Buttons

To give the buttons a hand-drawn, illustrated effect, take a black Sharpie and sketch on the lines around each button hole as well as the entire button.

Don't worry about being too perfect with this step.

Remember...they're Pete's groovy buttons, not his perfect ones!

Step 4: Attach pipe cleaners or wire to buttons

Instead of attaching the buttons directly to the yellow shirt, I wanted to be able to attach them to the shirt's real buttons in a way that would allow them to be removed in case Rowan wanted to wear the shirt again in the future in a non-costume way.

So, to do this, hot glue a small section of pipe cleaner to the back of three of the groovy buttons.

For the royal blue groovy button, use a royal blue pipe cleaner that's roughly 6- to 8-inches long.

This way, your costume will match the springy effect of the book's blue button.

An alternative way to go about this is to skip the hot glue completely and just use some floral wire, wrapping pieces through each of the buttons' holes and then around the shirt's real buttons.

Step 5: Gather Pete The Cat's Accessories

Now that the groovy buttons are good to go, gather the rest of the accessories to complete Pete the Cat's look:

• Blue Cat Ears: we used a headband accessory
• Blue Cat Tail: we used a super jumbo blue pipe cleaner because we had it on hand and just attached it to the back of Rowan's pants using a safety pin.
  • Does the blue of Pete's tail match the blue of his ears? Not at all, but who cares?
  • You can also buy a blue cat tail accessory if you'd like.
    • Don't forget to give that end a little curl!

UPDATE: They now make an off-brand Pete the Cat accessory pack that comes with a matching set of ears and tail AND his groovy buttons!

Step 6: Pete the Cat Makeup

Now that the main components of the costume are ready, the final step is adding some makeup to make sure your kiddo is easily identifiable as Pete the Cat.

Grab a white eyeliner pencil (or other type of makeup because everything is basically everything) and draw on Pete's white triangular nose.

Then, using a black eyeliner pencil, outline the white triangle and add lots of long, wispy whiskers to both cheeks.

How to Dress Up as Pete the Cat

So here's all the specifics about putting your DIY Pete the Cat costume together:

1. Put on some blue pants and a yellow long sleeve button-up shirt.
2. Attach Pete's groovy buttons to the shirt's buttons by wrapping the pipe cleaners you hot glued to the back of each groovy one (or floral wire) around each of the normal buttons, leaving the royal blue one far out and extra springy.
3. Attach Pete's blue tail to back waistband of the pants so it's hanging down and peeking out from underneath the yellow shirt.
4. Put the blue cat ear headband on your kiddo's head.
5. Use black and white eyeliner pencils to draw on Pete's iconic nose and wispy whiskers.

The Finished DIY Pete the Cat Costume!

Here's how Rowan looked in his Pete the Cat Costume!

I say he looks pretty darn groovy, indeed.

We were all thrilled with how this costume turned out, and Rowan was beyond excited to be Pete the Cat for the day.

Little bro thought Rowan looked pretty cool, too. :)

Unlike with Rowan's Captain Underpants and Scarecrow costumes, though, Brayden never got around to dressing up as Pete the Cat when he started school.

More Easy DIY Costume Ideas

Make sure you check out my Project Gallery for all of my other crafty creations, freebies, and tutorials!

Thanks so much for stopping by!