Grey cat face fuse bead pattern

About this design

This cat face is symmetrical, with two tall ears lined in Blush, a broad Grey head and two Green eyes outlined in Black. A small Blush nose and a short smile sit above a White muzzle that wraps around the chin. It is designed to be recoloured: open it in the editor and swap the grey for orange, black or cream to make a portrait of your own cat.

You will need roughly 94 Grey, 62 Black, 17 White, 3 Blush and 2 Green beads. Buy a few spares of each, because the odd bead always rolls away.

Placing the beads

At 17 × 14 beads the design fits easily on one large square pegboard. The eyes are two beads each; count from the centre column outwards so both sit level.

Ironing and finishing

Ironing is a job for an adult. Cover the beads with ironing paper, set a dry iron to medium and move it in slow circles until the beads just begin to merge, then let it cool, turn it over and press the back. Cool it flat under a heavy book so it stays straight. At about 8.5 × 7 cm in midi beads it makes a coaster, a badge or a gift for a cat lover.

Colour plan

Perler 80-19017 Gray does the most work, 53% of the 178 beads, followed by Perler 80-19018 Black at 35%. Perler 80-19063 Blush (3) and Perler 80-19080 Bright Green (2) are used only a little: small details worth marking on the chart so you don't miss them. 25% of the grid is left empty.

Working notes

All the beads touch along a full side, so it irons into one solid piece.