I really enjoyed this one because it gave me a great excuse to learn how to do things that I probably should have known anyway: make a lined fleece beanie, include horn-holes in a hat, and see one of my kitty tails made in fleece rather than in fur. It was a pretty great experience, and I'm thinking of offering these on a regular basis on my Etsy.Anyway....Here's a chronicle of my foray into Homestuck cosplay!I should probably disclaim here that I don't even read Homestuck; it's too dauntingly much to catch up on, and anyway I'm okay with absorbing it ambiently from being constantly surrounded by Homestuck fans. I do like it in concept, and I do love making fleece hats and kitty tails, so when an order came in for a Nepeta hat and tail to be worn to Anime Boston, how could I say no?For reference:As usual, I tried to stick with official art to keep the cosplay as authentic-looking as possible. My patron had originally sent me images of another cosplayer's hat that she wanted me to mimic, but out of respect for the artist, I informed her that I would be going my own way on it. She was stoked to have something unique that still stayed true to the original comic.The first things I asked for were measurements of my patron's height (so I could judge the appropriate tail length), the circumference of her head (so I could size the hat), and photos of her wearing the cosplay horns that she had purchased to go with the hat. The hat was made with holes that the horns could slip through, and I needed to know where I should place them.A front view of the hat. I used a simple "petal" type beanie pattern, but modified the middle two petals to include kitty lips. Two beanies were made; the outer one had the eyes and nose sewn on, and the inner one became the lining (which, as you'll see a couple pics down, I'm quite proud of).Close-up of the hat. The eyes and nose are satin-stitched stretch polyester, which I had leftover from a Halloween costume. I lined the beanie in fleece because I really wanted to capture the cute puffiness of the kitty-lips; I considered stuffing them lightly with Polyfil, but the fleece by itself looked so nice that I didn't need to.A close-up of one of the horn-holes. You can see how they're tacked on the ends for reinforcement, to keep them from ripping open even wider This is the part of the lining that I'm stupidly proud of: I worried about having to leave a slit in the "hem" to turn the hat rightside-in, but then I remembered I could just turn it out through the horn-holes. Duh. :PThe holes can be opened to allow cosplay horns to poke through......Or snapped shut, so it can be worn like a normal, everyday fleece hat (something my patron has enjoyed doing outside of conventions and cosplaying).A quick overview of the hat and tail together. The horn holes are snapped shut in this picture; you can see that the hat looks very natural.Here's the tail modeled on a real human butt (mine). Please keep in mind how incredibly short I am: a tail that's mid-calf length on my would be about knee-length on my patron. It's quite a bit shorter than Nepeta's "actual" tail, but just the right length for walking, running, sitting, jumping, and playing at a convention.My standard kitty tail design is heaviest at the tip, causing it to bounce and sway as the wearer walks. It's super cute. And best yet: Pictures of my patron in her full cosplay!A shot of her full costume with sign. Isn't she cute?! I like how the hat brings out the fluffy feathiness of the wig. >^.^