This neon yellow cat looks as if it was knitted from clay: every blocky face is covered in tiny loops, from its stepped body to its chunky pink boots and the pink tip of its curly tail. Big black goggle eyes with white ovals give it a startled stare. The steps build the body and head over foil cores, stand it on four short legs, wire the tail and add the eyes, then press a scrap of knitted fabric into every face. The picture is here for inspiration: follow the steps as a guide, then change the colours, the texture, the tail or the eyes to make your own version.
The pictures began as AI-assisted concept images and are here for inspiration. The steps are a guide to making your own version, so change the colours, size or details as you like. Clay brands, ovens, glues, finishes and hardware behave differently, so follow their product instructions and bake a scrap before a batch. Some product links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Check listing details, dimensions, materials, and fit before you buy. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Full disclosures
What gives it this look: the loops are about 2 mm across and cover everything, including the pink and the eyes, so the whole cat reads as one soft material while the silhouette stays square. On a cat about 10 cm long and 9 cm tall to the tail tip, the body is about 6 cm long and 3.5 cm square, the head about 4 cm wide and set a little higher than the back, and the legs so short that the pink feet, about 2.2 cm long, look like boots. The tail rises about 5 cm from the back before curling forward. The eyes fill most of the front of the head.
Lookbook view
Before step 1, find a scrap of chunky knitted or crocheted fabric with small, even stitches, such as an old jumper cuff, and press it once into a scrap of clay to check the loops come out the size you want. Clear a glossy tile to build the cat on, so it is never lifted and the texture is never squashed. Use Sculpey Premo in every colour, so one packet's bake instructions cover the whole cat.
Crush heavyweight aluminum foil hard into two rectangular blocks: one about 4.8 cm long, 2.3 cm wide and 2.3 cm tall for the body, and one about 2.8 cm wide, 2.3 cm tall and 2.3 cm deep for the head, each about 1.2 cm smaller every way than the finished block. Pack them tight: loose foil leaves air pockets that can bulge or crack the clay in the oven.
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Condition all the Sculpey Premo Fluorescent Yellow together and roll it about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, with a 6 mm guide strip or an equal stack of playing cards under each end of the roller. Cut a slab for each face of each block, like wrapping a parcel, press the slabs on with their edges butted, then press each face flat with the acrylic block against the tile. Trim each long top edge of the body into two small steps with the tissue blade held upright, so the body looks built from pixel layers, as in the picture.
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Roll four solid yellow legs about 1.5 cm square and 1.2 cm tall, and cut four pink feet about 1.5 cm wide, 2.2 cm long and 1 cm tall. Join each leg to the back of its foot with a thin film of Bake & Bond, so the foot sticks out in front, and stand them on the tile under the four corners of the body. Film the leg tops and lower the body onto them, then film the back of the head and press it onto the front end of the body, a little higher than the back, as in the picture. Pinch two stepped pink ears about 2 cm tall and stand them on the head. Look from the front and the side: the cat should stand level with the head centred.
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Bend a length of armature wire into the tail: straight up from the back of the body, then curving forward at the top. Push the bottom end about 2 cm into the back of the body. Wrap the wire in a yellow log about 1.2 cm thick, press its sides flat with the block into a squarish tail, and press a pink block about 1.8 cm long onto the tip. The wire holds the tail up; the clay alone would lean as it softens in the oven.
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Roll black and white about 1 mm thick (between two stacks of three playing cards). On 2 mm graph paper, draw the eyes as one stepped goggle shape: two rounded frames joined in the middle, each holding two tall white ovals side by side with a black line between them, and a short stepped mouth line below the middle. Build them flat on parchment: cut the goggle from black, cut the white shapes out of it and drop white pieces from the same template into the holes. Dab a few traces of Bake & Bond on the face, slide the blade flat under the eyes, lower them into place and tap them down through parchment. Add the black mouth line below.
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Now the texture. Take a scrap of chunky knitted or crocheted fabric, such as the cuff of an old jumper, and dust it lightly with cornstarch so the clay does not stick in the stitches. If the clay feels warm, chill the cat briefly first. Lay the fabric over one flat face at a time, press it evenly with the acrylic block, and lift it straight off: every face should come away covered in small loops, as in the picture. Work round the body, head, legs, feet, ears, tail and over the eyes, pressing the edges with a fingertip through the fabric. Sweep away any white cornstarch left in the loops with a soft dry brush.
Stand an oven thermometer beside the tile and tuck a pad of polyester fiberfill under the pink tail tip, so the curl cannot droop while the clay softens in the oven. Bake by the instructions on your Sculpey Premo packet, going by the thickest solid clay, the legs and feet, since the foil cores are not clay. Let it cool fully on the tile, then press the tail, ears and eyes gently: nothing should move.
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Leave the cat as it comes out of the oven. The picture has no glaze: a coat would fill the little loops, and the plush look comes from the texture catching the light.
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What you will need
Everything here is used in the steps above, plus a scrap of chunky knitted or crocheted fabric from your own cupboard or the knit texture mat. Most makers already own the tools, so tick those off first.
About four 2 oz (57 g) blocks of fluorescent yellow make a cat about 10 cm long and 9 cm tall to the tail tip, with foil in the body and head; one block of pink covers the feet, ears and tail tip, and small pieces of black and white make the eyes.
Crushed hard into two rectangular blocks, it fills the body and head so the yellow is an even 6 mm wall to bake through instead of solid clay several centimetres thick.
The neon yellow of the body, head, legs and tail. Buy all four blocks at once and condition them together, so every block of the cat matches.
The chunky pink feet, the stepped ears and the block on the tip of the tail.
A length bent into the curl of the tail and pushed deep into the body holds the tall, thin tail up while the clay softens in the oven.
A thin film where the legs, head, ears and tail meet the body and a trace under the eye pieces bonds them in the oven, so nothing lets go after baking.
The goggle outline of the eyes, the line between the two whites of each eye and the little mouth.
The two white ovals inside each eye; a small corner of the block is enough.
For step 6 if you have no knitted scrap to hand. Use the plain all-over knit mat from the set in place of the fabric: dust it with cornstarch, lay it over one flat face at a time, press it evenly with the acrylic block and lift it straight off. Each mat is about 10 cm square, so one press covers even the long side of the body.
A light dusting on the knitted fabric before each press stops the clay sticking to the stitches, so the loops lift out crisp instead of tearing.
A soft dry brush sweeps away any white cornstarch left in the loops before the cat goes in the oven.
Tick what you already have, then get only what is missing.
Rolls the 6 mm yellow for the block walls and the thin black and white for the eyes, with an equal stack of playing cards under each end.
Presses each face of the blocks flat and square, then presses the knitted fabric evenly into each flat face.
Cuts the wall slabs and the stepped edges of the body, ears and eye outline square.
Traces the eye template, lifts the white pieces into place and dabs the adhesive.
Build the eyes flat on it, then lay it over them to tap them down without fingerprints.
Build and bake the cat standing on the tile, so it is never lifted and the texture is never squashed.
Sits beside the tile so you bake at the temperature on the Premo packet; fluorescent colours darken if the oven runs hot.
For a tail tip that droops before baking, or a part that comes loose or cracks after.
A pad under the pink tail tip holds the curl up while the clay softens in the oven.
Only if the tail, an ear or an eye piece comes loose after baking, or for Sculpey's crack repair mixed with dust from a baked offcut.
Each one walks through a technique used in this piece, in full detail.
Small figurines look simple until the base wobbles, the cap droops, or the face gets smudged while you are still shaping the body. This guide covers the order of operations that keeps polymer clay characters stable with cleaner features.
Five ways to build polymer clay pixel art, compared on one 12 x 12 design: stacked cutter layers, one stepped silhouette, square tiles, a pixel cane or clay beads, plus the sum that sets each pixel's size.
Bake flat pieces on a glossy tile and move them onto plain card only for a matte back. Hold curves, limbs and overhangs with fiberfill, crumpled foil or an oven-safe glass form, bake round beads on skewers, and leave everything on its support until it feels cool.
Custom range
Ask for a build pack to make it yourself (a supply list and a making plan for your version), or ask the studio to make the finished pieces for you.
More small desk figures to make next, with different shapes, textures and faces.
Pin it to a board, copy the link, or keep it saved here while you make your own version.
Tag Clay Bake Studio on Instagram or TikTok so we can see how you adapted it.
