Finished Memory Dogs (and a bonus)

These are for family members on DH's side to remember his SIL who passed a few years ago.

Her daughter asked me to use two of her mum's embroidered sweatshirts to make 2 memory dogs, one for her sister and the other for her daughter. 

The green sweatshirt had a few bits of embroidery which wouldn't fit onto the tummy of the first dog, so the second dog has a butterfly on its tail and I also made a surprise gift for the requestor to remember her Mum.

There wasn't enough fabric remaining for another dog, but I did manage a hanging heart with a wording, a scrap of the original embroidery and a label from one of the sweatshirts.

She was pleased with the photos of the dogs, so I hope she's happy to get them at the weekend, and likes her bonus heart :-)

For construction I had two sewing machines both with a jersey needle, one with pink thread, the other with turquoise and constructed the dogs in parallel. The pattern is Kip the Keepsake Dog by Funky Friends Factory.

Wording was embroidered on my Janome Memory Craft 200E and then the pieces cut out afterwards.

The heart was self drafted. 

An adapted "Sweater Weather Pullover" by My Handmade Wardrobe

The "Sweater Weather Pullover" is the November pattern for The Weekend Sewing Club by My Handmade Wardrobe.

It's a Unisex pattern. I've made an XL as a gift. I added a centre front zip and 3 pockets (two embroidered with a Rugby ball logo)

Sweater Weather Pullover Version 2

 

This is the same pattern but the alternative sleeve plus a few other tweaks.

I put the standard neckband in initially but the layers had shifted, I'd caught it in the overlocker and it was not good. I cut the ruined neckband off, which made the neckline lower and the only long strip of fabric I had was quite narrow, so a new slim neckband. 

This version has the bishop sleeves. I made the hem band and the cuffs slightly shorter in length, but kept the depth. It was a real struggle due to the fabric but I love the end result.

The fabric is a stretch velvet which is very slippery. I had to change my approach a bit to sew it successfully.  For each band I sewed the short ends and pressed the seam open. I then folded the band in half, but before attempting to apply it, I machine basted the two layers together. This then gave me a stable band to apply. To keep things in place I used sewing clips and extra long pins which I wove in and out several times and sewed slowly on the machine checking nothing had slipped, then overlocked afterwards. For a very simple top it took a long time!

The "Sweater Weather Pullover" by My Handmade Wardrobe

This is the November pattern for The Weekend Sewing Club by My Handmade Wardrobe. I've made two very different versions for myself in size Large. Here's the first.

The main sweatshirt is sewn from a thick fleece backed sweatshirting. It didn't have enough stretch for the bands and the burgundy ribbing I had clashed terribly, so I went through my knit fabrics looking for something stretchy enough and co-ordinating. I ended up with this lovely leaf print.

This one is sewn as per the pattern with some minor exceptions. I scooped the front neckline slightly and raised the back neck and I added a pocket, 6 inches wide by 8 inches tall (approx 15cm x 20cm) with approx 1.5" (4cm) hem at the top. I also made the cuffs slightly shorter.

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 4 : Add embroidery

Emerald Green - ideas for bringing in a specific colour to your wardrobe - Part 4 : Add embroidery

Butterfly Sweatshirt

Apparently the nineties are back. I still have some of my patterns from then, so thought I'd give this one a go. The pattern is dated 1992 and I probably bought it in the mid 90s when I first got an overlocker as it specifically says "Focus on Overlock (Serger) Sewing"

The fabric is a cream coloured french terry which has been in my stash for several years.

Pattern Description:
Sew News Pattern
Misses' unlined cardigan, vest, tunic and pants - for stretch knits only: very loose-fitting unlined cardigan or vest has dropped shoulder, shoulder pads and top-stitching details; very loose-fitting tunic, with collar of self or ribbed knit neckband, has , has dropped shoulders and optional shoulder pads; pull on pants have partially stitched front pleats, side seam pockets, foldback waistline casing with elastic and optional button-on self fabric stirrups.

Pattern Sizing:
Single sizes in X-Small to X-Large, my pattern is a Medium (14-16) which is the size I was in the 90s. These days I'm larger but the garment is so loose fitting it was fine!

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I made View C, shortened by 7" so it was high hip rather than tunic length.
As the fabric was rather plain I measured carefully and used my embroidery machine to add some embroidery to the front before construction. Afterwards I tore the interfacing away around the design to avoid it being too stiff on the front.

The embroidery design is intended to use different colours to this, but I replaced them with various shades of emerald, aqua and blue.

I plan to wear this with self sewn jeans and of course my emerald green trainers (sneakers).