Tag: Cats

Cat Suit – Sorta

Cat printed dungarees for the summer.

I made another iteration of the Ophelia Overalls from Decades of Style (previous versions here and here). This time, I used a ‘fine rib cord with cat print’ from a shop called babystofjes.nl (baby fabrics). I am not a baby, but I thought it was cute so I decided to go for it.

Brown dungarees with cat faces print
Brown dungarees with cat faces print
Brown dungarees with cat faces print

I made some changes to the pattern; I eliminated the buttons and flaps along the side, added an extra d-ring to the front pocket and the side, fully lined the front bib and made some adjustments to the facings of the back, and I cut it a little longer. Then I started thinking about wearing it with the straps down and what to do with them. The ochre version has shown me that it’s a little tight if I keep them attached to the bib. So, I improvised some ‘stap holders’ that attach with snaps at the pockets. This seems to work quite well.

Brown dungarees strap attachment
Brown dungarees bib view
Brown dungarees with large pockets

The one down side I’ve experienced so far is that the side straps are a bit slippy, so I tends to loosen a bit over time. If it turns out to be a massive problem, I’ll figure out a solution in due course. Probably more snaps..

Brown dungarees with cat faces print
Brown dungarees with the straps down.
Brown dungarees with the straps down.

I do think these are adorable though. The fabric is quite soft, doesn’t fray and is very light weight. Other people also seem to like them, so that’s fun. They are mostly for the hotter months though, I think a breeze would blow straight through.

Cheshire Tops

Making two different cat face shirts.

While stalking the local market recently, I discovered a jersey with Cheshire Cat faces on it. It was love at first sight and the length went home with me. It then languished in the hoard for a fair few weeks before I got up the energy to make a thing. One of my tried and true t-shirt drafts got picked first because I just wanted to have a cat eye shirt in rotation. My serger was being good and actually worked for the entirety of this project, so that made it a very quick sew. Not much more to say, I’ve got a fair few of these types of shirt in the cupboard and they all get a lot of wear.

After finishing that first top however, I had so much fabric left over that I started considering what to do with it. My penchant of keeping random short bits of fabric in the hoard means that I never seem to fully use up a fabric and I wanted to try and change that. I’d been thinking about bat wing tops for a while at that point as I’m planning on making one for my mother (have not completed that yet). So I looked for a pattern and settled on the Amy Bat Wing Top. Printed out the size small and tried to fit it on the fabric. That didn’t go exactly to plan so I cut the back in a top and bottom and reduced the length of the sleeves a little. Instead of hemming, I added a band along the bottom, similar to the arm bands. The neckline is also banded instead of made with facings.

When I first put it on, I couldn’t figure out if I liked it or not. The sleeves are approximately elbow length, which is not something I generally enjoy. The shape is also completely different to anything I normally wear. However, after living in it for a few days I decided that it was quite nice. I’m just not entirely sure if this will see much wear. There is a lot of fabric but short-ish sleeves so it won’t fit under a sweater but will it suit hot(ter) weather or not? Future will tell if it will escape the cupboard regularly.