Thursday, December 20, 2012

3D Cat Eyes Sweater



This slightly creepy, but also all-kinds-of-cool cat sweater by Pretty Snake has been sitting in my Pinterest inspiration folder for ages, and I finally got around to making my own, slightly more subdued version of it. This sweater was in my mom's donation pile, and I'm pretty sure it's right out of the eighties; it's all oversized and shapeless and had the most awkward sleeve cap/armscye combination ever, but it's also wool and quite warm. I figured it was a pretty good blank slate for a refashion, as it pretty much involved no cost to me. I already had a scrap of black jersey, plus some nice green cat eyes from my shopping excursion with Debi, so I quickly sketched out and cut up a cat face and got to stitching. I used a hand applique stitch that made the edges of the jersey scrap all puckery, which actually helped to make it look more irregular and fur-like.

Before: large, nondescript, and shapeless with an odd, pulling shoulder/armscye/sleeve. After: fitted, unique sweater with an odd, staring cat face. I'm pretty sure that's miles better. 
You can see here how my stitches made the edges all puckery and irregular. And in case you wanted to see what it looked like on the wrong side, there you go -- I used wire cutters to cut off some of the peg on the back of the eyes, then sanded down the edges with a nail file. I had to arrange the cat so that the eye pegs would jut into the gap caused by my insignificant cleavage. Also, the label was in Russian, strangely enough. Elaine translated it for me and said it appears to be wool tricot. 

Should you want to make your own, you can download this drawing and stitching diagram here.


I'm pretty excited about this sweater, as it's just bizarre enough to suit me without being too over the top. Plus, that cat's wide eyes totally remind me of Walnut's. Unfortunately, he was in no mood for a photo shoot, so we had to settle for the other family cats.

I love how the cat on my sweater just looks like it's shocked to see Fenxi. Incidentally, for those of you who were wondering, Fenxi's not an outdoor cat, but he does love going outside whenever the door is open and he can sneak out. This has led to some panic attacks, but thankfully he's never wandered far, nor has he ever been unaccounted for for more than 24 hours. He's microchipped, too, so that's also helpful for our peace of mind.  
Gummy was camped out in his usual spot on top of the kitchen cabinets, so we tried to get him in the pictures too. Fenxi did not want to share the spotlight, even though my sister tried to force him into the picture. 

Speaking of family cats, did I mention that we're back in the city for the next couple of weeks? Any Bay Area sewasauruses want to hang out? Or is it too scary to meet up with somebody who will wear their crazy cat lady status on their sleeve? Errr, chest?

I promise I'm not an axe murderer!



14 comments:

  1. I love the color of the sweater and you made it fit SO much better! The cat makes it quirky fun! As you say, miles better. =)

    If the eye pegs are still a little annoying, try gluing a small piece of fleece over each of them.

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    1. I'm pretty sure my mom just called it weird, but I prefer quirky ;) She was pretty pleased that I managed to salvage the sweater, though!

      I'll keep the fleece thing in mind; right now I just wear a cami under the sweater since the wool can get itchy, and that works out pretty well.

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  2. I live in Livermore and work in San Jose, and would love to hang but I have tons of fill in shifts over the next couple of weeks. Maybe when you move back to the Bay Area.

    I think this is my favorite "put a cat on it" yet, I laughed at the before shot once you pointed out the sleeve cap/armscye issue even though it's really not all that funny looking. I love wool, I would've rescued it too.

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    1. Aww, okay, I'll look forward to a hangout next year! The sleeve cap thing isn't as obvious when my arms are down by my sides, but when I lifted them up it was ridiculous. And yes, wool is too good not to save...there were a bunch of acrylic sweaters that I let her donate :)

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  3. This is my absolute favourite one so far!! It's so adorable, and so graphically awesome as well!! ^___^

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    1. Thanks, although all credit for the graphic goes to Pretty Snake, as mine is totally a knockoff of theirs!

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  4. I love how you have re-fitted this jumper, it looks so much better; and the cat's face is great!

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    1. Thanks! The way it was before, I couldn't even wear a jacket properly since the armscye was so low! And the cat face makes me giggle when I see it in a mirror.

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  5. I'd hang out with you if the damn Atlantic ocean wasn't in the way. I'm also a self-confessed crazy cat lady. No exclamation marks there cos it ain't a joke. We could make cat themed clothing all. the. time.

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    1. It's too bad I didn't "know" you two years ago! My husband and I were in Birmingham on our anniversary trip so that I could see the "two towers" that inspired Tolkien. But yes, we could cat it up so hard!

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  6. As always, very cool. I love the shaping you've given the top too. I've got a couple of cardigans I'm thinking of changing but I'm awfully shy around cutting and sewing a knitted garment. Any tips?

    Again, love the shape you've come up with for the kitty.

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  7. I love that you're doing this! I've been going back to all your "put a cat on it" posts all week rereading them and looking at the pictures because I love this idea so much! I'm very much into embellishing sweaters now because I love wearing stuff I sew but when it comes to winter it's much harder to sew a whole wardrobe (I can never find nice sweater fabrics!) so I feel this this is my way to add me "touch" to the garment. Last week I started embroidering a cat on on of my sweaters totally inspired by you. I'm hoping to finish it this weekend! thank you so much for inspiring me!

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  8. I love this! Definitely my favourite of all the cat stuff! Now I want to go find a sweater to refashion.

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  9. Are you still here?! I'm so behind on my blog reader that I'm only now catching up on your cat sweater series. Say hello if you're still here!

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