Tiny Cat Appliqued Sweater

Did you know my Dolman Sleeve Top can also be made up in cozy sweater knit? Of course you knew that. I mean, technically it can be made up in any fabric -- you could even make it in quilting cotton if you want; it just wouldn't fit anyone in any kind of remotely flattering way. But I digress. I knew I wanted a more winter-appropriate version of this go-to top pattern, so I made it up in a mystery sweater knit from SAS Fabrics. It's a very normal, eminently practical navy blue, so I decided that it needed a little something to make it special. Solution: put a cat on it!

I cut out a cat silhouette from a piece of scrap black knit, then used Steam-A-Seam fusible webbing to fuse it to the bottom right front. After some very careful stitching around the edges and a generous steaming, I had my own subtle cat sweater! The black cat is so unobtrusive that it doesn't take away from the goes-with-everything-ness of the sweater, but it's there for people who are looking.

If you want to make your own cat-applique sweater, I've made my cat silhouette into a "pattern" that you can download. In case you're wondering, it was actually based on Walnut's silhouette, but slightly chibi-ified/super-deformed.

Walnut doesn't actually sit with his tail up, though. 

My cat is flipped around because I accidentally had the fabric wrong side up when I was tracing the shape it was a design element.

To make the sleeves long enough to keep my wrists warm, I extended the pattern lines out by about ten inches, but also kept them more parallel instead of tapering in. Other than that, making the sweater version was pretty much the same as making it in a regular knit. Since I don't have a serger, I topstitched the shoulder and back seam allowances to keep them from unraveling.

I've bought so many RTW sweaters in the past that hiked up whenever I put my arms above my head, or had too-short sleeves that made it look like I was outgrowing my clothes every time I bent my elbows. With me-made, I can correct for all of those things!