Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Introducing the Put A Cat on It Sew Along!

If the mole is the unofficial mascot of chemistry, cats might just have to be the unofficial mascot of sewing. There are so many enthusiastic cat lady sewists out there, and I for one love it when these feline helpers pop up on my IG feed. When I shared my cat sweatshirt a couple months ago, quite a few of you voiced a desire for a cat-themed sew along, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. After consulting Walnut, we decided to host just such a thing during his birthday month!


Walnut turns eight on October 30 this year, so consider this his cat version of Promaballoona? (But less organized, because face it, I've got a cat and SHB underfoot, plus many student papers to grade; also less alcohol, because cats drink virgin wine.)

So how does this work? During the month of October, join me in sewing cat-related items in these three CAT-egories (sorry, I couldn't help it):
  1. items made from cat-print fabrics, either garments or accessories, or even home dec!
  2. items with cat elements, like applique or quilt blocks or elbow patches
  3. items for cats, such as toys or beds (or even garments, if you are courageous).
I'll be posting my own cat-themed makes, and at the end of the month we'll do a round-up of all the fabulous feline projects. While sewing your own unique cat fashion is incentive enough on its own, sew alongs are always better with prizes, so we do have some little bonus gifts!

If you've ever tried to sew garments from cat-print fabrics, you probably despaired, as I did, when you realized that first, they were very hard to find, and second, that what fabrics you could find were kids' pajama flannels from big box stores with ridiculous prints like this:

[source]

I love a ridiculous print as much as the next person, but sometimes you just want something more subtle, or at least more unique (oh, the horrors of running into somebody with a dress made from the same cat print fabric! I jest, of course, because that has never actually happened to me before. If that has happened to you, I would dearly love to hear about it). Well, despair no longer, furriends (sorry again), because Walnut and I are here to help you out. For each of the three categories listed above, I'll randomly select a winner to receive a free yard of fabric from Feline Dezine, an online store that specializes in cat fabrics. Like, there are PAGES and PAGES of them. If that's too overwhelming for you, I'll be spotlighting some of my favorites in another post.



And then of course, if you want to make your own cat fabric with whatever print or fiber content or weave you desire, there's always the print-your-own option with Spoonflower. I'll pick one grand prize winner to receive a Spoonflower Welcome Pack, so you can design or choose your own cat fabric in anything from performance knit (so you can take fake cats running with you, because heaven knows, a real cat won't) to silk crepe de chine (so you can take cats to a fancy dress party, I guess). I've wasted several hours browsing their many, many fabulous designs, so there's sure to be something to suit your fancy (feast. Wow, I really need to stop).



In case that's not enough incentive, for every participant in the sew along, I'll donate $8 (since Walnut's turning eight) to the San Francisco SPCA, which is where my family adopted Walnut's cantankerous but lovable uncles, Fenxi and Gummy. I love that the SPCA helped found the No-Kill Movement, plus they're super active with outreach and prevention.



I'm planning on making something in each category, but I'm still trying to decide what exactly. If you're in, leave a comment with your plans (or lack thereof)! You can also tag your makes on IG or Twitter with #putacatonitsewalong, and join the Flickr group to post your photos. I hope you'll join Walnut and I in celebrating sewing with cats!


28 comments:

  1. I love this! I will try, but I am also working on my w ending dress. Love cat items.

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    1. It doesn't have to be something huge and grand! I hope you join us, even if it's something small.

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  2. How do we enter? Is there an IG hashtag? I don't have a blog, but I do like sewing cats!

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    1. Oops, totally forgot to add the IG hashtag info! Thanks for pointing that out; it's been added now!

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  3. I recently lost my feline sewing buddy and I miss her terribly. What fun to sew something ( in my case a garment) that makes me think of her. Thanks for all the great links to sources for cat fabric.

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    1. My condolences on the loss of your dear helper! I hope having a wearable reminder of her eases the pain a little.

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  4. Love this! Does it count if I only finish something in October that I started in September?

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  5. Yes yes yes yes! I have no idea what i'll make but since I have about a billion cute cat face things pinned, that might have to be my direction! Thanks for hosting!!!

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  6. Oh boy oh boy! Count me in 😸

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  7. Count me in! This will give me incentive to photograph Felicity's latest dress.

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  8. Count me in! This will give me incentive to photograph Felicity's latest dress.

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  9. Oh how fun! I have some big goofy cat print flannel earmarked for bloomers, this sounds like the perfect excuse to make them up :) I also want to knit up some cat toys for my courageous little tiger for saving me from all of the yarn and bits of fluff around the house :3 I'm in!

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  10. Miss Ida would appreciate it if I finished her catpodbed (v 2.0). I know, it won't be as inviting as the laundry bag or the suitcase or the box or the box or that other box, but she did like v1.0 for about a month. Which is longer than any other cat bed I made for any other...oh no, You're My Only Cat!

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  11. I can't promise (I haven't done any machine sewing for several years and hand sewing was only for repair or refashion) but I do need a cover for my desk chair. Senna likes to sit on the chair with me while I am on the computer; she sits behind me so I am forced to sit up straight and not rely on the chair back.

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  12. So exciting, I've got a sweet idea (if i do say so myself)!

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  13. I've been eyeing up some ridiculous cat face print fabric for months, so thanks for giving me an excuse to finally buy it. I'm also contemplating a new school bag for my daughter with a paper pieced cat on it... We'll see how motivated I manage to be this month.

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  14. I'm in! I've got plans for a swishy sundress, but we'll see how I fare since I have to move apartments in the middle of this month.

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  15. You know I'm in! =D Needed an excuse to work on making my cat quilt block less derpy looking. ^^;;

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  16. Yay!!! I'll try to participate :) Happy birthday sweet Walnut!

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  17. I'm so in :) I'm going to use this as an excuse to sew up the cute kitty fabric I got from Gertie's spring line. I've already got it mostly sewn yesterday but realized I forgot to comment here. Yay for kitty clothing!

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  18. I want to take part, too! I adore my two cats as well as every cat stuff...

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  19. I've never joined a sew a long before, (nor commented on a blog) but I love cats, and I love your blog, so I decided to go for it. I even created a flickr account so that I could post to the group. Thanks for the inspiration to step out of the shadows! You'll see my crazy Halloween cat skirt in the flickr group:)

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  20. Just made my first cat item! Halloween bandannas! Check them out here: http://thepurlingprincess.blogspot.com/2015/10/kitty-halloween-bandannas.html

    Thanks for the fun sew along!

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  21. I was so excited when I read about Put A Cat On It. I don't use Flicker or any of the other services you mentioned, but I wrote a blog post with pictures of the tents that I just made for my cats: http://fabricoftime.blogspot.com/2015/10/whoa-thats-intense-dude.html Thanks for the inspiration!

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  22. I'm definitely participating. I made tents for my cats! http://fabricoftime.blogspot.com/2015/10/whoa-thats-intense-dude.html

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