biscuit: Catnap kitten dress contest

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Catnap kitten dress contest

So I have entered the Catnap Kitten Dress Contest run by Lizzy House.

My picture includes Penelope's snug: Meow. We have two. In case she loses one. There is no moment where Meow is not needed. I think if we went on holiday and left him behind we would have to come home and get him. Cats are important in our house. So a pocket for him seemed like a grand idea.

The pattern
The dress pattern I followed is Shannon's Sally Dress.I have made the no arms version.

About this pattern
It's really long! Which is great. You get this mega PDF with loads of diagrams and instructions so you are led all the way through. It makes it so much easier. The only problems I had were my own stupidity and inexperience which meant I ballsed up a few things and my brain trying to compute the inner/outer/wrong/right side of things. I had to really sit and go over some of the instructions over and over again. But I am not a dress maker. My mum is a dress maker. I have not made many items of clothing at all really.

I have made this dress once before. I think I have got slightly better at it this time round. I would definitely make it again as I love the pockets and I really enjoy making it. I'd even make another catnap version using the orangey fabric next time. I did alter the pattern this time round by adding the slit and button on the back as Penelope will not sit still or help with dressing so it needs to be easy.

The fabric
The fabric is from Backstitch (unless stated otherwise below. I used a few scraps for pocket lining to make it a bit more exciting), a great UK based fabric site. It's hard to get modern quilting fabric in the UK, let alone really good websites that sell it. This site is both AND it will soon be a shop in Cambridge at Burwash. You get to see the big pig, have tea and cake, hit the toy shop then cruise the fabric store. Family outing checkboxes all ticked.

So the main cat fabric is:Purrfectly Happy: Cloud
The bodice, right pocket and The appliqué cat nose are all Pearl Bracelets: Grape Jelly
The bodice inside and outer left appliqué pocket are a tiny purple spot from Fabrics Galore yonks a go
The left pocket grey stripe lining is from Little L's yonks a go. I love it so much I hardly ever use it!
The right pocket pink dot lining is a really old scrap, I have no idea where from.
The appliqué cat face is: Klona Cotton: Natural (Seeded)
The appliqué cat cheeks are:Klona Cotton: Pale Pink

Here is Penelope in the dress. It's too big for her right now which is how I wanted it. I really want her to be properly walking before I hamper her with too many dresses. At the moment we live in shorts and tights. In fact, my next project is going to be Bubble shorts. More on that later. We were going to go to The Science Museum this weekend and photograph her in the dress in some cool place or a stylish café but the trains weren't working and the wind was howling like a banshee. All the plastic sheeting blew off the house opposite and our wall is going to topple anyday. It is definitely staying indoors weather. Stickers instead.