A Cat Dress and A Cardi

You might remember a while back when I posted about buying some hand worsted yarn at our local farmers market. I have always wanted to make a cardigan/sweater for my girls and was trying to wait until I learned how to knit. I just love all the sweet knitted cardigans and sweaters I see others make! But I found this free crochet pattern, the BeBop Cardi, and it was so cute! I knew I could do that and it would give the look I wanted.

It was really fast to make in my opinion. I had to add a few extra rows at the neck so it wouldn’t fall off her shoulders though. I just kept with the rhythm of the pattern and added decreases in each row I did extra. I kept having her try it on until I was satisfied. This probably happened because the hand spun yarn was a different weight than the pattern called for. While making it, I made sure I was within the measurements that the pattern called for to adjust for this difference as well. I think I also had to use a smaller hook to get the size I needed. I feel like I have a good grasp on crocheting now and can easily make adjustments on simple patterns like this one.

Once the cardi was made, we made a trip to the fabric store and found this adorable cat fabric at Hancocks. I created a simple sundress pattern using a dress that fit miss J. I added a lining because the fabric was sheer. I also added ties to the shoulders.

I made a hi-lo hem on the bottom.

I was going to make the back close with a button, but the fabric happened to be laying down like this and I thought it was too pretty. So I just tacked it in place.

Miss J might not get much more use of this cardi for a while as it is starting to warm up, but there is room to grow in it and then it can be passed down to miss E. That’s one of the extras of having two daughters 🙂

-Jess