Sewing Challenge 1/52: Something warm or soft

I love to sew, but sometimes I do not feel like I am challenging myself. To really challenge myself I decided I wanted to go out of my comfort zone and joined the 52 Week Sewing Challenge on Facebook. Every week there is a new theme, and even though you can decided if you want to accept or reject the challenge, my goal is to accept the challenge every week for a year. I will share with you what I have made each week.

The first week was something warm or soft. I actually ended up making two items this week.

Cowl

I had the perfect idea. I wanted to make a warm cowl that goes down in a V shape so that I get more warmth coverage. This has been on my mind for a couple of weeks, since I went on a long-weekend mountain trip in the middle of December. I made a quick fleece cowl and headband for the trip. It was awesome but I wanted something that would just cover underneath the zipper so that I don’t need it the zipper and buttons on my jacket all the way (and my zipper slips a bit at the top as well).

A quick Pinterest search and I found the perfect link. How to make your own pattern. For some reason I actually can’t find it. I have no idea where it was gone. I tried Google and Pinterest. No luck. After looking around for what seems like hours. I finally find it on my history on my phone. Guess what, it was a norwegian pattern. No wonder my English search did not come up with much. Here is the link from Lykketing.

I followed her directions and measurements and made the pattern. Then I cut out my pattern in two fabrics – microfleece and jersey. I sewed it all together and it looked awesome. Just one thing left to do. Try it on. I put in on my head and pulled down. It got stuck halfway over my face. I was mortified. What on earth had I done? I checked her post again. Oh I made a small mistake when making my pattern. The width was for a size 2-3 years old! Oh no. I felt like such a failure.

I posted a fun picture in the group with a big FAIL stamp on it. Oh they are so dear these people, I love this comment: “Technically it still qualifies for the rules. No one said it had to be usable. “

Failed Cowl = Cute Dog Coat

I did not want it to be unusable. So plan B was made. It might not fit my head, but guess what – it fit my dog! So I slit it open on the longest part, added two rows of fleece and added snaps. Two holes underneath for the legs. Voila! A coat for my dog. Spamming you with dog pictures now.

I apologise about the weird last picture. I had to bribe her with doggycandy so you could see how the underside looks. As it goes up in a V its good for both girls and boys! I think this could be really easy to hack to make a dog coat for any size dog.

Just for information, my dog is an allergy friendly dog so she only has hair and not an undercoat, so she needs to wear coats when she is outside in the cold. She also gets less dirty, which is always positive.

Socks

The second item I made for this week were socks. This time I ended up using a Swedish pattern I had had on my browser bar on my phone forever. These socks are not the prettiest, but I couldn’t use the seam I was supposed to, flat lock seam. I couldn’t get it to work on my inherited 25 year-old pfaff hobbylock 776. So I used an overlock seam and stitched it to one side.

You can find the pattern on Helt Vanlig Dag.

I used a fabric that was some left overs of some pants I have made. They are jersey-like on the outside, but soft in the inside, maybe like minky.