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Cecil / the cat Briar

Cecil, the cat briar

This has to be one of my favourite makes ever! If you follow me on instagram you’ve probably seen this piece pop up over and over.

How it started is kind of a long story, and as always, has to do with me being just a tad crazy crazy hehe.

So when i was a kid my mom had a rather ridiculous knitted cat sweater, it had three cats on it, and one had a mouse hanging out of its month. And when i say hanging, i mean it, the mouse was a separately knitted piece, that hung off the sweater. It was both awesome and crazy. And for that, i’ve always loved that sweater.

So of course, i got it in my head to make myself a cat and mouse jumper in homage to my mom’s. But you know, a little more wearable :) And this is what i came up with!

Obviously i started with the Briar pattern, my darling, and i did all the work on the cat and mouse before constructing the sweater at all, it made it much easier to  handle. The cats body is appliqued fleece, and all the details are embroidered. I think Chris almost died laughing when i was finished, and this little Briar has been my favourite jumper all winter. My go to for days when i don’t know what to wear – “oh, i’ll just put Cecil on over that! done!”

And yes, i did name the cat – his name is Cecil. He’s obviously a bit of a cheeky troublemaker. Cecil don’t play with your food!! hehehe

Then things got really fun, when one of my dear friends daughter caught a glimpse of Cecil and fell in love too. Her favorite colour being purple i made her one exactly the same as mine, except in tween size.

We’re going to take over Perth one Cecil at a time hehehe

About Author

Meg is the Founder and Creative Director of Megan Nielsen Patterns, and is constantly dreaming up ideas for new sewing patterns and ways to make your sewing journey more enjoyable! She gets really excited about design details and is always trying to add way too many variations to our patterns.

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Gjeometry
9 years ago

Heeeee! Kitty and I both love this . Very cute!

Kieran
Kieran
9 years ago

OH MY GOODNESS that is AMAAAAZING! Like, seriously! I want one! So you embroidered Cecil, and then stitched him onto the sweater front before starting? Genius.
Also, Is that a rib knit that you used, and if yes, does the extra stretchy-ness affect the fit of your sweater, or how big you made the neckband/how the neckband sits?
My mind is still blown at this. I may have to plan a copycat version next winter. (get it, copyCAT? bahahaha)

Rachel
9 years ago

So flippin’ cute!

Adventures in Dressmaking

This is fabulous!! The embroidery is so cool! I’d love to try something like this on a sweater a’ la the J.Crew birdie one…

Shona Stitches
9 years ago

This is awesome! I just learned applique and keep coming up with crazy ideas for putting birds (and everything else) on things, but of course I’m having trouble keeping my taste level in check. Things like this can turn out really awesome or really tacky and it’s hard to walk that line just right. I think Cecil is perfect!

francesca
francesca
9 years ago

This is too too adorable! I am not a picture sweater person but this I would wear in a flash. I bet if you had to make these to sell youw ouldn’t be able to keep up. toooooo cute.

Kelly
9 years ago

I love it! We just got our first cat and I don’t know how it’s happened, but I kind of want cats on everything. A cat sweater is definitely on my list…

June
9 years ago

Cute!

Can I ask a question about your pdf patterns? Do they include an untiled full-size image that I can bring to a print shop to print out? I am willing to cut and tape paper for kids’ patterns, but I can’t bring myself to do that for adult patterns anymore (after one 56-page nightmare pattern). Thanks!