Shep's spotty fleece jumper!

When we were last on holiday in Cornwall we stumbled across some spotty fleece which we fell in love with. We only bought half a metre each with the view to perhaps making a dog bed each. My fleece is red with white spots and my friends is purple with white spots. It was only after we got home that I realised that half a metre just wasn't going to cut the mustard! Now yes of course, I could still have made a bed had I joined bits together.....or traded my dog in for a smaller model! Then my mind turned to what else I could make with it. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon the idea of making a fleece jumper for him! Poor lad! I already had an offcut of plain red fleece, so if I could combine the two, the finished article should look very smart.

Luckily, I found a Simplicity pattern (9520) for large dog coats on eBay and the best thing is, there are 6/7 different styles you can make, so it's real value for money. I've never used an actual pattern before of the tissue paper kind, so it was a bit of a learning curve! I quickly realised that once I'd looked at the pattern, trying to fold it back in the manor in which it arrived, was nearly impossible and required at the very least, a degree in origami!

Once I'd cut out the relevant pattern pieces, it was all too evident that half a metre of fleece was not wide enough to take the largest pattern piece. Not to worry I thought, all I need to do is to make the back piece in two halves and to join them together. Yes it would mean there was a join down the back but if I lined up the spots, it shouldn't look like it wasn't meant to be there!

It took me a while to engage brain but once I had, I was really pleased I managed to work out how to put the sleeves and the neck in. I did manage to break a needle tho as I attempted to use the method of placing the pins at right angles to the direction of sewing. I had read somewhere that this was the best method as you don't need to remove the pins as you go, you just sew over them. I was a little sceptical and fearful! I couldn't stop myself from slowing down as a needle approached but even then, I managed to break a needle clean off. Needless to say, I won't be trying that again anytime soon!

So here is my little man in his new fleece jumper....poor Shep!