Sunday 7 February 2016

Fred the Valentine Bulldog...

For quite a while now my fiance has been asking me if I could make him something using some t-shirts that have meant a lot to him in the past.  He has a bag full of old band t-shirts from some of the gigs that he went to years ago that I am going to use to make a keepsake memory quilt.

He also had a vintage style Fred Perry polo shirt that is a little snug for him now but he couldn't bear to send it to charity or to the recycling bin.  This is when the idea came to me.  Why not recycle it in my own special way and create something for him as a gift?

Fred Perry Polo Shirt
I wanted it to be something masculine that suited the bold colours and design of the shirt.  I toyed (excuse the pun!) with making a classic style teddy bear but me being me wanted more of a challenge.  

That's when I found a fabulous pattern for a bulldog over on the Funky Friends Factory website.  I love Pauline's patterns and use them quite a lot.  They always seem to work so well and are worded so that they are easy to understand.

I must admit that this pattern was a little harder than some of the other patterns that I have used and a little softie/plush pattern experience is advantageous if you want to have a go at making one.

Having said that, I must admit that I enjoyed every minute of making Fred the Bulldog!

Initially, Fred was just going to be plain black with the logo used somewhere on his body but as I started the design I realised that the logo fitted perfectly on his ear.

Fred's Ear
This left the rest of him a bit too plain so I added the fabric from a plain white t-shirt to give him a bit of contrast.

Fred's Face
I then thought incorporating the sleeve detail would work well but how?  I played around with a few options but eventually thought, why not make Fred look like he is wearing little tracksuit bottoms! I've got to admit that this idea is my favourite part of  Fred.

Fred's Trackies
It took a fair few hours to create him but I hope that you agree he was totally worth every minute. 


Fred The Bulldog


Now all I have to do is find the time to make a band t-shirt memory quilt!

Jayne
xxx

4 comments:

  1. Jayne!! He is utterly fabulous and I love the fact he's actually kept the name of Fred :D x

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    1. Thank you so much Gemma. I've only just seen this comment! Just shows how much attention I give my blog! J xxx

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    2. Thank you so much Gemma. I've only just seen this comment! Just shows how much attention I give my blog! J xxx

      Delete
    3. Thank you so much Gemma. I've only just seen this comment! Just shows how much attention I give my blog! J xxx

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