Sweater Sarge

When Elizabeth Hartman released her Dogs in Sweaters pattern earlier this spring, I snatched it up, knowing I had to make a version for my mom, who has a ridiculously cute dachshund named Sarge. I decided to just make the pillow version, and I was so happy with how it turned out! Pillow Sarge, meet real-life Sarge:

I've made a lot of Elizabeth's animal patterns (fox [here, here, and here], hedgehog, flamingo, dog), so I'm comfortable with her basic approach to assembly (namely, a lot of diagonal lines and stitch and flip). After last surviving the flamingos, the dachshund was no problem. It also didn't hurt that I only made one. Still, that's a lot of pieces for one dog.

I assembled it over the course of a few nights, including quilting. I kept it simple, thinking I didn't want a lot of dense quilting to take away from the image. For the back, I used a lovely Japanese linen from my stash and quilted vertical lines using the fabric as my guide.

On the front, I used Essex yarn-dyed in Flax for the background, Moda Bella solids for the dog body, a citron gingham print from Tucker Prairie for the main part of the sweater, and a bit of Rhoda Ruth for the cuffs.

I mailed him off to my mom for Mother's Day, and she was thrilled, so what more could you want?