Not-So-Ugly Christmas Sweater

Bob and I attended a White Elephant/Ugly Christmas Sweater party over the weekend. The problem is, neither of us have ugly Christmas sweaters.

We went to a few thrift stores a couple of weeks in advance and they were picked dry of everything Christmasy.

So I opted to make them.

I found a long turtleneck shirt that is an awful baby-poop green (I know this color from many dirty-diaper experiences) and decided that the awful color would make for something wonderfully ugly.

Boy was I wrong.

It turns out that I can't make ugly things.

You like how I'm leaning back against an invisible... something?

After getting home, I looked at the tag on the inside and it turns out that it's a men's big and tall shirt. Ha!

I have a bunch of bright red crushed jersey knit with coarse silver glitter on it. I drew a Christmas tree on some scrap paper, and used it as a pattern to cut a tree out of the red jersey.

I used clear thread (it's like really fine fishing line that I've seen quilters use a lot) and zig-zag stitched around the edges of it, being very careful and using the hand wheel of my machine a lot. Then I topped it all off by hand-sewing bells onto the tree as ornaments.

It sounded tacky in my head. But it didn't translate as tacky onto the shirt. I'm really not that upset over it, I guess.

I went to Costco for lunch on Monday (because I was craving a Polish dog) and as I was walking through the parking lot pushing Graham's stroller, a girl stopped me and asked where I had gotten my cute sweater. When I told her I made it she was surprised, and then sad that she couldn't get one for herself.

I wish I could bulk order some long turtle neck shirts in this color because then I'd make more to sell. Maybe next year.