The Latest Dog Snack, or (my dog ate my pattern sewing guide)

Last month I was in full Christmas present sewing construction mode (making three men’s shirts) when, upon entering my sewing space, I encountered the following on the floor:

While it’s true that I’ve made this particular shirt pattern more than 20 times, there are still moments when I’ve found it helpful to review certain construction steps along the way, especially if it’s been a while since I used it. Of course I could most likely have winged it and completed the shirts with relative ease, but seeing the missing part of the instructions was a tad annoying. Then I went upstairs and found the canine pattern guide muncher:

When I saw that defiant, smug expression I had to laugh.

The pattern I was using was Janet Pray’s Classic Sport Shirt which is unfortunately now out of print.

I decided to reach out to the pattern maker, Janet Pray at Islander Sewing:

https://stores.islandersewing.com/

and included details and photos of my little saga. Janet wrote back and said my story and photos made her laugh harder than she had in weeks.

As it happened, even though the Classic Sport Shirt pattern is now out of print, Janet still had copies of the pattern guide and graciously sent me a replacement. She also took a photo of the sewing guide page I had with the missing center section and sent it to me to help tide me over before the replacement guide arrived. Talk about generous and kind! This is one of the things I like about independent pattern companies, personal connections and great communication.

I’m happy to report that with Janet’s help, I was able to finish all three shirts I was making in time for Christmas.

Here is one of them in Forest Green:

I’m still not sure how our sneaky cocker spaniel finagled that folded pattern guide off my cutting table. Given previous pattern tissue mishaps, I’m usually pretty careful about not leaving pattern pieces, sewing guides, (or anything paper-related for that matter) within her destructive scope. I guess this latest caper will remain a mystery for the time being. 🙂