Way back in 1979, Bernat released this latch-hook kit. According to the poster on the reverse of the instructions, it was part of the Wonderful Wide World of Whiffits. I have no idea what a whiffit is, and google searches came up empty.
According to the poster, the T stands for Tiger. I have always loved tigers (having been born in the year of the Tiger) but I would never want an actual tiger skin rug, so this seemed a perfect solution. Fun, and whimsical. I did the latch-hook part right away, and sewed one ear front and back together, and then the parts traveled with me through my life and around the country for the next forty-six years! The amazing thing is that I did not lose any of the pieces, or the materials. The materials, and the all-important instructions, traveled in a box from a Rike’s department store (a Dayton, Ohio store) that is probably long since gone, along with two embroidery hoops and an old margarine container of beads and sequins (probably from a Christmas ornament kit). It should be noted that the only thing neatly contained in the box were the beads and sequins, the organizing of the yarn bits was done today.
When I was organizing my studio after my retirement I pulled everything out and promised myself that I would finally finish it. The hardest part, of course, was assembling the head. The top of the head was part of the body, but the sides and the throat were all separate pieces and had to be stitched together. The instructions said to whip stitch the canvas edges down, and sew the pieces together with the wrong sides facing, matching up marks to make sure that everything lined up correctly. The problem with that approach is that as soon as you sewed the canvas edges down you could no longer see the all-important marks that you needed to line up. So instead I assembled with the right sides facing, and did a running stitch through the canvas grid, tightening things as I went. It made the assembly easier, but then I had to turn the head right side out. That was a bit of a struggle, but I managed it without tearing anything apart. Stuffing the head was easy, but used a fair bit of stuffing. Sewing the ears on was also a little difficult, I whip stitched those in place. I have also basted the canvas edging under to prepare it for the final finishing. The instructions call for rug binding, and I have some coming tomorrow, but I might get some felt and just back the whole thing. The head is just adorable.
And Jezebel approves, as can be seen in this photo of her laying on it after I had partly stuffed the head, but before the ears were attached. She is a little bit hard to see, being a black cat.
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