No Octopus was Harmed in the Making of this Cardigan

Can you tell I'm wearing an octopus?

A while back, I saw a black and turquoise octopus sweater at Think Geek - and I wanted it (along with a bunch of cool Doctor Who gadgetry!).  But I really didn't want to pay for it. And then they sold out. 

All hope seemed lost until I remembered that I had an old black cardigan, lightweight and tightly knit, along with a love of applique and massive fabric stash . . . a plan started to come together.

I put a piece of butcher paper over my old sweater and started sketching out an octopus. I was inspired by the cardigan I saw online (which you can see in the picture above), but mine quickly took off in a different direction . . .in part because I wanted the mantle to look at least somewhat realistic.  I based my drawing on images of the Giant Pacific Octopus, like the ones here.
 

I labeled and cut out the pieces of the sketch to create a pattern.  I raided my stash for some old t-shirts and stretchy fabrics and used the pattern to cut pieces of fabric out. I used a lot of fabrics with dots as a way of referencing suckers.  

I used Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 (a fusible webbing with a light tack) and my iron to attach the fabric pieces to the old cardigan. 

I love the way that it came out almost as though the octopus is camouflaged, and a little tough to see, since that's part of how octopus hunt and survive in the wild.

I stitched around the edges, just to secure it, and to outline the mantle and the curling of the tentacles. One of the tentacles wraps around the arm, and a few more curl around to the back.

Now, of course, I'm wondering if anything else needs an appliqued octopus on it . . .