Fans that my son and I are of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, we've noticed that, on some episodes, there are little segments halfway through the show in which kids get to go on a factory tour, just like Mister Rogers himself used to do. During these segments, the kids put on (and zip up!) a Mister Rogers sweater. As far as I can tell, you can't buy cardigans like this anywhere -- regular readers of mine will already know how disinclined the Fred Rogers Company is in licensing their properties to merchandising. So what to do? Check it: you can put together a Mister Rogers/Daniel Tiger sweater just like I did for my stylish son (pictured above). Like most online craft tutorials, this project mostly involves buying stuff.
(EDIT: The following couple paragraphs are out-of-date. A reader tipped me off that the Heinz Center no longer sells the Mister Rogers patches. But they can be ordered directly from the Fred Rogers Company here!)
The first thing to do is to head on over to the online gift shop at the Heinz History Center, which has a pretty impressive Mister Rogers section. (Get the snowglobe while you're at it. It's awesome.) A little further down you'll see Mister Rogers trolley patches:
Order at least one, and when you get it, you'll get a Pittsburgh-themed greeting card thanking you for your purchase, signed by an actual sweet older lady (I assume from the handwriting), and here's what the patch looks like:
It doesn't have anything to do specifically with Daniel Tiger, but it's got the iconic trolley on it, and that's probably close enough for your little kid. I've turned my kid into such a Mister Rogers nerd anyway that it doesn't matter to him.
Now you've got to get your cardigan. Mister Rogers sometimes had button-up cardigans, but let's face it, that sweater's gotta ZIP. UP. Land's End has pretty good ones. Locally, we have a Land's End "Not Quite Perfect" store, where I found a returned, monogrammed cardigan for $22 (you'll see that the new ones online are a bit pricier).
It doesn't matter that it was monogrammed, because the patch goes right over it. I dabbed some E-6000 glue on the back of the patch, and over the general area under it on the cardigan, just before I sewed it on, as a little extra adherence to the knitted surface (and because I strangely like the smell of E-6000).
Guess what? Project's done. Now your kid's rockin' it Daniel Tiger style in his/her own Mister Rogers sweater.
Have you made your own Mister Rogers sweater? Be sure to let me know if you have! Email pics and permission to post them to p_krue@hotmail.com
Here's Sarah in her awesome red Daniel Tiger sweater:
EDIT: Be sure to check out my Daniel Tiger Red Trolley fabric print, now for sale at Spoonflower -- perfect for making Daniel Tiger pajamas!
