MERRY T-REXMAS
by Blog Editor, Selvedge
With a jumper of epic proportions, the Natural History Museum’s famous Tyrannosaurus rex has been given a festive makeover from family-run, Leicester-based knitwear manufacturer British Christmas Jumpers.
"When it comes to festive challenges, there is probably none bigger than dressing a dinosaur for Christmas day, but when the team from the Natural History Museum London’s Dinosaur Gallery got in touch with this mammoth request we jumped at the chance!"
Proving that even the most fearsome of prehistoric creatures can’t resist a good Christmas jumper, ‘Rex’ the animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex, sported their very own mammoth version of this year’s Natural History Museum festive sweater for the whole of December 2021.
Made by the team at the British Christmas Jumpers factory in Leicester, the giant jumper was the brainchild of Natural History Museum Buyer and Product Developer, Carla Treasure and British Christmas Jumpers Director, Snahal Patel.
"It's been a really, really challenging year for heritage and visitor attractions and we really wanted to do something which would generate interest", says Carlo. "All the proceeds from the sale of these jumpers goes back to supporting the museum, not only for its pioneering research but also caring for its 80m specimens."
Snahal commented “We absolutely love a challenge at British Christmas Jumpers, but this dino-sized jumper has to be the biggest and craziest! Luckily our team of Xmas experts were not phased when we suggested it and have worked tirelessly to make sure ‘Rex’ looks their best for the festive season.
The entire process of knitting a sweater to fit a dinosaur took about 100 hours to complete, with 4 fittings and prototypes required.
During the fitting process, the museum technicians were on hand to pause the T. rex’s movements while the British Christmas Jumpers team measured the dinosaur using step ladders and an extra-long measuring tape.
The final jumper measures nearly four feet around the neck, nine and a half feet around the shoulders and just over 10 feet around the body, weighs approximately 12.5 the size of an average child’s Christmas jumper and is a perfect replica of the Natural History Museum Shop's 2021 Christmas jumpers.
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Find out more about British Christmas Jumper's gargantuan jumper here. Or to read more about their human-sized jumpers, visit their website: www.britishchristmasjumpers.com
All images courtesy British Christmas Jumpers.