Paper bag pleats

May 24, 2012 Peneloping

When I was little I was fantastic at getting ready for trips. I would be so excited about impending vacations that I would be all packed and ready to go a week in advance and then spend that week living out of my tiny pink Sanrio suitcase. (Yes, I was adorable.)

Now, though, I suck. Now that my clothes are no longer tiny and I have to budget the number of outfits I bring places, it’s become a dilemma I avoid. And by dilemma I mean #firstworldproblems.

The point is, I’ve been a busy bee today scrambling to do all of the things I’ve put off the past few days in preparation for my trip home tomorrow morning at the glorious (*gag*) hour of 6am. And that’s just when our flight leaves, we’re getting up at 4am. I am soooo excited. (Not.)

On a less grumpy note, here’s a skirt I made a few weeks ago!

top: H&M, skirt: self-made (using this pattern), tights: F21, shoes: Seychelles Ampersand

I used linen because I wanted something drapier than denim, but in retrospect I probably should have gone with a lighter denim because the linen not only wrinkles like hell but is also a wee bit saggy.

I vaguely went with the pattern but branched off a bit because I got confused. I also widened my belt loops a fair bit.

I do love how it turned out though. Especially the bow. :]

And that it goes with my favorite shoes. Which I’m currently trying to justify bringing home even though I probably won’t have a chance to wear them. Details.

PS OMG I’m pretty sure this is the exact suitcase I used to have!!

Chambray&Lace

May 21, 2012 Peneloping

Last week I saw this Denim + Lace tutorial over at A Beautiful Mess and immediately decided I had to try it.

I finally made it out to the thrift store yesterday and after twenty minutes of panicked perusing (during which I went from “Of course they’ll have a million chambray shirts” to “Omg they won’t have any at all and I won’t be able to do this project”), found a chambray button up shirt that 1) fit me, and 2) didn’t have gross embroidering.

(No seriously, there were a few with American flags and even one with Christmas elves and holly all across the chest. -shudder-)

Anyhoo, after the thrift store I popped over to the fabric store for some lace. I loved the striped lace Elsie and Emma used but I wanted something a little more floral for mine. Luckily I found just what I was looking for! -squee-

Once I got home, it took about five full minutes to convince myself to cut into a perfectly good shirt, and I had to double check about six times that I was cutting in the right place. I even had to take a picture of the first slice to document it.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a difficult project. In fact, this is an incredibly easy and fun project. I’m just a paranoid idiot. :]

Anyway, once I got going it was easy breezy. I even decided to sew a little bit of scrap lace onto the tiny pocket on the front!

Anyways, this was a totally easy and awesome project. And it was so fun I sprouted a mustache!

(Nerdiness, I has it.)

11 Comments sewing repurposing clothes - sewing - thift store clothes

Katniss

May 18, 2012 Peneloping

It’s been a loong time since I’ve posted anything costume-related, hasn’t it?

Well, here you are then: a costume replica!

I read Hunger Games a few months ago and pretty much fell in love. I knew the film version wasn’t going to be as good as the books so I made Boyfriend read the book before we went to go see it. I still think the book was tons better but I have to admit they did a pretty decent job with the movie version!

That said, I wasn’t a huge fan of a lot of the costumes, especially the ones of the other tributes during the parade. A lot of them seemed too much like elementary school play costumes.

Anyways, the point is, I absolutely adore the dress Katniss wears to the Reaping. I thought it was very true to the way it was described in the book and even as I sat in the theatre I had a sinking feeling that I was going to be on a rabid hunt for light blue linen.

And then one day I was wandering around the fabric store looking for floral cotton when I happened to walk by the linen section where they had the exact shade of blue I needed in a linen/rayon blend, which is exactly what I’d wanted to use!

I had a vague idea of how I wanted to make it but I wasn’t entirely sure it would work. For the bodice I used the Darling Ranges bodice (haha, totally shocking right?) but made widened the shoulder parts to about 8.5″ for the gathering. I also raised the neckline on the back bodice piece a bit and widened the shoulder a bit.

The skirt was drafted by tracing the skirt of an existing dress, nothing fascinating. And since there are no buttons on the skirt, I added a side zip.

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out! Boyfriend even recognized where it was from so that’s a good sign.

(Although to be fair his first guess was “that one movie with the famous kiss scene.”)

(On the other hand, he is a boy and that dress is also blue.)

(I’m talking about The Notebook in case anyone is lost.)

26 Comments costumes costume - dress - hunger games - katniss

Darling Ranges #3

May 17, 2012 Peneloping

In case anyone was doubting my sentiments toward Megan Nielsen’s Darling Ranges pattern.. here’s yet another one!

dress: self-made (Darling Ranges by Megan Nielsen), shoes: Modcloth

I saw some really gorgeous sleeveless ones so I decided to make this one sans sleeves. I almost like it better than the ones with sleeves! Definitely a different look. I also decided to add a faux-collary thing to this one. Totally experimental but I think it turned out really cute. This collar’s pointy but I think I’ll have to experiment with a Peter Pan collar next.

Here’s a fun instagrammed close up of the collar detail.

This is definitely one of my favorite things I’ve ever sewn because it fits me PERFECTLY. No joke. By some miracle every bit of it fits like a glove. I added back darts to this one and eliminated the back ties and I love it!

It’s been chilly lately so I’ve been pairing this with a long cardigan and some tights. Can’t wait to wear it out as a summer dress!

PS If you’re looking for ideas on variations of this pattern, check out Megan Nielsen’s Darling Ranges board on Pinterest!

5 Comments finished sewing project cotton - darling ranges - dress - floral - megan nielsen - sewing

Garlicky sandwich spread

May 16, 2012 peneloping

When we were living in San Francisco, Boyfriend introduced me to an absolutely nommilicious sandwich shop that quickly became a favorite. Sadly, I haven’t found anything remotely close to it over on the other coast. It’s something about the sandwich spread they use. Very garlicky, very delicious, but definitely not the place for a first date!

Anyway, we were missing home the other night so I decided to attempt to recreate these sandwiches.

I used a giant clove of garlic (it was seriously huge, probably about the size of 2-3 normal cloves), juice from half a lime, about a tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro, and enough olive oil to cover it all.

For the other sandwich toppings we did turkey slices, sharp white cheddar, and tomato slices on toasted sourdough bread. It didn’t turn out quite the same as our sandwich shop but it’s definitely something I’m going to make again.

I highly recommend doing your kissing before consuming this one. Just sayin’.

3 Comments edibles edibles - food - garlicky sandwich spread - recipe