All posts by peneloping

No, really. I need more hands.

I don’t seem to be capable of sticking to only one project at a time anymore.

First there’s the pink dress. I got this far all well and good but then when I sewed the pieces together, it just kind of refused to behave, so we’re officially on a break. Then there’s the Gryffindor scarf. I’m on the ninth repeat of the big scarlet stripe and when it’s finished I’ll have to decide if it’s long enough. I think it should be, but it’s a really wide scarf and it might look funny if it’s not extra long as well.

Hermione christmas party dress Gryffindor scarf

I would have finished this already by now if I hadn’t gotten bored with the endless knit/purl repetition and started Hermione’s Fair Isle scarf, which I have been drooling over since I found a lovely pattern for it. The yarn I’m using is too thick, but the colors are exactly what I was looking for. I guess we’ll see how it turns out.

Hermione's Fair Isle scarf

But then even Fair Isle got boring, so I pored through my folder of saved pattern PDFs and decided to make a pair of mittens. These are so adorable they make me want to weep a little. I’m not crazy about the color, since I’m using the leftover marigold yarn from Gryffindor scarf, but I think the owl makes up for it, especially if I can find some really cute buttons to use for the eyes. Plus it’s knitting up so fast that I can easily go out and get a nicer shade to remake them without feeling like I’ve wasted much time. Or maybe I’ll send them to my sister, as orange is totally her color 😉

2011-02-20_14-34-22_164 Owl mitten (back)

I wrote all of this three days ago and then had to save it as a draft because I could not for the life of me get my photos to upload to Flickr. I ended up having to put them on my phone and upload it from there. No idea why. And in the meantime, I started a new project with the leftover gray yarn from my gray stripey Hermione sweater. Meet my first attempt at something resembling lace.

Springtime bandit scarf

So basically the moral of the story is that I can’t wait for my yarns to get here tomorrow. -_-

How to replicate a dress with zero reference images.

Hermione's red dress beads

This picture is from a few days ago, but the red dress is (almost) finished! I want to redo the flower thing in the middle to make it look less flat, and it’s lacking beads but other than that it’s done! I wore it the other night when Boyfriend and I went on a pre-Valentine’s Day date. It’s swirly and lovely and I completely forgot to take pictures. -headdesk-

I’ll get on that.

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with Hermione. In the past month, I have made two of her sweaters, one dress, a hat.

On top of that, I started a scarf the other day..

Hogwarts PoA Scarf

..and I’m in the beginning stages of a second dress.

Hermione's pink dress fabric

This dress is absolutely gorgeous but it’s driving me insane. It was handmade by Jenny Packham for Hermione to wear to Slughorn’s Christmas party, and since the entire scene lasts all of a minute and a half and happens in the dark, there aren’t a lot of reference images. In fact the only ones I could find online were about fifty pixels wide. So I’ve been watching that scene and saving screen captures in the attempt to find one that actually shows me how the seams are done on the bodice. I thought I had it figured out, but after two hours of attempting to recreate a pattern of it, I deemed it impossible and have added a stomach panel under the crinkled bust bit.

Like this, basically:

Hermione's pink dress pattern making

And I may have ordered more yarn to redo the Deathly Hallows Fair Isle cardigan in the proper colors.

I need about eight more sets of hands.

6 Comments costumes - knitting - - - - - - -

Ruffles.

Hermione red dress progress 5

I’m getting the most odd collection of blisters on my hands. What’s even more sad is I can clearly distinguish which have resulted from knitting and which are due to sewing.

In other news, this dress is coming along quite faster than I had thought it would. The actual dress itself was pretty simple to put together, it’s all of the ruffles that have been a strange sort of therapeutic nightmare.

Next up: fixing/finishing the ruffles, and then beads!

As you can probably tell, some of the ruffles are crooked. I also don’t quite like the way they lie currently so I’m going to stretch them out to the edge of the skirt and then trim them inwards so they’re fatter at the waist and taper downward to the edge.

As for beads, I can’t decide what kind to use. In the reference photos I’ve been using, they either look like very small sequins or seed beads. I’m going with seed beads, but I can’t decide if I should get red opaque ones or the clear ones with red in the center.

Hermione red dress progress 3 Hermione red dress progress 4

Last night as I was getting ready to take a shower, I happened to glance at my reflection and noticed something red on my belly button. After a sudden panicking flash of “OH NOES I’M BLEEDING” ran through my mind, I looked down and realized that a tangle of red thread had taken up residence in my navel.

I feel like this indicates some underlying issues.

3 Comments costumes - - - - -

Not yarn.

The streets are empty and Joann’s was crowded; it must be Superbowl Sunday.

I woke up this morning at exactly 9:37am with a burning desire to make a very specific dress that I’ve been squee-ing over for months. Hence the Joann’s trip.

BUT I walked away with this lovely bundle of stuff. And it’s not yarn! -shock-

Any guesses on what this lovely project is that is going to be eating my soul for the next week or two?

Hermione red dress fabric

Yeah, ok. Not very difficult.

Anyway, then I went home and decided to wear my new slouchy hat even though it’s nearly 80F outside.
Hello New York hat 2 Hello New York hat 1