All posts by peneloping

Sketches

Belladone sketches

I’m having one of those days where if my body had its way, I would’ve taken a two hour nap every three hours or so. Even so, I did manage to get some work done, but eventually decided to be productive in a more fun and relaxing way: sketching!

I bought Deer and Doe‘s Belladone pattern a few weeks ago and even though I’m not totally sold on my first version of it, I absolutely love the pattern itself. It fits me perfectly. Like, no seam adjustments or anything required. And it’s very flattering! I did take the neckline down a bit and shortened the skirt as usual, but the bust and waist fit perfectly. I love it!

What I didn’t love so much was the fabric I used. It’s some sort of gabardine blend that just doesn’t like me much and won’t behave so parts of it look a bit wonky. I also prefer a fully skirt, so I think next time I’ll do something pleated or gathered, but that’s just personal preference. I also want to do a two-tone dress where the top is lace and the skirt is a springy color like rose or mint (I drew it in pink because I happen to have a cotton sateen in that color). I also think a peplum top version would be super cute and springy! Maybe in a subtle floral? I haven’t decided on that one.

I’ve been doing a lot of copycat projects lately, it’s been nice exercising the designing part of my brain!

And now I’m going to go curl up with some ice cream and watch more Dr Who. And try to ignore the tinny voice in my brain that’s telling me to drop everything and knit a 12 foot scarf.

PAX East 2013

PAX was so much fun! I only went for one day but I’m still recovering. I feel old. In my defense, 14 hours in a corset is not the most comfortable thing in the world.

We had a great time checking out some games I’d never heard of and talking to tons of game developers, and then we got to play some awesome tabletop games! I played my first deck-building game called Ascension and then played another awesome and hilarious card game called Flame Wars.

I’m still exhausted and have to get ready for school so I’ll leave you with some photos, not in order.

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Codex and Dr Who. 

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Boyfriend was a zombie magnet.

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My friend (the one with the 3D glasses) organized his own photo op of all the Drs Who!

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I got to meet VGO!!

I’m already thinking of costumes for next year! I still want to do Zoe Castillo at some point. And Dovahkiin from Skyrim. And maybe something a little more ridiculous like Kaylee’s poofy dress from Shindig.

Make ALL the costume!

Prepping

Codex

Codex

PAX East is this weekend so I am a busy bee.

I was originally going to go as Zoe Castillo, but then my lovely dear kind seester who I now owe my firstborn child trekked home and mailed me this lovely costume that I made a few years ago.

Except I was quite the impatient slob about seams back then, so I get to take apart quite a few seams (re: most of them) and redo a lot of this.

But yay PAX!

Shimmer

Gold linen skirt

Gold linen skirt

Gold linen skirt

Gold linen skirt

Gold linen skirt
top: h&m // skirt: self-made // tights: F21 // shoes: Chelsea Crew // sweater: Modcloth

This might seem surprising but a year ago I owned about three dresses (like appropriate-for-public dresses, not counting the ones only appropriate in Middle Earth) and one skirt. And exactly one of those three dresses was not club-wear.

Then I bought a few patterns and started learning how to make dresses and pretty soon I had a whole closet-ful. But I still only had one skirt!

Anyway, this skirt was my first experiment with pattern-less skirt-making. To be fair, I made a few in high school but they were such ruffled low-rised monstrosities that it’s best to forget their existence and just back away quietly.

I think I might do a tutorial on this one, if anyone’s interested. It’s really simple and only involves the tiniest bit of math. Or, if you’re math-phobic like me, some minor trial and error. I used some kind of gold linen that has bits of sparkly gold woven in. It’s not the easiest thing to iron but it definitely creates a cool shimmery effect.

In other news, I just saw this video over at Maidae and I’m just itching to dye my hair red again.

In other other news, I finally figured out how to use my vintage non-auto-focusing lens for taking outfit pictures! It was actually stupidly easy and now I feel dumb for not having tried it before.

It’s late, I’m tired

hello

Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes, you guys are the best!

I knew that I wasn’t going to be up for anything terribly exciting on a Tuesday night after class so I decided it’d be fun to do what we do every Tuesday night, which is to nerd out at a bar.

It was pretty awesome. I brought my camera with my vintage 50mm lens to play with and I’m pretty impressed! I’m still absolutely terrible at holding it still but to be fair it was 10pm and super dark and some of the photos still managed to look like they were taken at high noon. I need to start using this lens for outfit photos!

mtg

On a completely separate subject, I’ve been wanting a new camera bag lately and since my bank account weeps every time I visit Kelly Moore or Jo Totes, I decided to go the DIY route again like last time. My last bag was great and I love it, but the new camera is really just too big for it. Plus I always hated that I didn’t think to get a bag that had a zip closure on top to protect gear from the elements. And it literally just fits the camera and one lens and possibly a set of keys. Possibly.

This new bag is all kinds of amazing. It’s absolutely huge but still usable as a purse, it zips across the top, and it has a front pocket! I’m so excited to be able to take my camera with me everywhere! Plus how adorable is the carpetbaggy print?? I ruv. Now, what color to make the inserts..?

new camera bag!

I also finally got my paws on this lovely pattern! I’m convinced that once I start making exclusively spring-appropriate clothing, the weather will take a hint. I can’t wait to get started, I already have so many ideas!

belladone pattern

I’m pretty exhausted today for no apparent reason, so tonight is just lounging in Boyfriend’s sweatpants watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls.

Don’t judge me. I hate myself for it. I blame Alexis Bledel’s eyes.