All posts by peneloping

The countdown is on

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In two weeks this hellish semester, also known as the black hole of endless papers, will be over and I’ll have six glorious weeks off! I’ve been making a mental list of all of the things I want to do when I recover my sanity.

1) Make a latch hook rug. I’ve been dying to do one of these for ages and seeing the one on A Beautiful Mess recently rekindled that desire.

2) Experiment with attempting to make a blazer. I’ve never made one before and for some reason it just sounds daunting. We’ll see how this goes. And yes, this is directly related to the New Girl marathon I had the other day.

3) Make a schmancy tote bag. Also something I’ve never sewn before. Less daunting though. Andd now I’ve jinxed it. Poo.

4) Finish Seester’s Christmas present. From last year. -whoops-

5) Spin ALL the yarn and work on that cabley almost-all-from-scratch sweater I started.

 

December 17th. Freedom day. 13 days to go!

In the meantime, the roomies and I started Christmas decorating!

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Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone on this side of the country is safe and dry! Here in Boston we had tons of rain and wind yesterday but it’s suspiciously sunny and dry now.

We celebrated Halloween this weekend with a little too much vodka. And now I’m sad that my favorite holiday is mostly over. I had been wracking my brain for over a month and couldn’t for the life of me think of what I wanted to be for Halloween. It wasn’t until the morning of the Halloween party while Boyfriend and I were wandering around a thrift store that we both happened the find the perfect alterable garments for a couples’ costume.

Anddd here’s what we came up with!

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I tore up the top a bit to make it more ratty, and that skirt used to be ankle length. I cut the top off and gathered the bottom, mostly in the back, to create a faux-bustle effect.

Boyfriend did his all on his own! The costumer in me swells with pride.

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And here is Boyfriend being pervy. <3

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Have a great Halloween everybody!

2 Comments costumes - - - -

A new favoritest dress

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You guys, I’m so excited to share this dress.

I was drooling over the new fall stuff from Dear Creatures and in the midst of trying to convince my bank account that I should totally buy one of each thing when I realized that the construction of the Mia dress didn’t actually look that complicated. Not only that, I was pretty sure I could pull it off using Simplicity 1873, which I had coincidentally just bought.

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Anyway, I traipsed over to the fabric store, crossing my fingers that they would have any kind of thick knit fabric and they just happened to have a ton of this gorgeous navy blue. It was just stretchy enough that I didn’t need a zipper which is always a plus. For the white detailing I just used some double fold bias tape.

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I love everything about how this turned out! I’m pretty sure this is my favorite non-costume/non-historical garment I’ve ever made.

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So of course I had to wear it with my new favorite shoes.

 

17 Comments finished sewing project - sewing - - -

Insta-update

Sometimes I remember that I have a smart phone with a camera, and occasionally I remember that I have instagram on it. So here’s an insta-version of the past few weeks.

1. I’ve been working on a sweater that’s been driving me nuts because of the gauge. I thought I had it right but my first attempt ended up doll-sized. Now I’ve finally made a front that I think will fit a human being (hopefully me) and I’m just starting the back. *fingers crossed*

2. New shoes! I usually only own one pair of flats (not counting flat boots) because I prefer heels even if my feet don’t, and my one pair is finally dying. I saw these online and neeeded them. They’re a teensy bit too small but I took a hairdryer to them and now they fit and just need to be broken in a little more. Yayy I can’t wait to wear them with everything. Have I mentioned how much I love Seychelles?

3. They finally installed my “closet” rod thingy!

4. I <3 new clothes! By the way if anyone is thinking of shopping at Modcloth, they’re still doing that awesome $20 off $50 thing through October 31st!

5. Boyfriend got me flowers last week for absolutely no reason! We <3 Boyfriend.

6. My friend and I went to see the Video Game Orchestra this weekend. Hoooly crap, they were amazing. I may have teared up during the Castlevania song. And the Final Fantasy VII song. And I’ve never played either game! Look them up, they’re incredible.

7./8. I also finally put up some of my organizational wall stuff. The one on the left holds earrings, rings, bracelets, has hooks on the side for necklaces and two pegs underneath for headbands and scarves. The one on the left is for my measly nail polish collection. In my defense, I threw out all my nail polish last year when I moved across the country and started fresh.

Andd now I’m off to be productive. My goal for today is to finish a paper that’s due the day before Halloween just to get it out of the way. We’ll see if that actually happens.

Speaking of Halloween, does anyone have any costume suggestions for me? It’s my absolute favorite holiday (shocking, right?) and I’m drawing a blank.

2 Comments life

I would probably marry a Peter Pan collar

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I’ve had several posts planned for the past two weeks and the only reason I haven’t posted is because of a lack of photos. To be fair, I take my photos myself and I hate doing it when people are around. And it took me ages to find a spot in my new apartment that has decent lighting. Yes, I’m full of excuses.

Things have been a tiny bit crazy around here as I’ve been getting into the groove of the new semester. I have a few terrifying assignments looming so the end of October should be interesting. My room is still not entirely put together yet, even though I moved in a month and a half ago! I finally bought foam for my window seat cushion and cut out two pieces of fabric and then just stopped. And that was two weeks ago. And I still have to fix a duvet cover, make a bedskirt, and pretty up my bulletin board. And hang all my wall art. Whoops.

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I blame Pinterest for this dress. I kept seeing gorgeous collared dresses all over the place and of course I got all melty-hearted. At first I was going to use Megan Nielsen’s Banksia pattern to try to make one, but then I decided I wanted something more fitted. (Although I definitely still want to make a Banksia top. *lust*)

I made another dress with the same pattern but in gray and with a different collar, but I kind of love how this one turned out even more. I had wanted a colored linen blend fabric but they were out of everything but black and white and brown at the store, so I decided to experiment with white linen and some RIT dye.

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I want to make this dress in every color. And then wear one every day of the week with different colored tights. But then I’d be that girl. Also, if anyone is wondering, I used Burda 7739. I lengthened the bodice by about an inch and a half and shortened the hem by a few inches.

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I also may have started this the day before we went apple-picking because I specifically wanted to wear it to go apple-picking. Hee.

PS I have a few more new dresses to share this week! I’m super excited.

PPS And possibly a knitting project soon because I’ve started knitting again. Yay!

PPPS Sewing > schoolwork.

6 Comments finished sewing project - sewing