All posts by Peneloping

De-bubbling

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This summer I visited my sister and she handed me a monstrosity of a garment and asked if I wanted it.

I glanced at the bubble skirt, the white and silver buttons that completely clashed with the beigey material, and winced. But then I noticed the adorable collar detailing, remembered that skirts can be de-bubbled, and wondered how it might look with different colored buttons and snatched it up.

The first thing I did was to cut off the bottom panel making it a bubble skirt. I had some navy blue satin lying around from a failed project that I cut long rectangles out of and sewed on as a colorblock panel, wrong side out, since the satin was too shiny and fancy to go well with the beigey material.

Then I removed the buttons (and used them on my minty Kelly skirt, actually) and reattached navy ones to match the color block.

It’s so satisfying making something you love out of something hideous.

Shoe rescue – Part 2

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Don’t you love it when you order something fully expecting it to take 635 business days to arrive or some nonsense and then three days later it’s snuggled in your mailbox just waiting for you?

I do.

When we last left off on the fascinating saga of my Lottas, they both looked kind of like the one on the right.

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I was kicking myself for not buying the silver ones, so when I started looking into how to brighten up my blue ones with shoe polish, it suddenly occurred to me that I could just change the color of mine instead of buying a whole new pair. A few Google searches led me to discover Angelus acrylic leather paint, which I bought in silver.

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Make sure to clean your shoes before you start painting!

Although it does come with a handy dandy brush attached to the lid, I recommend pouring some into a small dish and mixing in a small bit of water to thin it out a little. You do have to apply a few more coats this way but they’ll look more even. I also found it helpful to paint it in sections and dry each section with a hairdryer as I went along. Something about the heat melting the acrylic onto the leather for better hold?

I ended up doing about five coats of watered down paint.

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After the paint dries you’re supposed to polish them but all I had was some leather lotion so I used that. And now they look like this!

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And now I can’t wait for spring so I can wear them with pretty floral dresses. And shorts. And basically everything.

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I think maybe next year I’ll paint them red.

Flounce bounce

I love flouncy skirts. The more spinnable, the better.

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belt: yoinked from a Modcloth dress // tights: Hue (I think) // top: blogged here // headband: Modcloth

A few weeks ago my sister and I drove down to my favorite fabric store and sort of went crazy. We ended up leaving with several fabrics with which to make random skirts, because skirts and tights are the best thing ever. And because Seester wanted to learn how to make skirts.

Now, I should explain that I am a terrible teacher. I get frustrated easily and I have trouble remembering what it was like when I was still mastering a skill. So instead of picking an easy skirt pattern (of which there are literally millions), I decided we were going to make a skirt out of Simplicity 1873. Because it’s flouncy and delightful.

Burda 7739 skirt

Anyway, the moral of the story is I’m pretty sure she still hasn’t finished hers. And I’m a terrible sister.

A Kelly craze

I’ve been seeing all kinds of Kelly skirts all over Pinterest for ages. On Friday I went to the fabric store for some thread and somehow left with the Kelly skirt pattern. Whoops.

Then I dug through my fabric at home and found some fabric that seemed perfect for it and cranked out this one!

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I used a some sort of twill that I had lying around, and stole the buttons off of a dress my sister gave me that I’ve been altering. Since there’s only one button on the waistband, I added a snap button right below the top button to keep that area flush. I also shortened it by about 6″ because I look terrible in longer skirts.

The waistband is a tiny bit too big but otherwise I love how it turned out!

Then the other day I was at the other fabric store getting some buttons and somehow ended up leaving with a gorgeous salmon-y coral pink linen blend, with which I made a second Kelly skirt. Whoops.

Kelly skirt
Apparently this one needs a snap button too. 

This fabric is lighter and more flowy than the first one, and I shortened the waistband a little so it fits perfectly. The only problem is that now I’m totally ready for spring.

Anddd I may have bought some mustard colored sateen for a third one. Any ideas on what color/kind of buttons to use for that one?

A special friend

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Today I want you to meet a very special friend of mine.

Teddy bear

Teddy bear

This was my first sewing project ever. I was about six years old and I asked my mom for a needle, some thread, and some scrap fabric, and this is what I came up with.

Teddy bear

I’m going to be honest, I’m kind of impressed with the amount of detail six year old me put into this. She’s even got tiny bits of fabric glued on for her paws! And her dress just makes me weep in cuteness. I’m not quite sure why her head is square though.

Teddy bear

She doesn’t have a name, but she’s my specialest teddy bear.

Teddy bear

Have you come across any ancient creations from your childhood?