All posts by Peneloping

New toys!

June 7, 2012 Peneloping

So I actually had a different post planned for today but I haven’t been feeling that well and the idea of getting dressed up and pretty for once felt daunting rather than fun.

Instead, I’m going to gush about the cool new toys I’ve gotten recently!

I’d been wanting to play with close-up shots but didn’t want to spent too much money on anything, especially considering I just bought my camera AND a new lens for it, so I decided to go the route of close-up filters.

Et voila!

eBay tip: Set a limit for how much you want to spend and stick to it! I let about four other listings go by because they went up too much and then I snagged these for $6! Waay under budget!

These are awesome! I did accidentally forget to ask what the thread size was, and it turns out it was 49mm when I needed 52mm. At first I panicked, until I discovered the existence of step-down (and step-up) rings! I got mine on Amazon for about $3 shipped. So far no vignetting issues!

This other toy arrived literally twenty minutes ago.

I’ve wanted a prime lens for aaages and kept flipflopping between the 35mm and the 50mm. Eventually I just took my camera out, set it to 35mm and snapped some photos, and then did the same at 50mm. Turns out I like 50mm better. Same thing though, I didn’t want to spend the $200+ on a current lens, so I decided to go vintage!

Meet my new Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E!

And yes, this is a fully manual lens, but I hardly use autofocus anyway. If you’re very dependent on autofocus I wouldn’t recommend this route.

Holy crap, guys. This lens is awesome. I’m still figuring out the quirks but I might have a new favorite!

Anddd just a sneak peek of what I’m working on today, taken with the new toy.

Hermione’s red ruffle dress

June 5, 2012 Peneloping

I finished this dress a while ago (like, over a year ago!) and then never posted pictures of it. Whoops.

Walking out of the movie theatre after I saw Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows was slightly overwhelming. A chunk of my brain wanted the movie to keep going and hated that I had to wait another seven months to finish the movie, another chunk was sad that there was only one movie left. But mostly I wanted to rush home so I could google photos of Hermione’s entire wardrobe throughout the film. Particularly the lovely blazer outfit from the beginning, the dark blue asymmetrical sweater thing, the gorgeous fair isle sweater, and the red dress she wears to the wedding. (Also Ginny’s dress at the wedding and Ron’s brown sweater but that’s a different story.)

Anyway, this dress was one of the first things I made from that movie, and was essentially the product of one week’s worth of sewing ruffles. Ruffles made of chiffon.

See? Ruffles. I wasn’t kidding.

Other than the ruffles, the rest of the dress is pretty basic. I used red chiffon for the outer layer and a thicker red satin for the lining. I drafted the bodice myself and made the skirt out of four panels with a slight gather at the waistline. After that it was just a matter of looking at reference photos for ruffle placement!

On that note, it’s pretty difficult to take spinning photos of oneself. I failed miserably.

Have a nice Tuesday! :]

Edit: I’ve gotten several comments/emails about this so I thought I’d mention it again here. I didn’t use a pattern this dress, I drafted the bodice directly to my own measurements. If I ever decide to draft a pattern someday (which will not be in the foreseeable future since I have absolutely no skills in drafting patterns of other sizes), I’ll definitely make it available here.

Slightly behind

June 2, 2012 Peneloping

Sorry for the radio silence over here, Boyfriend and I decided to take a spontaneous trip home for the week before his exams get crazy again.

I have some photos to post but I’m exhausted to a point that is kind of ridiculous considering the time difference is only three hours. Yeesh.

For now, here’s the measly Instagram version of the past few days

We finally went to a Giants game while we were home! 🙂

We lost though 🙁

And here’s an awful picture of the gorgeous view on our way out of the park.

Boyfriend decided to whip up some burgers yesterday. He stuffed them with grated cheddar and chopped onions and we had them with sourdough bread with a fried egg on top.

I sort of accidentally broke the yolks on both eggs. Whoops.

Sneaking a trip home was nice, and coming back was kind of weird.

Having these lovelies waiting for me when I arrived completely made up for it though!

No, seriously. -squee!-

Anyways, I’ve got some lovelies to share in the next few days: a dress or two, a project I’m quite excited about, and another costume post.

Have a nice weekend!

PS I sort of just started this whole Instagram thing (the woes of having an android) but follow me here if you like!

3 Comments life bbq - edibles - giants - home - lotta from stockholm - sandals - trip

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!!

2 Comments finished sewing project finished project - paper bag skirt - sewing - skirt

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