All posts by Peneloping

2015 in review

January 7, 2016 Peneloping

Hello 2016! I’m still slightly in shock over how quickly 2015 flew by. It was a bit of a weird year, lots of it spent feeling transitional. I quit my job, moved from one coast to the other, lived with my mom for a while (somehow we didn’t kill each other), and then moved in with Boyfriend.

One of my resolutions last year was to blog less and sew more. I had so little free time that I kept wanting to sew but then feeling pressure to blog the pile of things I’d already sewn instead. Eventually I had to stop myself and ask why it was so important and when I couldn’t think of a good answer, I decided to cut back. Except then I barely blogged and all and now I keep having tinglings to blog more so I think I need to work on this balance.

Anyway, I don’t think I’ve ever done one of these but I thought I’d share some of my favorites and some fails (in no particular order) from the past year! (Some of these haven’t actually been blogged yet.)

Let’s start with the fails:

1. Velvet lady skater with cut-outs

I loved this dress halfway through making it. I had just attached the top and bottom with the black mesh and it looked super cool. I had a little voice in the back of my head telling me to abandon the original plan and just go with the mesh waistband but I ignored it and went full steam ahead. I like the idea of the mesh cutouts on the side, but they just didn’t work. The fabric was wrong, the contrast is too visible, the cutouts are too messy, etc. I definitely want to revisit this dress idea, probably in a black knit and most likely without those pesky side cutouts. So far this has been worn once.

2. Reformation dress copycat

This dress is a fail mostly because it’s SO CLOSE to what I wanted it to be, but just not quite there. I stupidly decided to take on a really difficult drafting project like 2 weeks into my flat pattern class, when I could totally start over now and I’m fairly confident I could do it right this time. But I slaved over this for three straight days and I’m just out of steam. Maybe I’ll hack off the top and make it a giant flowy skirt.

3. Galaxy leggings

I’m calling it a fail if I never wear it, and I’ve never worn these. I LOVED the idea of bright gorgeous leggings except that love died almost right after these were finished and ever since then I’ve worn nothing but grays, blacks, and whites to the gym. No idea why. Since these are not exactly wear-in-public pants, they’ve been sitting, sadly abandoned, in my closet ever since. (The strappy bra gets worn all the time though!)

4. Peplum top w/leather collar

I have no idea where this top went wrong. It looks super cute on the mannequin, I love the faux leather collar with the metallic gold print, the cap sleeves are adorable. But somehow, it’s WAY too big. And makes me look 30lbs heavier. I’m going to attempt to salvage it. This is what I get for cheating on V8815.

5. Lace undies

These just didn’t work out. I think I used shitty elastic so it just itches. And the pink and blue fabrics are itchy (especially the blue). Fortunately I love the cut so I think I’ll try again with the soft fancy elastic I found at Britex and maybe some modal or bamboo knits.

And now for the wins. As I’m picking from what I’ve sewn, I’m noticing that I love all of the stuff I sewed in the second half of the year. I definitely remember making a conscious decision to try to sew things I would actually wear, instead of just sewing fun fabrics into stuff I wouldn’t reach for in the morning and it looks like it’s paid off. Hmm.

1. Final project/xmas dress

I love this dress SO MUCH. It’s 100% self-drafted and turned out 100% exactly how I wanted it. It’s a tiny bit itchy on the inside at the seams but in the way where you can say “beauty is pain” and ignore it. I wanted something with a little boob, but not too much boob, and sort of secret boob. I think I found the perfect balance in that deep V cutout. I also knew I didn’t quite want a circle skirt, but I definitely wanted something big and slightly ridiculous. I’ll share more drafting stuff when I blog this.
2. Lululemon zip scarf copycat

I’ve been wearing this scarf almost every day so I’d call it a win. I copied the Vinyasa scarf from Lululemon, which costs $68 for some reason. I think this one cost me a grand total of $13. I was a little worried it would be too thick since I doubled up the fabric but I prefer wearing it halfway unzipped and it’s totally fine that way.

3. Lykke Wullf overall shorts copycat

These are the best thing in the world. Before I made the drapey tops I wore these overall shorts with a cropped top basically every day. They’re super fun and super comfy and I have some darker denim and gold hardware stashed away for a second pair for next summer.

4. All the drapey tops
I wore these all summer and occasionally in the fall with cardigans layered over. I’ll definitely be making a bunch more next summer.

5. Lacy linden

Comfy clothes dressed up to look fancy? Yes please! I want to make a black one of these with gold lace. Or just a solid one with sequin lettering.

And that’s it!

As a sidenote, you may have noticed that no cosplays were mentioned. I figured since Elsa was probably the best and most fun thing I made (but only wore 3x), and Zoe was sort of incomplete since I ran out of time (and then never blogged), they didn’t quite fit.

More weather inappropriate drapey-ness

December 21, 2015 Peneloping

top: self-drafted // bra: blogged here // sweater: Modcloth // pants: Jamie Jeans

Since it’s almost Christmas, this seems like a great time to share more of my summer wardrobe Here are two more of those luscious drapey tanks.

I wore them both pretty much all summer with shorts so it’s nice to be able to throw a sweater on top and call it a fall outfit. Or maybe this only works in California.

Happy almost Christmas!

3 Comments sewing drapey top - fall - sewing - summer - tank top

All the straps

November 25, 2015 Peneloping

top/skirt/bra: self-drafted

This summer I was planning my Plymouth trip wardrobe and somehow stumbled upon the perfect summer lake house tank top. Whenever we’ve gone there in warm weather I’ve basically lived in a swim suit, maybe a pair of shorts. I wanted something I could throw over a swim suit that would still look cute and could be dressed up. I also wanted something cute and low-cut in the back to wear with all the strappy bras I experimented with this summer. (I’ll do a separate post on those.)

I basically just traced the neckline of a tank top that I like the fit of, and then added triangle wedges to it starting at the underarm to add the drape. Then I made long strips of bias tape for the straps and also used some to enclose the neckline edge.

These were so quick and easy to make that I actually ended up cranking out three of them in a day and a half. It didn’t take very much fabric either, so I was able to use up some pretty fabric scraps I didn’t have plans for. This one is a black rayon challis and I did French seams on the inside. I tried one serging another one and that worked just as well.

I have a lot of chiffon/rayon challis/other floaty fabric scraps lying around so I may have to make an army of these. I have visions of my wardrobe morphing into ten of these tanks for the summer and ten Archers for the winter.

In other news, Happy Thanksgiving to my American sewing friends! I can’t wait to eat my weight in stuffing.

1 Comment sewing drapey tank top - outfit - self-drafted - sewing - strappy bra

Tyger tyger

November 23, 2015 Peneloping

top: Archer shirt // pants: Jamie Jeans // shoes: Shellys London

I’ve made a lot of Archers. I think the official count is at eight at the moment. I feel like I say this every time I make a new one, but I always mean it: this is my new favorite one! Or at least it’s a three-way tie for first place (the red/blue plaid one and the dotted one get worn a ton).

One of my goals this year has been to be more careful and precise with my sewing. For this project I slowed myself down and was extra careful and ironed after every seam. Usually I get far too impatient and rush through things and then it shows (to me, at least), so this time I wanted to do everything right. (Especially since I finally gave into my Cotton and Steel obsession during a particularly awesome Craftsy sale.) In the end it took me about as long to do this one as the others because I didn’t have any seams to rip out. And it’s SO NEAT. I may have danced a little when I finished. And then wore it for three straight days. I also made a pretty little tag for the inside. I just used some twill tape and the only font function on my ancient Bernina to spell out Peneloping. Easy peasy.

The buttons were a complete fluke. I’d picked them up at a discount fabric store ages ago with no plan in mind because they were pale mint and adorable. It wasn’t until I was nearly done with this shirt and realized the background color was just minty enough that white buttons wouldn’t work that I found these buttons again. They’re a tad smaller than I normally use but I still haven’t gotten over how perfect the color is so I’m happy.

Fit-wise, I changed things up a bit. Before this one I’ve always sewn a size 2 for extra swingy-ness and added an extra 2″ to the length for butt coverage so I could wear them with leggings. I decided I wanted this one a little more fitted so I traced a size 0 and didn’t add the extra length. LOVE. I also sliced off about 3/8″ of the shoulder because I noticed previous ones hang off my shoulders a bit. I don’t mind so much if it’s a giant flannel shirt but this helped with the more fitted look.

I have five more fabrics waiting to be made into Archers (I know.. I told you I was obsessed.) and I’m having trouble deciding which fit I like better. Since they’re all flannels I might do a few of each so I can have my buffet-dinner Archers and my fancy-fall-outfit Archers. I’ve even infected my sister, who has requested two plaid flannel Archers for Christmas. Let’s hope non-sewing sisters can appreciate plaid matching skills.

-pointed stare-

9 Comments sewing archer - cotton and steel - grainline - outfit - sewing - shirt - tigers

cables&squish + wearable art show

October 13, 2015 Peneloping

I’ve done a lot of knitting this summer (don’t ask me to explain that one) and my goal for the next several months is to slowly work through my yarn stash. Some of that means finding new homes or new projects that I lost interest in and some of it means finally getting to certain projects that have been in my Ravelry queue for ages. In the interest of making this happen I went through and cleaned out my queue and removed a bunch of projects that I know I’ll never get to or just no longer have any interest in doing. I also couldn’t resist looking around at patterns and adding a few to the list. Only a few! Anyway, here’s a few of my favorites that I moved to the top of the list. You’ll notice a theme.

Chateau by Melissa Schaschwary

Lila by Carrie Bostick Hoge

Boxy by Joji Locatelli

Speckled Shrug by Lion Brand Yarn Patterns

Oshima by Jared Flood

Chainlink by Norah Gaughan

Fisherman’s Daughter by Carol Sunday

Sperry by Amy Miller

This might actually all realistically happen this winter too. I have a half-finished green, navy, and white Sperry lying around somewhere. I have a cream Fisherman’s Daughter that just needs sleeves. Plus between starting this list and actually posting it, I’ve managed to get a ton of knitting done. I started a Lila. I have a Boxy sweater who’s only missing a neckline and some faith that I didn’t knit the wrong size, and I finished a Chateau and a Speckled Shrug that is huge and so cozy and I want six of them.

Meet my extremely squishy Chateau.

Funny story about the Chateau. It was SO fun to knit and so quick that I did the “Just one more row..” thing until it was completely done and about 2am. At that point I completely passed out with my finished Chateau in bed with me, and at some point during the night it fell in the crack between the wall and my bed and I completely forgot about its existence until about three days later. Surprise new sweater!

If you follow me on Instagram you’ve seen the blanket and tiger Archer I now live in.

Sidenote: I have a feeling I’m going to be feeling very smug about completing so much of my knitting wishlist until the next time I go on the Brooklyn Tweed website again and add six complicated cabley sweaters to my list.

Another sidenote: I’m really really bad at culling my Ravelry queue. In my defense half of it is things like a chart for the Tree of Gondor which you just never know if you’re going to need.

Completely knitting-unrelated, but I also wanted to mention a really cool contest/fashion show a reader (thanks Holly!) emailed me about. Uncommon Threads is a wearable art show that takes place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Every year a theme is chosen and artists submit crazy artistic garments that fall under their interpretation of the theme.

This year’s theme is “Epilogue”, and here is how juror Wylie Garcia explains it: “This year’s theme asks artists to meditate on notable books, authors, or literary characters and use wearable art as means of opening up a conversation about these influences. By revisiting the stories and writers that have made a personal impact, artists are encourage to create a garment that serves as an epilogue to a single novel or an entire writing career. Comments on genres, the dynamic between the physical and electronic medium of books, and the cultural implications of works of fiction and nonfiction are also appropriate ways to interpret this theme.”

How awesome does that sound? I seriously debated making something to enter but between getting ready to move (yes, again!) this weekend and still being in the midst of Cinderella and ruffles, I couldn’t see starting a large scale project like this and keeping my sanity. Maybe next year! For anyone who is interested, submissions (not actual finished pieces) are due November 16th and the show is December 5th.

Below are some photos* of past shows and you can find out more by visiting their website here.

20131019-193817-Culture Candy

*Photos used with permission.

2 Comments knitting - life fashion show - knitting - ravelry - sweaters - wearable art show - wishlist - yarn