Category Archives: outfit

Brain clutter

January 27, 2014 Peneloping

dress: vintage // sweater: Gap // shoes: UO Ecote // tights: Lemon

It’s funny how things due in the spring can seem so far off before the holidays, and then as soon as it’s January all the deadlines suddenly loom so much closer. I have what is sort of a Masters thesis due at the beginning of April and that suddenly feels like it’s about two weeks away.

My coping mechanisms this week have been to shop for seasonally inappropriate vintage dresses and to reorganize my sewing stash. After that I managed to sit down and crank out a few pages today so I think it seems to be working! Hee.

Saffron

January 20, 2014 Peneloping

skirt: self-made // top: thrifted // sweater: self-made, pattern here // tights: Modcloth // boots: Hunter

Remember that really simple skirt I made a few of a while ago and then promised to make a tutorial? Well, I FINALLY sat down and made a tutorial. I’m just putting the finishing touches on that so expect that later on this week. Yayy!

I keep flipflopping between wanting to write a post about the new year and then getting kind of turned off not wanting it to seem too New Years Resolutiony. I definitely have ongoing goals, but not ones that I came up with for the sake of the new year, but maybe I’ll just list those, if only in a futile attempt at organizing my brain.

Tutorials: I have a few simple tutorial ideas bouncing around my head (including this one) that have been living on the back burner and I want to finally do those. So far so good!

Layer Cake dress: Obviously this one needs to be done by April. I’m currently waiting on the rest of my supplies but I think I’m still ahead of schedule on this one.

Wearability: There have been several posts in the past few months about wearing me-mades and why it’s sometimes hard, so I’ve been trying to make more things that are more wearable (meaning more solids and diving into the world of knits).

Albion coat: I’ve been wanting to learn to make a coat for a while and haven’t quite gotten to a point I’m happy with. I started with the New Girl blazer and then sort of stumbled my way through half of an Anise coat (I picked the wrong weight of fabric so it’s turning into a skirt). I still have plans (and more appropriate fabric) for another Anise but my next coat-related project is going to be an Albion. More on that later, including fabric pr0n.

Vintage patterns: I have a wishlist of vintage patterns that I’ve been eyeing on Etsy. I recently bought one and am super excited to try it. This goal probably contradicts the one regarding wearability.

Costumes: Costumes make me happy. Like really complicated, nitpicky, intricate movie replicas. It’d been a long time since I’d done one before I started the Kaylee dress and I want to start doing that again more often. Possibly starting off with finishing Elizabeth Swann’s wedding dress which is probably my longest standing WIP (I started it ~2007).

Moar Archers: Because of reasons.

Ok, my brain feels better.

10 Comments outfit goals - orange - outfit - pleats - sewing - skirt

Souffle girl

November 25, 2013 Peneloping

dress: self-made // tights: Chinese Laundry // belt: stolen from Boyfriend

This dress is going right at the top of the “I have no idea how this happened and I’m pretty sure I will never be able to recreate it” list. I decided that since I’m wearing a giant cupcake one of the days for PAX, I should probably go for a completely opposite silhouette for the second day just to give myself a break. This one is based on Oswin Oswald’s dress on Doctor Who.

I started off with Simplicity 2018 and then completely deviated from it pretty quickly. I used an existing dress with a similar silhouette and used that to lengthen the pattern pieces to dress-length. I also folded the back top pattern piece over so there would be less material and it would lay flatter. And then there was the front piece, which was the absolute bane of my existence for three hours two Saturdays ago.

The front part of the pattern was similar to what I was going for with the Oswin dress, except the Oswin dress has that inverted drape where one side is higher than the other, and it’s a thicker material than the pattern was meant for. I had a vague idea of how to cut it, went for it, and realized about three seconds later while pinning that I had epic failed. Spacial reasoning is not my friend. Somehow through the use of lots of pins and some handstitching, I managed to cobble together a neckline that looks pretty much like the original and doesn’t totally suck. There are still some issues to iron out (Metaphorically. I tried actually ironing them out and it didn’t work.) that I hid with strategic photographing but I have until April to figure those out.

And now I have one of two of my outfits for PAX East 2014! Just have to figure out the shoes. She wears red sneaker wedges in the episode but I absolutely abhor sneaker wedges so we’ll see if my footwear hatred outweighs my need to be screen accurate.

Oh and I hope everyone had a good Doctor Who 50th! Which was Saturday. Because normal people totally consider that a holiday.

28 Comments outfit clara oswald - copycat - dalek asylum - doctor who - dress - oswin oswald - outfit - red - sewing

A wearable blanket

November 13, 2013 Peneloping

sweater: self-made, pattern here // top: blogged here, pattern here // pants: Paige // boots: Clarks

To me, cold weather means snuggling up in front of a fireplace with a mug of a tea and stack of favorite books. I don’t have a fireplace but if I did I’d be snuggling the shit out of this sweater in front of it.

I wanted it to be really drapey and soft so I used Berroco* Ultra Alpaca and got exactly the effect I wanted. I ended up making** another one for my sister’s birthday present. It really is a totally effortless pattern. The instructions are super easy to follow and aside from the ribbing on the edge, it’s all stockinette. The only effort-ful thing about it is getting yourself to sit through hours and hours of mindless stockinette. I made this a while ago but I’m pretty sure I didn’t make any adjustments, except possibly adding an inch to the length. You can check out my Ravelry page for yarn details and amounts.

And actually, I just bought a couple skeins of navy wool to make another one. :]

*Does anyone else spell Berroco wrong every damn time? I swear I am constantly thinking “Ok, I remember this time. Two C’s and one R.” But nope.

**Took me two years and I made her finish the sleeves. I am a bad sister.

21 Comments outfit datura - effortless cardigan - knitting - outfit - stockinette - sweater - turquoise

Versatility

November 11, 2013 Peneloping

dress: self-made, based on this one // top: Theory // shoes: Seychelles // tights: F21

Back when I was tiny, I absolutely adored Alice’s (as in Wonderland) outfit, especially the pinafore. I have no idea what was so appealing about a garment meant to keep clothes clean during playtime but I desperately wanted one. (I also desperately wanted a tail after I saw the Disney version of Robin Hood, so apparently tiny Ping’s mind was a strange place.)

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Katie over on Skunkboy posted this outfit and I nearly fell out of my chair. (Who am I kidding? I was snuggled up in bed like a lazy bum.) It’s so simple and kind of basic, but the possibilities seemed endless! I envisioned wearing it with stripey long-sleeved tees, with collared shirts, with a sweater over it..

It was pretty simple to put together. I started with the bodice, and just took a piece of paper smashed against my chest and marked where I wanted the top bit to sit. Then I cut two of that piece, marked where the darts should go, messed up and ripped, and re-marked them. Next I cut out 4″ strips for the straps, and a 5″ strip for the waistband (using the usual make-a-tube-and-topstitch-both-edges method.) For the skirt, I just did a regular pleated skirt and did an exposed jeans zipper in the back.

Since I didn’t use a pattern there was some trial and error involved, but I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out! I was actually kind of surprised that it worked with in a slightly dressier outfit since I was planning on styling it more casually, but I saw the pink top and had an idea and ran with it.

PS Thanks to everyone who shared their own stories of mental blocks! It’s so nice to know I’m not alone. :]

17 Comments outfit black - copycat - dress - modcloth - outfit - pinafore