Category Archives: sewing

Ping copies Sarah’s Skaterfrew

March 3, 2014 Peneloping

dress: self-made, patterns here & here // shoes: Swedish Hasbeens // belt: thrifted // headband: F21

First of all, I absolutely loved hearing about everybody’s WIPs and it’s SO nice to know I’m not the only one with the attention span of a goldfish when it comes to unfinished projects. I’m thinking of making this a regular thing. I think every few weeks or so I’ll pick four things to finish in a set amount of time. If anyone wants to join me, feel free! Conquer all the WIP piles!

Anddd onto this lovely dress. If you haven’t seen Sarah’s Skaterfrew over on Katy & Laney you should probably go check it out immediately. I was already eyeing the Renfrew pattern but her dress version totally pushed me over the fence.

I’m going to have to steal Sonja’s term here because this one absolutely falls in the realm of secret pajamas. Full disclosure though, luckily you can’t tell because of the drapey collar, but I totally underestimated how much fabric I’d need (to be fair Sarah totally warned me). I’d forgotten (again!) that you have to cut out two collar pieces, both cut on the fold. Whoops. I was about an inch short on either side but I somehow made it work.

I’m definitely going to make a few more of these though! It’s perfect for those days when all you want to do is lie in bed all day imitating a slug but things like ‘sponsatilities and adulthood make you go to work.

WIP confessions

February 26, 2014 Peneloping

One of my ongoing goals for basically forever has been to be better at finishing my current projects before moving onto the next newer and shinier project. (Probably I should spend less time on Pinterest.)

So this is my latest attempt at kicking myself in the pants. I picked four works in progress (because I have many many more than four lying around but I’m starting small) that I’m going to aim to finish in the next two weeks. If you don’t see these guys blogged in the next month, feel free to shame me.

Polka dot Elisalex

The only reason I haven’t finished this dress is because I sewed the skirt on before I checked the darts and it was far too wide at the waist, but the prospect of unpicking eight inches of seams was too much for my lazy brain.

Vintage Simplicity 3100

This dress currently has quite a few issues, all of which are my fault for only sort of skimming the instructions. First of all, the bodice front buttons up, but I didn’t want the buttons to extend to the skirt, except that I forgot to leave a side or back open for a zipper so there is some tweaking that needs to be done. I also didn’t like how I attached the vertical strips on the bodice so I need to reattach them in a prettier way. I’m also contemplating redoing the sleeve cuffs in white.

Dotted Archer

I literally have no excuse on this one. Months ago when I started it, I was zipping along and was nearly finished when I made a stupid mistake. I was too lazy to fix it, but I remember it being not a big deal fix. Except today when I went back to look and to possibly continue with it, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what I thought I’d done wrong. Gah!

Birthday dress
Anddd this is probably my absolute favorite thing I’ve worked on in a while. In the interest of picking up more intensive projects, I decided to make a beaded dress to wear for my birthday which is next week and which I’m still totally in denial about, other than the planning what to wear part. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t completely screw it up since I haven’t gotten to the hard part yet.

Wish me luck! And do share what projects you have lurking in closets and under beds being ignored. It’ll make me feel better.

37 Comments sewing bad seamstress - sewing - wips

Renfreezing

January 29, 2014 Peneloping

top: self-made, pattern here // skirt: self-made, tutorial here // coat: Anthropologie // belt: Modcloth // boots: Boutique 9 // tights: Chinese Laundry

I have a bit of a tendency to go a little crazy when I discover a pattern I like. It’s how I ended up with six Daturas and six Archers. Not to mention four Darling Ranges and three Belladones. And the bajillion S1873s and B7739s.

The point is, I think Renfrew is next.

In other news, that sickness that has been going around finally found me. I’ll be in bed snuggling tissues and Nyquil.

10 Comments sewing outfit - pink - renfrew - repeats - sewing - snow - top

Stash-busting

January 26, 2014 Peneloping

One of the goals I seem to always have but never seem to stick to is that of stash-busting. I’m really good at coming up with excuses for why that pretty shiny new fabric just needs to come home with me. I’m also terrible at estimating yardage so even when I do use a fabric for its intended purpose I still end up with tons extra. Yikes.

In an attempt to remedy this situation, I went through most of my stash with my pattern collection sprawled out, made plans for each piece of fabric, and took a photo. Now I have a photo-catalogue on my phone of all my upcoming projects.

Here’s a tiny sliver of what I’ve been hoarding.

I will make a successful Anise someday. Having the right fabric for Attempt #2 should help.

Or do I want to find a different lining for my Anise and use this lovely floral piece for an Anna dress??

I’m envisioning using my simple skirt for the bottom, and then some kind of sleeveless (maybe strapless?) top. Haven’t quite figured out the strap situation here. Something like this.

This dress will happen someday.

I bought waaay too much fabric for my Impossible Girl dress. I’m thinking of using the leftovers to make a Darling Ranges, this time with emphasis on the pink bits.

Have you guys seen Tall Sarah’s Skaterfrew? It’s gorgeous. I’m totally copying her.

This fabric has been awaiting its destiny in my stash for ages. I’ve decided it’s going to be a Renfrew (view A).

I’m thinking something like this.

I have one more piece of this terrible poly gabardine and I’m thinking of making a Laurel out of it.

I’m considering getting these printed so I can pin them on my bulletin board as a visual reminder. It’s hard to be inspired by things that are folded and hidden away.

How do you guys manage your stash-wrangling? Any and all advice is welcome.

15 Comments sewing fabric - patterns - plans - sewing problems - stash - stash-busting

Now I’m craving a cupcake

January 7, 2014 Peneloping

I’ve taken a bit of a break from my Layer Cake dress but with only 90-something days to PAX, it’s probably time to dive back in. Although the skirt was pretty simple (just a bunch of math and ruffles), I was a bit terrified of starting the bodice since I have yet to run into a pattern that would work for it, which means self-drafting.

Kaylee layer cake dress

I was able to visit The Black Hole of Endless Fabrics, also known as Fabrics ‘R Us while I was at home and found this lovely organza (or is it organdy? I feel like I should know the difference) that is pretty similar to the original pattern. I needed it in white for the bodice and pink for the sleeves, and I’m assuming this stuff is polyester so I bought some iDye on Amazon.

I also picked up some pink ribbon to make a ribbony hair clip and half a yard of a tassel trim. I wish I had taken a picture of the look on the lady’s face when I told her I wanted half a yard of the trim. She was very skeptical and kept holding it up and double-checking that I, in fact, only wanted a measly 18″ of the stuff. I tried to explain that it was for a sleeve trim but I don’t think it helped.

Anyway, I had kind of given up on finding a trim with the right sized tassels but then I came across this one! It has both pale cream tassels and slightly olivey gold ones. I’m thinking of dipping the cream ones in the iDye as well to make them a little pinker. I have 33 tassels and I’m thinking I’ll put 16 on each sleeve puff with one spare. Perfect!

Ok, enough stalling. I’m going to start the bodice today. I swear.

Things I still need:
-Hoop skirt stuff
-Organza(dy) ribbon for bodice seams
-Pink lace for neckline (or ribbon?)
-Chainette fringe (tutorial here)
-Satin covered buttons

We’re getting there!!

1 Comment sewing cosplay - costume - costume replica - kaylee - layer cake - progress - sewing - shindig