Tag Archives: dress

Sun drop

January 4, 2014 Peneloping

Drop-waist dress

dress: self-made // shoes: Swedish Hasbeens // watch: Fossil

So Boston is currently 20F and buried in snow. Which is why I’m pretty happy that my flight was canceled and I got to stay in sunny 70F California for two extra days! To celebrate, we took a beach trip to Baker Beach to hang with the Golden Gate and soak in the sun before heading back to snowy purgatory. (Yes, all you people that said I would get tired of the snow, you were right. Let’s move along now.)

I also got to take my new drop-waisted dress out for a spin! If you follow me on Pinterest you might have noticed the recent influx of drop-waisted dresses on my Sewing Inspiration board and I was so excited when vacation started and I actually had time to figure out how to make one!

I had this navy rayon challis planned for another project but it seemed perfect so I snagged it for this project. In the interest of using patterns I already owned, I chose to use Colette’s Laurel dress as the base. If you’re feeling less adventurous, Republique du Chiffon’s Viviane dress looks pretty cute. It was a pretty simple pattern hack though! I basically just cut out the the bodice front and back as indicated but shortened by about 8-10″ (I did some adjusting so I’m not totally sure of the exact amount I hacked off, and this will depend on your height and how low on the waist you want the skirt to sit). I was also basing my dress mostly on this one, so I cut the sleeves a little wider than the pattern and extended it to 3/4 sleeve length and just enclosed some elastic in the sleeve hem before sewing the sides of the sleeves together.

Then I just gathered two rectangles and attached it as the skirt. Since it’s a pretty loose dress, I didn’t need to add a zipper or anything. I also wanted included a back slit so I just folded the center edge over twice on either side, sewed it down, and then sewed the two pieces together from where the slit ends to the bottom, letting the open bit overlap a bit. Then I attached a small decorative (read: non-functional) button on top that sits over where the top neckline thing attaches. If that makes no sense, let me know and I’m happy to draw a diagram.

In other news, meet my new foot babbies! My mum got them for me for Chreestmas and I basically never want to take them off. They’re a tiny bit ridiculous but four inch heels that feel like flats? With a bow?? Yes please.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and got to relax at least a little! Mine was a bit crazy but filled with tons of fun and fambly and kittens. I got to take one last nap with the kittehs yesterday and now I’m dragging my feet and trying to think of legitimate ways to avoid getting on that plane tomorrow morning.

Shiny!

December 9, 2013 Peneloping

dress: self-made, based on this // shoes: Seychelles // glasses: BonLook* // coat: thrifted // tights: Modcloth

*This is an affiliate link, which means I may get compensated if you decide to shop at BonLook. You won’t pay more by clicking through my link and you’ll be helping to keep peneloping.com running! :]

So the plan was to grow out my bangs and possibly revert to being a brunette. That was the plan, anyway. My bangs were around cheekbone length (and super annoying) and my roots were getting to that gross “something needs to be done immediately” point and I even had a box of brown dye sitting on my desk. Except then somehow I ended up with blunt bangs and even redder hair. I usually just use Garnier Nutrisse in light intense auburn, except this time I decided to use one of the blonde shades on the bottom half and then the auburn over everything to see if the bottom would end up a bit lighter. I can’t really tell if the blonde made a difference at all but just having a head of freshly dyed hair feels amazing.

I’ll be honest though, the bangs were 80% because my eyebrows were starting to look like caterpillars trying to mate and for some reason hacking at my hair was easier than dealing with unruly eyebrows. My eyebrows are still out of control.

Anyway, I made this dress more than a year ago for a fancy party and it’s sort of been forgotten ever since. I haven’t really worn it because I wanted to make small adjustments to the waist area but keep forgetting about it until I actually want to wear it. I absolutely adore this fabric. I spent ages trying to find something similar to the original dress but purple, black, and silver impressionist semi-floral blobs is not exactly an easy print to search for. I kept running into this fabric at the store and finally decided that it was probably the closest thing I’d find. It’s super thick and holds the pleats really well.

I used Simplicity 1873 (again!) but with some adjustments to the neckline area. I wanted it to be more of a boat neck so I widened the neckline and then scooted the shoulders outwards a bit. Then I cut the back so it would form a V-shape.

I think I’ll whip this one out for Christmas this year!

PS If you’re in Boston, come celebrate Stitchmas at Grey’s this Saturday! Details on Sarah’s blog.

PPS It snowed!!!

10 Comments sewing bb dakota - classic stunner - copycat - dress - modcloth - outfit - s1873 - sewing

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

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

Cecile’s cousin

October 30, 2013 Peneloping

dress: self-made, based on this lovely number // tights: F21 // shoes: Chelsea Crew

When Dear Creatures’ new Autumn 2013 line came out, I nearly squeed my pants off. You may have witnessed my mad pinning session if you follow me over there. Shocking, I know. Pretty much half of it went on my to-sew list (and the other half went on my presents-to-myself list). First on the to-sew list was the Cecile dress.

When I saw this dress, something sort of nagged at the back of my mind. It seemed familiar maybe? I dug through my pile of patterns and then felt pretty stupid because it was almost identical to Burda 7309, which is one of my go-to patterns. I hadn’t realized it at first because I’d never actually made the skirt before!

I made no alterations to the bodice, but switched out the sleeves for a lengthened version of Burda 7739. For the skirt, I cut and marked most of the pattern as drafted, but added about an extra inch on either side to create darts to line up with the bodice darts. I think the back already had darts so I just cut and sewed those as indicated.

Once everything was more or less put together, I started hand-stitching the trim. I debated how to do it, and tried several things before finding something I liked the effect of. First I tried satin ribbon, but didn’t like how shiny it was. Then I tried the back of the ribbon but I still wasn’t sold on the color. I thought about making bias tape and using that but then decided that making three yards of bias tape didn’t actually sound all that fun. Plus, I couldn’t find the right shade and texture of fabric for it anyway. Finally I meandered over to Sarah’s shop, beaten and broken (hah — just kidding) and she saved the day with some amazingly smooshy ribbon that I can’t for the life of me remember the name of. It’s like grosgrain but made of rayon (I think?) and suuper soft. I may have spent about ten minutes petting it before I actually started sewing it on.

Anyway, yay! I think the dress fabric is mostly wool so it’s super warm and only a tiny bit itchy. I’ve been wearing it with a long tank top underneath and it’s been totally warm and comfy now that it’s suddenly freezing.

22 Comments outfit burda 7309 - cecile - copycat - dear creatures - dress - outfit - sewing