Tag Archives: modcloth

Birthday dress!

March 7, 2014 Peneloping

dress: self-made // shoes: Seychelles // tights: F21

Everyone, meet Birthday Dress!

I’ve been so excited to share this and I pretty much ran right upstairs to take photos within three minutes of the last stitch. Did I mention it’s about 30 degrees outside? I had a severely runny nose by the end. Yikes.

Anyway, I can’t remember where exactly at the moment, but I saw this dress a few weeks ago (probably on Pinterest, actually) and decided right then and there that it was going to be birthday dress. I already knew I would use McCall 6646 and figured the black fabric wouldn’t be too hard to find, so I went to work looking up what types of beads to use.

Photo from Modcloth.com

I looked at Etsy, Joann’s, Fire Mountain Gems, and Sewfisticated and ended up cobbling together a nice selection of the necessary beads. If you look at the closeups you’ll see that there’s bugle beads outlining the curlicues and then inside them, it alternates one larger bead and three small seed beads. There seem to be three types of larger beads that are randomly alternating: pearls, montee rhinestones, and some sort of faceted bead. I had some pearls left over from a previous project and for some reason Sewfisticated sells 20g bags of 1/4″ bugle beads for $0.49 so those were easy. I decided to use bicone Swarovski knockoffs from Joann’s and then found these guys on Etsy.

The dress itself was pretty easy to put together but I got a little too excited and sort of jumped the gun and put the bottom half of the dress together before I actually bought the chiffon for the top bit, which meant that that was much more difficult to attach. Whoops. It worked out though! I just ended up making some bias tape out of the chiffon (SO much fun, guys) and reinforcing the heart-shaped neckline with it to conceal where the chiffon top attached.

Anyways, I’m incredibly relieved that I managed to get it done in time! My actual birthday was on Wednesday (27 – yikes!) but a super busy week means we’re doing celebrations tonight instead.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

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

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

A skirt for the playground

September 21, 2013 Peneloping

top: Gap (thrifted) // skirt: self-made // shoes: Chelsea Crewe // photos by Laney

Guys, meet my favorite skirt. This lovely number is probably one of my most-worn garments (and it’s a solid, go figure) and was oh-so-easy to draft. I saw this Modcloth skirt on Katie of Skunkboy and about died. Pseudo-pencil skirt that goes with everything? Knit fabric? Not zipper? Super comfy? Yes please!

I just drafted a front piece and a back piece with the A-line shape and then the pockets and a waistband. Oh and the over-sized belt loops. I somehow found the perfect gold buttons too! I sewed the pockets onto the front, sewed the front to the back, attached the waistband, realized it would’ve been easier to do the waistband before attaching the front/back, and then did the belt loops last.

So far I’ve worn this skirt with all kinds of outfits. Stripey long-sleeve tees with tights and boots, blouses, tops with cute detailing, tank top with a cardigan, solid top with a drapey sweater, etc.

Laney took these photos for me the same day as these Belladone ones and we had so much fun with this giant wheel. I walk by it pretty often and always wanted to somehow incorporate it into outfit photos so I was super excited that we actually made it work! Semi-nerve-wracking climbing up in heels though..

14 Comments sewing modcloth - outfit - playground daze - self-drafted - sewing - skirt

Bows and lace

September 7, 2013 Peneloping

dress: self-made (based on this Corey Lynn Calter dress) // shoes: Chelsea Crew

I finally finished one of my three copycats for the Copycat Challenge! I mentioned most of the how-to stuff earlier in this post.

Technically it’s not 100% done. I’m still on the lookout for four smallish flat bronzey buttons for right under the bow, between the dangly bits. So far no luck.

Three weeks left in the Copycat Challenge guys! It’s been really awesome seeing what everyone’s made and I have a whole slew of projects to add to my own to-do list. Keep them coming!

*Excuse the rumply-ness. I’m between irons and have been roughing it with a hair straightener. Yeahh..

28 Comments sewing copycat - copycat challenge - corey lynn calter - dress - jess - modcloth - new girl - outfit - sewing