Best of 2011: The Projects

When you spend your days trying to be creative and blogging about it, most projects turn out really great, but you're sure to have some posts you don't just love.  This post is a representation of projects from the past year that actually did work out and that, of course (because you're seeing them here) I'm really proud to call my own.

Joanna Dress from City of Black and White Collection--Original Post

You can see the rest of the collection here.

This was a different thing for me at the time....beaded fabric, flutter sleeves, the peplum. It was also the first dress I constructed with no sloper--just manipulating the fabric and cutting it out into the shapes I wanted.  I love how the simple black belt grounds the whole look.

Drifting By Dress--Original Post

This looks so intricate, but ended up being not as technical or difficult a project as I thought it might. I'd been itching to do a dress with variegated color layers for a while and felt a lot of satisfaction on the completion of this project. Such a perfect summer dress.

Volante Tee--Tutorial

The original Volante tee from Anthropologie looked like a hot mess on me, so I took this knit sweater from LOFT and re-created a version that was a better fit.  The bow measurements took a bit of trial and error, but I eventually got the proportions right.  This is still my go-to sweater. 

Unconditional Osier Dress--Original Post

I don't think this dress looks very like the original--the fabric makes it look much dressier, but it was exactly the fabric that I love, love, loved about this project.  And I thought lining it in gray silk just made it look way awesome. But of course, I'm biased. HA.

Bold Boutonniere Dress--Original Post

This was challenging, mainly because I could never find the perfect fabric for the bottom of the dress.  I came across the brown ticking in the home decor section of Jo-ann's and it worked out quite nicely.  Re-creating this dress was also much more difficult than I would have imagined, so I was really happy that it all came together this way.

Sand Sea Dress from Spring '12 Collection--Original Post

See rest of collection here.

This dress was fancy without being overkill, casual without being dull. The fabric is peachskin, my fave to work with because it swishes and hangs is such a dreamy way.  I'm quite fond of a great shirt-dress, so a shirt-dress with contrasting collar and sequined pocket?  Uhh...LOVE.