Last night wrapped up the last event for the launch of Rae Miller’s and my Abstract Junction and Am.A-line collab collection. It was a great evening spent with new and old friends while gathered around the mending table with everyone working on something different or just hanging out.

So now that I have a little more time to breathe….aside from school and other things (lol but a good reprieve)….I wanted to dive in and share a thorough recap of our collaboration and the amazing pieces we built together and independently….a true collaboration, as Rae so eloquently stated.

It’s been quite a few months now since I mentioned it earlier this year, about 6 months or so. We’ve been working diligently and frantically at the same time (mostly me with the frantic part lol). We decided to go about this with a different approach that wouldn’t stress either of us out and would also be less intensive in the design conception stage by letting what spoke to us centered around a general idea and message we came up with at the very beginning. A lot of what we had in mind centered around florals and extending the life of clothing through unique story telling.

That’s when we split up the work and search for secondhand clothing and luckily found our beautiful statement fabric at Indigo Hippo, our local non-profit art supply store. We started with having 3 to 4 pairs of pants done the first two months we checked in and then moved onto tops.

We checked in 4 times before our big production sprint weekend at the end of August. They were two super fun days where we got a lot done. Honestly, Rae was already cranking things out while I was over here ripping and making patterns, slowly making my pieces lol. But that weekend, I added at least 4 to 6 more items to my portion of already 10 items. Then last month we met a few times for ironing out logistics for our launch date (last Saturday, Oct. 4), marketing, and of course me finalizing the photos as well since I shot our pieces.

But let me get into some of true makings of a few of the pieces I constructed. First my favorites!

1. The Red Vest Sets - This is where the upholstery fabric came in and shined! It was the catalyst fabric for everything we advertised and more. As soon as Rae saw it, she said we had to have it and I agreed. After we walked out of the store, I was already having visions of it being a 2 piece set, a jacket and pants. Well, I ended up not having enough fabric for the sleeves, but the vest and pants came out so good! Then, with the left over fabric pieces and scraps I had, I pieced together another vest and a pair of shorts, combining them with denim pieces from other jeans I had already cut up. So we have a full upholstery set and a more denim featured set that can virtually be worn by anyone, though I designed them with form and fit in mind.

   

   

2. Two Tone Pants: These were so much fun to make! Again, Rae came in with the winning piece of fabric! And it just so happened that I was wearing one of my favorite pair of linen pants that helped serve as inspiration for these. The fabric…was a large drapery curtain….Perfection. And it was super soft. So I thought about just making a green pair of pants, but then realized I had some other larger pieces of fabric I hadn’t used in my portion of the collection. That’s when the two toned drawstring pants were born. Unfortunately, I had to make a few corrections, which were lessons learned (and I should have known just by how I was making them vs how many times I’ve made pants and know that wasn’t going to work). Aka, I didn’t make the back of the pant high enough because I cut it as a straight line. So I had to add yokes to the two of them and a pair of shorts I did the same too. Which, I’m glad I caught that and was able to fix it, plus learn a few other things I may not have if I didn’t have this misstep.

   

3. Black & Blue Denim: Of course, the bottom of a blue jean being black has become a signature move for me. So with this one, I decided to try the dual leg combo with an additional stripe. And they turned out so good. Like I want them for myself to go with my other pair I have lol. And then we decided they could get a patch sewn on top to add a bit of color and flare.

   

Then two days before the launch, we got together one last time to set up and make sure we were ready. Me…I still had to put labels on everything and was trying to clean up a few things. Then the crazy and best part! I was at work the Friday before and found a bunch of garments that were in some bags and I asked if I could take them if I found use. The answer was yes! So, I snagged a few stray pockets, belt loops, and cut up pants. That night and the morning of the launch, I had a sewing sprint and made a couple cute bags from the things I found.

It was an exploration in allowing my brain to figure out how to sew these cut pants back into full pieces just to realize I just needed to sew and follow the corners and curves. Incidentally, one set that I was working to make into a bag turned out to be cuter as a skirt. I ended up making 5 pocket bags. 4 small ones and 1 large messenger type bag. Then I ended up reconstructing an additional shirt 2 hours before the launch. And, I’m not sure if you’ll believe me, but I was at ease the entire time.

By the time the launch party started, I was finally sitting down to eat lol. We had a great turn out and had such a great time sharing our collection with everyone.

It was a fantastic collaboration and more than likely we’ll be doing it again next year. So if you want to see each of our pieces, they’ll be up on our websites soon by checking us out at Abstract Junction and Am.A-line Collections.

Until next time, enjoy the fall crisp air that’s starting to settle in the Northern hemisphere!