26 March 2009

123. Surprise!

Before the surprise, an update on the sew-along: There has been a brief slowdown/ burnout/ general pause this past week for many of us working on our pants. I believe Mary Nanna has crossed the finish line, and Cindy finished but wore the final pants and wants to make more modifications. Johanna Lu and Diana suggested feeling a bit of a pause. DD, Berry, and I have been silent on the topic for a couple of weeks, though I can confirm that I will make some pattern alterations based on your thorough feedback from my last post and should have another muslin for you to see. Hopefully that muslin will reflect the right amount and quality of effort, but if not, I will push to the finish line!

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The surprise: I'm working on a micro line of refashioned t-shirts with 302Designs!

Remember when I told you in February about the month I recently spent with an "anything goes" mentality? (To save you from clicking around to re-read the post, the quick summary is that I had a month off between Jan & Feb from my day job and just recorded every idea I had, and I tried to explore them all.) One of the first ideas I had during that month was to identify a company that could offer lots of raw materials for refashioning. 302Designs is an Austin company that produces screenprinted t-shirts, and I figured that they would have some overstock/ misprint/ deadstock/ mildly damaged/ otherwise unsellable shirts sitting around that they could offer a better life as a new garment. I'd met the owner, David Walker, about 18 months ago, and last month I just picked up the phone to explain that I had some ideas, and could he meet up? We scheduled some time to brainstorm, and I left the meeting a clothing designer. Say what?

Yes, it happened that fast. Even though my head is still processing this, I have forced my hands to start working on the clothes. I didn't have a specific intention in mind when I went into the meeting but the end result is that I'll be taking these 16 t-shirts, which had been sitting in a box on a shelf for a long time, from 302Designs, and I will refashion them into new garments in a micro sample line. Micro as in 6 pieces, sample as in "the only one available". David has local press contacts and will invite them to check out the goods when the line is complete.

After, "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?", and, "Me? Design clothes?", the big question for me was, "What could happen from there?" I've decided to start a company/ clothing label to see where this little project can go. I don't have any intention of leaving my day job as a corporate trainer and business consultant, and I am thrilled to have a chance to extend something I love creatively into a business, even if it is a one-woman operation (with lots of support and cheering from my friends and family). It's kind of like bringing the two things I love -- being a businessperson and sewing/ creating clothes -- into one venture. Really the most amazing opportunity!

It's important to me to set up a separate site for the company/ label, so that CleverGirl.org will continue to serve up the familiar dorkiness and angst, nearly unconditional love, lessons from sewing and life in general, the results of interesting sewing experiments, and the occasional tutorial and sew-along. :) I'll add links to the sidebar in case you're interested, but the basic blog and what I blog about won't change in an icky, uncomfortable way.

It's a good time to introduce you to Carmen:


Carmen is staying with us for a few weeks, thanks to my awesome friend and sewing guru, Shauna, to help out with the micro collection. It seemed like a better idea to sew this sample line for a body with a more average (read" BIGGER") bust size than Clementine's. I think Carmen has a 35" or 36" bust -- spicy name for a curvier gal. You can see Clementine sulking in the edge of the shot, but she'll get used to sharing the space. Plus I'll be keeping her busy, too.

20 comments:

  1. wow - what a fantastic opportunity. I'm thrilled for you and admire your spirit in getting the whole thing up and running. You've obviously got quite an entrepreneurial streak.

    And what a lot of fun! It's like your own Project Runway, using seconds as your inspiration, except you won't have an Ayran blond say to you in a German accent, "you're out" if anything goes awry.

    My pants are finished, but I was going to make another pair in a fashion fabric of my choice (not a charity shop bargain). I probably don't have time, even though I'm about a day ahead of you guys timeline wise so could sneak in an extra day, I took my son to the fabric store and it was a total disaster so I'm just not going to get back in time solo to make my purchase.

    Anyway, how many pairs of skinny pants does a fat person need?

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  2. Congratulations! What an exciting venture - good luck!

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  3. Whooohooo! I can't wait to see updates of what you come up with. :-)

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  4. yay! this is such an exciting opportunity! can't wait to see what you come up with!

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  5. Curvy, Mary Nanna. I believe, the term is curvy. FWIW, the pictures I've seen of you have been fabulous.

    Antoinette, so you're a designer about to embark on making her (first?) sample line! Congratulations! Will you be chronicling your progress?

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  6. I cannot express how excited I am for you! I can't wait to see what you develop for your line, either!

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  7. You must be so proud of yourself for getting this Pants Challenge going. It actually takes a lot for you to step out in front of something like this. You inspire me!

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  8. Congratulations! When you become rich and famous remember all of us little people.

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  9. That so cool! And CleverGirl would be a great name for a clothing label too!

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  10. Wow~~!! Congrats! How exciting and it's here in Austin! ^_^

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  11. Congrats! That's quite exciting. And yes, I definitely want a link to the new label site-- want to see what you come up with! It'll be fun to see what you do with t-shirts, after all of your inspiring men's shirt refashions.

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  12. Congratulations! So exciting. Can't wait to see what you come up with!!

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  13. Wow, congratulations, this seems like a dream opportunity! I'm so excited for you!

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  14. Very cool... the company looks like a neat one to work with. Thanks for your sweet email by the way. I am completely in awe of your sewing and design ability..!

    Dot

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  15. Thank you, the pockets were a challenge but I'm glad I took it. I will be doing them on something else soon.

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  16. OMG!! I know so VERY little about sewing. And, this totally thrills me. I am completely excited for you. It's awesome to be able to keep up with each new opportunity you are making.
    Hugs!!
    Lisa

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  17. Yay! I just bought 302's "elevation" t-shirt a couple weeks ago, and I rarely buy shirts when grocery shopping. Can't wait to see what you make.

    Megan

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  18. I'm equally excited to see what you can come up with, Antoinette! You're crazy talented, so I have lots of faith in your abilities!

    @Megan thanks for your support. Glad you like our Elevation tee!

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  19. Wow, congrats! Looking forward to following your progress in this adventure.

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