Garments – Page 9

Alabama Chanin, Part 2

06.14.2015 by Tracey //

Skirt, DIY Alabama Chanin, made by Tracey

DIY Kit, Swing Skirt, Paisley Stencil

Fabric, Natural Dye Organic Medium Weight Cotton Jersey

Hot Water Music T-shirt, reworked by Tracey

Welcome back! Last week, I gave you loads of information (and lots of links) about Alabama Chanin. This week, I want to talk more about the Alabama Chanin techniques. The skirt pictured above was made using reverse appliqué. For each garment piece there are two layers of cotton jersey. The top layer has the sprayed-on stencil made with fabric paint. After pinning the two layers together, I sewed a running stitch around each stenciled motif, knotting off each time I finished a shape. After everything is stitched, I carefully (very carefully!) cut the top layer of the inside of the shape away, leaving about an 1/8 inch of the painted fabric. Using this natural dye fabric with color variations was such a treat because I was pleasantly surprised by the changing color as I cut away the top layer. It gives the skirt such a subtle dimension. The garment pieces were joined using a running stitch, then the seam allowances were folded to the same side and stitched down. (Check out Featherstitch Avenue’s Instagram for more detailed photos.)

As I explained in last week’s post, I order a kits with precut pieces already stenciled. But there are a number of ways to customize a kit depending on how you stitch it together. You can use beads, you can use a backstitch, you can use embroidery floss. There are many ways to make it your own. Natalie’s third book Alabama Studio Sewing and Design is a wonderful resource on all the different possibilities.

The t-shirt is a redesign by me. I used the cretan stitch (Instructions for this stitch are in all of the Alabama Studio books) to bind the neck and arm holes.

Hope you are having a great summer! See you next week.

Alabama Chanin, Part 1

06.07.2015 by Tracey //

Dress, DIY Alabama Chanin, made by Tracey

DIY Kit, Camisole Baby Doll Dress, June’s Dream Stencil

Fabric, Alabama Chanin Organic Medium Weight Cotton Jersey (in Brunette and Taupe)

Alabama Chanin Beads

Photography by Santiago Vanegas

June is Alabama Chanin month here at Featherstitch Avenue! If you haven’t heard of Alabama Chanin, please go to their website and read up about them. Or check out this short film by Gael Towey about Natalie Chanin and her company. (Scroll down Gael’s Portraits in Creativity to find the one on Alabama Chanin.) There is so much to learn about what they stand for. Sustainability. Growing and manufacturing in the USA. Open sourcing their techniques and materials. Because of their dedication to all of these things, it makes me proud to support what they do. I’ve also had the pleasure of taking a few workshops with Natalie Chanin, and she is one of my favorite people to be around. I could listen to her stories all day! There’s a fair amount of information out there about who they are and what they do so I have provided some links for you if you’d like to know more. But today, I’d like to talk about what Alabama Chanin means to me personally.

If you don’t sew, you may not know that sewing can be a very cerebral experience. When drafting a pattern, there is a fair amount of math involved. When constructing a garment, it’s like a puzzle, figuring out the order of the sewing steps, and making choices about how to finish the seams and openings. It requires a great deal of concentration and attention. Most of my sewing is like this. With Alabama Chanin projects, my approach is different. My preference is to buy a kit, in which the garment pieces are precut and already stenciled. So once I’ve selected my color and my thread, my decisions are pretty much done. This frees me up to simply focus on the hand sewing which becomes almost like a meditation. (All of my Alabama Chanin garments are 100 percent hand stitched.) From the moment that I “love my thread” (a technique taught by Natalie of relaxing the fibers of the thread), I move into a different headspace. I find sewing this way calming and centering. For this reason, I’m content to accept the kits as they are, making no personal modifications at all. It helps that they are made with forgiving jersey and at this point I’m very familiar with the sizing of their patterns.

Depending on the amount of embellishment, it can take quite awhile to finish. Each garment goes at its own pace. Some that I have made took me more than a year to complete, but I’m never powering through, trying to get it done. The cool thing about these kits is that they are so portable, and because I hand sew them, I can take them everywhere. I work on them in the carpool line or waiting rooms or on an airplane. (Yes, you can bring them on the plane! I use nail clippers to cut the thread instead of scissors.) For this dress, I used a variety of techniques–appliqué, reverse appliqué, beading, and embroidery. To see more detailed photographs of the embellishments, you can go to my Instagram.

And one more small note–if you read last week’s post, you know that I’m recovering from a dog bite. But you won’t see my injury in these pictures. Santiago retouched it right out. Now, just so you know, we have a strict policy about NOT retouching anything on me, but we thought you might appreciate us making an exception in this case. After fixing up the photograph, Santiago turned to me with a smile, and said, “Now doesn’t your arm feel better?” If only it were that easy!!

Have a great week, everyone! See you on Sunday!

Blue Rose Dress

05.10.2015 by Tracey //

Blue Rose Dress by Tracey

Pattern, drafted by Tracey and Lindsey Knott

Fabric, Liberty Voile (silk and cotton blend) from B&J Fabrics

Photography by Santiago Vanegas

When I was bitten by the sewing bug, I decided that my best strategy to get better was to surround myself with talented and experienced people and absorb everything I could. I’ve been so lucky to have found wonderful teachers who have helped me to get further along on my sewing journey and I plan on talking about each and every one on my blog. Today, it’s Lindsey’s turn! Lindsey is the head stitcher in the costume shop at the Atlanta Ballet and also a graduate of the fashion department at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). She is a supremely talented woman and absolutely lovely to be around. I convinced her to take time out of her very busy schedule to come to my house once a week to work with me on pattern making. And somehow, between the dogs barking, and the kids home sick from school, and workmen around the house, she managed to pass on her pattern making knowledge which I am so grateful for!

This dress is a product of our work together. (Lindsey also helped me with my French Vest.) The skirt is two layers of voile at different hem lengths. I decided to use the wrong side of the Liberty print fabric because it has the sun faded look that I wanted. I lined the bodice in the same fabric so that the right side of the fabric faces the inside of the garment. (I love that the inside of the dress is as wonderful as the outside.) I used french seams throughout the dress which definitely got a little complicated at times with the different layers and trying to remember the wrong side is really the right side and to sew the wrong side together first then the right side together next which is really the wrong side. You see what I mean. And if you don’t see what I mean, then you know exactly how I felt making it! But eventually it all came together. I went a little to deep with the neckline. I’m still trying to master the fit of a neckline and I’m a little baffled that I have so much trouble with it. I struggle to get them to lay the way I want. But I guess that’s one of the aspects of sewing that keeps it interesting–there’s always a problem to solve, a challenge to meet.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention these photographs were taken in Savannah. Such a beautiful place!! Santiago and I did a few photo shoots while we were there, so look for more images from Savannah this summer.

See you next Sunday! You won’t want to miss it. We are going to show you some of my favorite necklaces ever. And Santiago really outdid himself with the images. Have a great week!