I am so glad that Mum brought around her finished Alabama Chanin skirt for me to ooh and ah over; and has allowed me to photograph her wearing it and to show it here on my blog too… thank you so much, Mum!
This is the mid-length skirt from the book, Alabama Studio Sewing + Design, by Natalie Chanin. Mum used a deep blue upper layer over a black lower layer, both cotton jerseys bought in Tessuti’s in Melbourne during our truly fah-bulous Mum/daughter/grand-daughter trip over there together last November.
The upper layer is stencilled with the Anna’s Garden design from the same book, enlarged by 306%, then the two layers are embroidered together using Gutermann’s upholstery thread in a pale grey. The stencilled areas are then cut away in the “reverse appliqué” method to reveal the black under-layer. Mum used a doubled strand of upholstery thread as per the book’s instructions, but found the two strands a pain in the neck to work with; they constantly got twisted up awkwardly together and were subsequently difficult to pull through. Just for comparison sake, I used only a single strand in embroidering my own two pieces.
The surface embroidery is all done by hand of course, and Mum decided to sew the finished pieces together by machine. The waistband is pale grey fold over elastic, also from Tessuti’s.
The stencil was applied to the upper layer in watered-down acrylic house paint using a small foam roller as described here. Since I did the stencilling for Mum I know there is one more piece in the works! and now I’m roolly excited to see that one too! 🙂
This is one of the best advertisements for the book that I've seen!
The workmanship is awesome, I 'm glad she popped over to show us too. Jo x
Outstanding work! Love the whole outfit as well.
So very lovely!
Lovely! Always inspiring me to do something extra 🙂
Beautiful and beautifully done! Me thinks your Mum and I are of an age – kudos to her – she looks marvelous! I used to love hand work and seeing this I'm thinking I might ought to take another look at this book. Right after I finish the Jo Sharp sweater, the lightweight denim jacket, shortening the green shorts, the cashmere cowl (#3!), the eyelet jacket – sort of based on the one you did, finish covering the antique footstool – YAWN! Going to check out Amazon!
that is fantastic, she looks so chic! great color combo
It`s outstanding, great work!
It's gorgeous! I've also used double stranded Guttermann upholstery thread for this purpose and didn't have much issues with twisting. Did you mother run the thread through her fingers before sewing? I find that really helps prevent twisting.
A wonderful skirt! I´m very impressed.
Gorgeous! Great sewing genes must run in your family:)
This is gorgeous!!! I love the color combo! Great job mum!
This is gorgeous. Great inspiration for me as I've just ordered fabric for my first Alabama Chanin project.
That's so pretty! I love the subtle grey/black color combination with the floral pattern – so elegant.
Beautiful work and she looks amazing. I have the books, the stencils, the paints, and probably the fabric…but not the guts to start. I'm impressed!
Absolutely stunning!!!
Fantastic!
Wow, this is gorgeous!
What a beautifully elegant skirt. And your mum's stitching is very neat!
Decided to post my "unfiltered and unedited" response to your email: "OMG!! That skirt is absolutely stunning!" What else could I add?
Wow! this is amazing, very beautiful. I hadnt heard of Alabama Chanin, thanks for introducing me.
Your Mum looks amazing and such gorgeous work, thank you for sharing.
This is one of the best AC pieces I've seen (apart from yours of course). Your Mum must have a lot of patience to make those stitches so perfect. I'm making my skirt now and I'm hoping my (considerably less patiently sewn) stitches are going to look ok!!
Gorgeous to see your elegant Mum looking so beautiful in her own creation. You have inspired me to have a go at my own Alabama Chanin and now there is a shop here in Perth (in walking distance from my house, even!), I am definitely going to do it – next year 😉
I can imagine these take an incredible amount of time, but the results are amazing. Thanks for sharing your mum's work.
So very beautiful, your mum looks fabulous in this outfit. It is a work of art as well as couture, please thank her for sharing this lovely skirt.
Awesome! I hope to create a few pieces for myself in the future. You mom looks amazing!
Wow – what a beautiful skirt!
Beautiful!
The deep blue and black go together so well, and being a skirt it's more wearable than some of the dresses that I have seen (and have been planning on doing for months!) I'm still on the lookout for the perfect fabric combination, but alas, can't seem to even find 2 fabrics of the same weight (I'm searching for a stable, 100% cotton), let alone co-ordinating colours. Maybe I should check Tessuti here in Sydney!
Andrea, thank you! and don't stress too much about finding the perfect fabrics. Natalie Chanin herself started her label using old Tshirts cut up. Mum's skirt here has two different fabric weights, as did my own two pieces. I used a much thicker and stronger cotton jersey as my under layer, and the upper layer was a much thinner weight; and it's worked out fine. I've washed both pieces in my washing machine twice now, no problems whatsoever 🙂
I'm planning on doing the exact same skirt – after I finish a fitted tunic and a bolero – I'm smitten! Interesting about the single strand of thread. Fabulous skirt.
Stunning. Just beautiful handwork.
Amazing! Such a chic and talented lady!
Fabulous work! It looks so perfect you would never imagine how much hand embroidering and stencilling it takes. The colors are fab! So glad your mom agreed to share it
Gorgeous!!! Please thank your mum for sharing and inspiring all of us. I bought the AC book when you made your skirt. This is a good time to start.
Stunning!
wow labour of love – stunning
Wow, wow, wow!!! Looks fantastic. Rachel ☺
I am so impressed with your Alabama Chanin pieces and now with your Mom's – gorgeous and so well made. Congratulations!!
This is just awesome! And I see you come by your creativity naturally – like mother, like daughter!
What can I say but apple and tree. Your mother is grace personified and I love that skirt. How talented you both are.
Wow! That absolutely gorgeous! Both of you are so talented!
Double Wow. That is amazing and gorgeous.
OMG – what a stunner – looks just like the stuff in the book. Your mother did an amazing job on her two-layer skirt. Wow.
I first checked that book out of the library in San Francisco when it was released. Then I had to buy a copy for myself. I've made a couple things but only embellished one – embroidered "Alabama fur"on a wrap – but no where near as many spiral as the ones in the book.
That is just gorgeous! Lovely work.
So beautiful! I can imagine that the double-stranded thread was hard to work with, but your mom's embroidery really pops!
How gorgeous!
This is so so beautiful. I'm envious of those tiny even stitches, she has done a beautiful job! I saw another comment about smoothing the double strand thread, there's a few comments from Natalie in this tutorial: http://jezebel.com/5911540/how-to-embellish-any-t-shirt-with-designer-natalie-chanin . Stroking the thread removes some of the torque and torsion and makes it easier to work with 🙂
What they say? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right? You and your mom are the perfect example, sewingwise.
Fantasically stunning! congratulations Carolyn's Mum. A note about the thread for those who might be thinking of starting their first AC project. I've made one Alabama Chanin dress using the Coats and Clarke thread sold on the AC website, one bolero using Guterman's upholstery thread and have almost finished a maxi skirt in the Guterman's. All three have been the Anna's Garden design and all three with double stranded thread. I found the C&C thread slightly easier to work with (although not enough to make me get it for the skirt instead of the Guterman's). The Guterman's DOES twist more though, I feel. However, I also, having now done many many hours of it, find that I have it under better control – it's slowly becoming less of a pain. My stitches still don't look as beautiful as Carolyn's Mum's however.
Mary
Yes, thanks mum for letting us all view that gorgeous skirt! So very pretty!
That skirt is amazing.
So yummy, I'm drooling. 🙂
Wooow! Serious talent… Phrases like "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" keep running through my head.
I've never been that keen on Alabama Chanin…until I saw this skirt. It is FABULOUS!!!
I love your mom's skirt! This really makes me want to make myself one. I love the length- on my to do list for the winter!
S.T.U.N.N.I.N.G.
Wow, really beautiful!
Your hand stitching is sashiko perfect. LOVE this!