So Mum is up to stay with me, and she popped out the other day wearing this gorgeous, completely handmade ensemble… and it occurred to us that it was a tri-generational effort! Mum made her skirt, Cassie made the scarf for Mum a few years ago, and I recently made the top for her. I asked her if she minded if I took a picture to share on ye olde blog and she graciously said yes.
SO! What have we here?!
Pride of place of course goes to Mum’s skirt… 
a fully hand-embroidered and hand stitched Alabama Chanin skirt; with embroidery in the reverse appliqué method, and using the four panelled, mid length skirt pattern from the book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design by Natalie Chanin. The cotton jersey fabrics were originally white and Mum dyed them herself in two different shades of grey and blue. Mum traced and cut the stencil design June’s Spring from p116 in the book herself, enlarging by 300% as recommended, (also available as a pre cut stencil on the Alabama Chanin website here) She printed the design in creamy-coloured textile paint, and hand-embroidered with a running stitch in double strand of cream Gutermann’s upholstery thread.
When snipping out the motifs she carefully left a very narrow border of the cream stencil round each one.
Exquisite, oui?? I adore everything about this skirt; the colours, the design, the workmanship; and it’s just slightly tempting me to get out the materials and get a-hand-stitching again. Slightly 😉
The scarf… Cassie made the this gorgeous seaside/beach-inspired silk scarf for an art project at school. She hand-dyed and -painted white silk habotai in blue and yellow blocks and blobs, tying parts of it in the shibori style, then stitched a wiggly row of blue stitching for the tide, and embellished with clusters of mini yellow glass and gold beads. The hems are hand-rolled and -stitched.
I can’t believe I’d almost forgotten about this beautiful piece of Cassie’s and feel so lucky and proud that I have two such talented and creative ladies in my life.
Mum’s top is made by me, and yes it is very plain… ! 
A month or so ago Mum mentioned how she specifically wanted an unobtrusive, very plain white top to wear with this skirt so I offered to run one up for her… I chose the Esme top pattern from Lotta Jansdotter’s book Everyday Style and a slubby plain white cotton from Fabulous Fabrics. I measured Mum all over, secretly storing the measurements away for future use, mwahahaha… no one gets away from the handmade in my family!! and drew the pattern so as to custom fit it or Mum’s measurements. Instead of the neckline facings I finished the neckline with a bias cut strip, because I think it’s a much nicer and neater finish for a neckline edge. Mum wants to know how to do this herself so I’ve promised to write a tutorial sometime.
Anyway. She looks so chic and beautiful here, and it was so fantastic when we realised she was spontaneously wearing a collection of handmade family pieces… Such a fabulous and sentimental thing for the three of us. Thank you so much for letting me share, Mum!
I so enjoyed reading this. What a gorgeous outfit of artistic pieces. Wonderful!
Such pretty things. All lovely ladies who sew! You’ve got to love Mums that sew – they teach us so much. My mother taught me to sew, and still says that she didn’t really do much except give me access to a machine (and sat there painstakingly teaching me all sorts of things). I bet your Mum was like that too. I think if you grow up in a creative family it is a great blessing. And Cassie’s scarf is exquisite 🙂
What a gorgeous blog post! Your mum looks just lovely, and the fact that her outfit is made by women in her family… that’s just priceless!
I love the diversity of the makes! the scarf is really precious and beautifully thought, as are the skirt and top…..the top balances the chanin skirt so well. all gorgeous
Perfect colors, proportions and all that sewing love! What a special outfit and special relationship.
Yes, this outfit is gorgeous, and is a testament to the women in your family. So much creative juice in one place! Must run in the genes! Yes, I would love a tutorial for how to finish a neckline with a bias strip. You are right (of course) that it provides a much more professional finish. Your mum is lovely.
thank you Becky! I really appreciate the feedback and am planning a tutorial for the neckline, very soon 🙂
You and the family are just amazing. the skirt is gorgeous! You girls are no slouches either! just wonderful.
What a beautiful posting Caroline! I have been panting to make something using Natalie Chanin’s technique – I have the paints and dabbing brushes, the knits, and now I’m wondering through patterns. I have both her books (and so her patterns too) but I’d like start SMALL 🙂 Like at a yoke. Your mom’s skirt is SO beautiful – the fact she died it and sewed it (it must have taken her months to create) I just love it. Cassie’s scarf is gorgeous as well and of course the top you made your mom is the perfect topping 🙂 So the gift runs in your family! ha! Now we know your secret weapon!
thank you very much Kathleen! Mum has been so thrilled to get all this lovely thoughts about her skirt; and it is as divine for real as it appears in these pictures! 🙂
You are from a family of artists! That skirt is so amazing.
Oh my….your mum looks lovely!
I love all the pieces of her outfit and the fact that you all made a piece makes the outfit even more meaningful!
thank you so much Ann, and my mum is thrilled to receive all these lovely comments! 🙂
lovely, what a great outfit combination.
This is a wonderful outfit! I love how the skirt is dyed and so carefully made as same as the skarf is expressing the given theme, and your top balancing out the outfit! So lovely how your three generations of creative women are combined!
Such a beautiful, creative mother you have!!! Agree with the others, the creative spirit definitely runs in your family!!! Gorgeous skirt! Exquisite scarf!! Pulled together with a custom-made top!!! = Perfect!! Thank you so much for sharing your precious family with us!!! And I would love a bias binding tutorial if you should have the time. 🙂
I love how the creativity flows through your family. All 3 such lovely pieces.
WOW! I can see where you get your talent from….the skirt is fabulous! Lots of love in it and I adore the soft blues.
We know Cassie gets talent from her Mama. The scarf is a treasure. Years ago I did some silk painting and recently I’ve been ruing the fact I gave all my dyes and resists away. Alas…such is life. It’s not just the pretty colours, it’s the incredible creativity and thought in the scarf that has me oohing and aahing.
‘Tis true…we all need some unobtrusive pieces to highlight the main events. You’ve done well yourself Carolyn. So nice to see a three generation ensemble.
Okay…my curiosity never ends. Is coming up to visit heading north in Australia or heading south?
aw thanks so much Sue! I hear you on the getting rid of things, lament. It’s usually just when you toss something out eventually that you suddenly discover a need for it…!
And, yes, we still go “up North” and “down South” in the southern hemisphere too. Mum lives south of me, so she comes up for a visit 🙂
LOLOLOL….sometimes I’m so dorky and think the funniest things. xo
Your Mum looks wonderful in her outfit. Her workmanship on the skirt is exemplary. I love that she is not afraid to wear such an exquisite piece.
Cassie’s scarf is very inspiring. I love her theme and the details that support it. The beads are my favorite part!
Your shirt for your Mum is just right. I also love to make items for the special people in my life. Looking forward to your tutorial on bias binding!
Thank you for sharing this lovely talent in your family!
thank you so much PG! My Mum has been thrilled to receive such lovely compliments. I’m planning the neckline tutorial to turn up here pretty soon 🙂
How inspiring! I love how effortlessly the pieces combine showing you are indeed on the same wavelength.
There is clearly a very talented gene getting passed down through the generations in your family. Your mum looks very stylish in her outfit and it’s so special to be created by the three of you.
Absolutlely beautiful!
chic and beautiful indeed. I think those skirts are amazing and although you inspire me to make many things – I would not ever contemplate a skirt with so much work in – I am in awe. Jo x
Your Mum looks beautiful in her outfit, how wonderful that it is a combination of three generations of sewers.
All 3 pieces are beautiful. How fun and heartwarming to be able to share your creativity with each other!
How lovely to see a collaboration by the women creatives in your family! Your Mum looks fabulous!
It’s so lovely to see three generations’ sewing in one outfit! Thanks for sharing!
Your Mum looks fabulous in her outfit and how lovely that you have three generations sewing. My Mum and my maternal grandmother were both professoinal seamstresses but they are sadly no longer with us. Enjoy these times, they are very precious.
What an amazing outfit, Your mum’s skirt is exquisite, what a work of love and patience. Talented family.
The talent for creativity obviously runs in your family. What a lovely way to build up an outfit.
Your mum wears it well! Green with envy here, about her skirt. The elegant color and pattern, matched at the seam no less! How wonderful that you have a daughter and a mother to share your fiber passion with. A nice thread running through your lives. So to speak.
Seeing your mother like this brings my own to mind. She too was a terrific lady. One of my favorite memories of her was meeting after school to go fabric hunting. Maybe once a month, we’d hit up all 4-5 fabric stores in my town (all but 1 gone now). We’d finger entire rows of fabric bolts and imagine everything a person could use the best ones for…which of course were hardly ever more than daydreaming. She taught me about fibers and all those wonderful textile words like twill, challis, georgette, organza, crepe, pin-wale corduroy. How good garments should be constructed, inside and out.
As did her seamstress mother before her, she made her own clothes and helped make most of mine until I left for college. We usually used big box patterns only as the starting point, and created our own designs from there. Most of the items were daily wear basics, but always with a personal twist. What fun and frustrations we had, visualizing and experimenting. Racing against the clock to finish hems en route to weddings and graduations and airports! From then on we always enjoyed sewist shop browsing whenever we traveled to see each other.
I suspect it’s something like that with you and your mother. Another reason I come visit you here. Your clan makes me feel like I’m back home with mine, again.
thank you so much, Sankati! I loved reading your comment, and the wonderful childhood memories you have happily shopping and creating together with your mother sound so fun and joyful; thank you so much for sharing that with me. You are right in that you and I have similar experiences, your memories are so reminiscent to me of my own teenager years I used to do those same things with my Mum… we’ve always loved doing things together and both have a deep love of fashion and creating our own. Actually, we still do! And I’m so fortunate that my daughter has the same interests with us too 🙂
The number of fabric stores has diminished dramatically here too, it’s really sad. We used to have so much choice, far more ladies were making their own clothes and there would be a fabric/haberdashery,/patterns section in each department store, as well as lots of flourishing little independents. It’s really sad they’ve nearly all gone. It would be wonderful if the sewing and make-your-own-clothes bug really catches on and more fabric businesses start to pop up to support it again
In spite of things we’ve lost over the years (like an entire shop with nothing but buttons, in my little town!), I’m thankful for the internet and how it makes possible for like-minded people to connect across big oceans. Thank you for your kind words! Do keep sewing, weaving, shoemaking, knitting. It makes me happy just to tune in.
I’m with you, but I somehow doubt the DIY bug will make a comeback for the average household. Not unless different economic times force “local” choices on us. I don’t blame busy people for outsourcing their clothes-making; nor is it everyone’s cup of tea. But I do wish everyone gave clothing and machine repairs a try. Some would discover the pleasures that we know; others might be more appreciative of the young nimble fingers that sew their RTW clothing. Making things takes effort and expertise it’s good to be mindful of.
Enough soapbox. Happy December (almost). Hope it’s getting nice and toasty. The sky looks delicious. Go put some more miles on that fine new swimsuit of yours!
Truly beautiful in every way
thank you very much Gilly! xx
A very talented and creative family.
I love this post! the skirt is so beautiful and the scarf is amazing and I love the top. It is perfect.
I would love to see a tutorial on the neck binding.
thank you so much Martha! 🙂 I am planning for the tutorial to appear here soon 🙂
Your mum looks so lovely in this wonderful outfit. What a delightful collaboration. Both Mum and Daughter made gorgeous showy pieces and yours is a beautiful compliment to both. Am I right in remembering that this is not your mum’s first AC piece?
I meant to add that I’d love a tutorial on the neck binding too. I stretched out the neck and arm scythes of a self drafted linen tank that I’m hoping to work into a TNT by incorrectly applying bias binding. I really liked the fit before I applied the binding, afterwards, not so much.
thank you so much Dawn! I’m planning for the tutorial to be here very soon 🙂
This is so wonderful. Your mum looks beautiful in her multigenerational handmade clothes.