Alabama Chanin corset sizing set

One of  my favorite things about visiting the Alabama Chanin Factory in Florence, Alabama was being able to try on all (and I mean ALL) of their gorgeous styles and sizes of clothing. I have to say their sizing chart is spot on, and it has never steered me wrong. But in our ready-made world of shopping, there is something rather unnerving about sewing for weeks or months without really knowing whether the finished item will truly fit.

While I'm not able to carry a whole store around with me to my classes, I wanted to be able to offer just a slice of my experience to my students. The corset is probably the most popular and timeless item from the Alabama Chanin collection, so I've been stitching up a "set" of corsets, sizes small through extra, extra large, for my students to try on at my classes. I'm hoping that seeing the flattering fit and feeling the quality of organic cotton will afford my students the confidence to have a go at stitching up their own wardrobe staple.

Cotton bolls and one lone plant

Cotton bolls and one lone plant ~

I grew up in a farming community in California. In fact, I lived on a ranch in the middle of cherry orchards for a time. But I had never seen a cotton plant until a few years ago on my first trip to Alabama. I knew that cotton was an integral part of southern history, but I personally wasn't very familiar with this fluffy, white plant and all that it entailed. Lucky for me, during my first class at the Factory of Alabama Chanin, Natalie Chanin introduced us all to the world of cotton, from its raw, microscopic form, through production, and how it related to the beautiful garments that were created at her company.

Frankly, I was enchanted with those soft cotton bolls. Feeling their cushy fibers in my fingers really connected me to this plant, and helped me understand just how important this bit of fluff really was.

When I decided to become an Alabama Chanin sewing instructor, I wanted to get enough cotton bolls to share with all my students. I knew not a lot of people from the Pacific Northwest had ever seen, let alone felt a raw cotton boll. I wanted my students to "feel" the connection like I had that first time I held one.

Recently, I went to visit my parents in Arizona. We were talking about farming there, and it hit me, perhaps Arizona was another cotton farming area. Was it so? Yes, they raised cotton in Arizona! In fact, there was a cotton gin just a few miles down the road from where I was staying. In the car we hopped, and we drove straight over there. The ladies in the reception area were so nice, but they had no cotton bolls left. The season was finished; the fields picked; the cotton ginned; and all that was left were drifts of white fluff along the edges of the cotton fields. Though one woman added, as an aside, that she had just seen a plant, one lone cotton plant, all by itself, somewhere, but she couldn't remember for the life of her where she had seen it.

Wouldn't you know it, but the very next day, as we were heading out of town, along the side of the road, across the highway from the barren cotton fields, amid some tiny drifts of forgotten fluff, there stood a lone cotton plant! Out we jumped, and in the dessert, in the middle of nowhere, we harvested some cotton. I packed it up and shipped it home.

I will be so happy to share this unanticipated boon with my students at Art & Soul in March. I hope they enjoy it as much as I do.

Doggy wear, Alabama Chanin style

Doggy wear ~ Alabama Chanin style

My daughter surprised us recently with the news of our first "Grand Dogger" (thank you, Cheryl, for this cute and fitting title). This beautiful, fluffy, white Samoyed immediately found a place in our hearts with her sweet nature and smiley face. My daughter had a bandanna for her to wear, and when she put it on, she pranced about and posed for just a moment with her new adornment. We thought it might be fun to make a few more neck scarves for Luna to wear, and so I set about gathering fabrics and ideas for her new "wardrobe".

Beings that it was Christmastime, she definitely needed something for the season. The idea of the ugly Christmas sweater struck, something red and green, sparkly, and just a tad over the top. I had some scrap red jersey. Jersey meant no need to worry about edges and fraying ~ easy! I cut a triangular shape, then stenciled in white fabric paint the reindeer and snowflakes. I cut two-inch slits, keeping them at least 1/2" in from the edge, all the way around the two shortest sides. I wove a thick, green satin ribbon through the slits. With sparkly gold thread I stitched a sequin and bead onto each segment of the woven portion to secure the ribbon and dress things up a bit. A girl can always use a little sparkle and this was supposed to resemble the ugly Christmas sweater where more was merrier. I left the tails from the knots out as it reminded me tinsel, and added a tiny plaid bow. I wish I had a picture of Luna in it. The red really set off her white coat, and the green ribbon hung down just a bit like the ties on a little sailor suit. She looked like a true Christmas dog.

The Ugly Christmas sweater doggy scarf.

Next, I started on the Alabama Chanin scarf. I cut out my triangle shapes from green and blue fabrics. My green scrap was a bit smallish, thus the difference in size. I do like the edging effect, though. Next I used the Bloomers stencil and with a silver Sharpie traced the stenciled shapes onto the green fabric. The Alabama Stitch book comes with a placement Bloomers stencil included.

Alabama Chanin styled scarf before stitching.

I pinned the green fabric onto the blue fabric. Then with a double strand of gray button craft thread, I hand-stitched just outside of the Sharpie line. I used a running stitch and knotted off after each element. Using the reverse applique method from the Alabama Chanin books, I snipped off the top layer, just 1/8" inside each element. The lime green fabric was jersey, so no need to worry about fraying; but my blue fabric was woven, and thus subject to coming apart. My house was full of kids and Christmas, and rather than trying to pull out my sewing machine and iron with ironing board and find room for them, I opted to use Fray Check on the woven raw edges.

This was a super quick and easy project. I finished it in an evening, while watching a movie with my kids.

I'm sure I'll be looking at my scrap fabric a little differently now, dreaming up more pretty scarves for our Luna girl to don.

Here's a picture of my daughter and Luna skijoring.