Thank you to Pinkney Herbert’s studio at Penland…
xoNatalie
AFTERNOON ART (DESIGN) LESSON
July 16, 2012
Leave a reply
Category Archives: DIY + SEWING
(PROGRESS) REPORT FROM PENLAND – 7/16/12, MONDAY
Just when I think that it can’t get any better, it does. A weekend in the mountains was what I needed and it’s the first time in ages that I meet Monday morning feeling rested, relaxed (beyond measure), and balanced. The highlight of my weekend was certainly a swim in the North Toe River: icy cold waters, a gentle rain, friends, a series of rapids, warmer pools of water carved into the rocks. I often forget how MUCH I NEED to be outside.
While I swam, my studio continued their adventures in stenciling and sewing.
(PROGRESS) REPORT FROM PENLAND: 7/15/12 – SUNDAY MORNING
July 15, 2012
After two hours of restorative yoga, a walk around the studio reveals beautiful progress.
REPORT FROM PENLAND: THURSDAY 7/12/12 (PORTRAITS)
July 12, 2012
I was about 22 years old when I entered my first design studio. I felt like a baby. I had rarely taken an art class in school. When I say rarely, I mean there had been a few special days of art in grade school – nothing particularly formal, and certainly nothing recent. At that time, I didn’t think that I KNEW how to make. In that moment, those grade school classes and the lessons of my grandmothers in living arts didn’t seem to matter; I was scared of the entire process and frozen. The freedom that seemed to stretch before me was too much for my young mind to handle. As a young adult, my best friend was a budding artist. I remember her beautiful drawings so clearly and I began to think that that art was fascinating, but something that OTHER people did. Prints of Pinkie and The Blue Boy in gold foil frames, purchased at the local furniture store, were the only “art” that hung in our home.
WATERSHED FRIED CHICKEN + A QUILT
July 11, 2012
I first tasted the fried chicken at Watershed restaurant in Georgia about 10 years ago, while visiting friend and colleague, Angie Mosier. This was also my first meeting with Scott Peacock, the then head chef of Watershed who led them to a James Beard award in 2007.
Scott’s close friend and culinary mentor, Edna Lewis, is hands down the Mother of Soul food, a legendary figure and icon to the Southern culinary world—dare I say the world at-large. Together they wrote, The Gift of Southern Cooking: Recipes and Revelations from Two Great American Cooks, a staple in my kitchen.
REPORT FROM PENLAND: TUESDAY 7/10/12
July 10, 2012
Even when I land in one of the most beautiful (peaceful) places on Earth, it takes me time to settle in, to relax, and to feel like I belong. Regardless, there is already a sort of “hum” in the studio, as my friend Cathy Bailey might say. You can “hear” thoughts coming together, the whisper of thread through fabric, and hands moving, all mingled with an underlying buzz that permeates the Penland campus.
REPORT FROM PENLAND: MONDAY 7/9/12
July 9, 2012
I flew out of hot and dry North Alabama on Saturday afternoon and woke up in room #2 surrounded by the cool mountain airs of Penland, North Carolina.
DIY RANDOM RUFFLE T-SHIRT – AT CREATIVEBUG
July 5, 2012
Check out our classes at Creativebug.com and make this Random Ruffle T-shirt:
From the Creativebug Website:
“Basic sewing skills can transform a plain t-shirt into one of your favorite go-to wardrobe pieces. The random ruffle t-shirt uses a simple appliqué technique that’s quick and easy, yet true to the Alabama Chanin style.”
Shown here our T-Shirt Top with Cap sleeves is appliquéd with five ½ inch vertical rows cut across grain of random ruffles. This t-shirt is a single layer of light-weight Silt with the ruffles in light-weight Black. The t-shirt is constructed with Slate thread, using a straight stitch along the sleeves and side construction and a Cretan stitch for the binding. The ruffles are sewn with black thread.
DONNA KARAN (+ ALABAMA CHANIN DIY DRESS)
June 28, 2012
Earlier this week, I wrote that, as a designer, I feel a deep connection to Donna Karan. Today, for DIY Thursday, we feature a Donna Karan dress constructed in the Alabama Chanin style. It works up beautifully using our medium-weight organic cotton jersey in a single layer and with our organic lightweight cotton jersey in a double layer for the Outside Reverse Applique, as detailed in Alabama Studio Sewing + Design.
CREATIVEBUG.COM
June 22, 2012
Beginning Tuesday, our video workshops will be available on Creativebug.com.
Subscribe to Creativebug to view.
THANK YOU to the Creativebug film crew, it was such a great experience to have them in our studio…
xoNatalie