February 14, 2013
As I mentioned earlier in the week, I live in a house where hearts can be the overriding theme for weeks on end. I find them tucked under plates, randomly lying on the floor, taped to my bedroom door, and, yes, the most beautiful little heart-shaped lips that kiss my face all-over. You haven’t truly [...]
January 10, 2013
No one can find inner peace except by working, not in a self-centered way, but for the whole human family. – Peace Pilgrim There are many ways to make DIY Peace. Mildred Norman set off on New Year’s Day and began to walk across the country in the name of peace. Changing her name to [...]
December 5, 2012
With the publication of our Alabama Studio Book Series, we open sourced our beloved techniques that these living arts might be preserved for future generations. One of the things that we learned along the way is that people who are dedicated to one particular area of craft can also become converts to another area. The [...]
October 18, 2012
Alabama Chanin, Florence, Alabama, in collaboration with Drew Robinson, Jim ‘N Nick’s, Birmingham, Alabama Ingredients 64 yards 100% organic cotton jersey, colors white and nude 47 spools button craft thread 112 yards embroidery floss 1 pound white glass beads 9 garment patterns 4 stencil designs 1 quart textile paint 24 talented embroidery artisans 27 needles [...]
September 25, 2012
This summer Kristine Vejar, founder of A Verb for Keeping Warm (one of the first stores to sell our fabrics and supplies in a retail setting), began a project that encourages each of us to make 25% of our wardrobe. Simply stated, this means 1 out of every 4 garments in your closet should be handmade- [...]
August 30, 2012
Continuing our conversation around design, craft and fashion, this week we present a Tracy Reese pattern from Vogue Designer Patterns for DIY Thursday. In all my years as a designer, I have not had the chance to meet Tracy, although I have been familiar with her work since the launch of her collection in the [...]
August 9, 2012
When working on a new collection, part of the design process involves creating fabric swatches in various colorways and patterns, and using an assortment of embellishment techniques. These “samples” help us quickly and sustainably choose the perfect finish for our garments. I’ve written before about our Sample Block library and swatches as part of a [...]
June 21, 2012
For DIY Thursday, we share instructions for the Eyelet Doily, from Alabama Studio Style. Start yours now for your July 4th table spread. We chose Apple organic cotton jersey fabric for our doily. The “petals” of the doily peek out underneath a serving platter or cake plate, leaving the decorative embroidered eyelets visible. Our favorite [...]
April 12, 2012
Featured in our Mother’s Day 2012 Gift Guide, our Studio Design Gift Set is the newest, most comprehensive kit in our DIY store. The gift set has everything needed to start a home design studio- or to add the best tools and supplies to an already existing studio.
March 13, 2012
As we posted last Tuesday, I highly recommend that you start a library to document your design work. As you create your samples, make them the same size so that your (master) pieces can be easily stored. And even if you don’t want to keep the samples for posterity, you can work towards making a Sampler Throw like [...]