CHERRY BOMBE

April 30, 2013

CHERRY BOMBE

Makers and doers Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu, two friends and former Harper’s Bazaar colleagues, have teamed up to produce the first indie food magazine to celebrate women in the food world. Beautifully designed and expertly curated, Issue #1 – The Tastemaker Issue – will be released in May. I’ve just contributed to their Kickstarter Campaign, which ends this Friday, May 3rd.

Kerry Diamond, working on the editorial side at Harper’s, went on to open two wonderful Brooklyn restaurants (Seersucker and Nightingale 9) and a coffee shop (Smith Canteen) with her chef boyfriend. Claudia worked on the creative team at Harper’s, later starting her own design firm, Orphan, and the cult indie publication, Me Magazine.

These Real Women are making tremendous inroads, and doing it (really) well. Read more about Kerry Diamond on Refinery29 and more about Cherry Bombe Magazine on their Kickstarter page. Make a donation and get good magazine.

Cherry Bomb

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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE (AND MAGGIE’S DRESS)

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

We often hear the mantra, “Live for today.” Most of us need to slow down, curb our expectations and anxieties, and embrace the present.  And for the most part, I try to approach life that way. But we can’t always live completely in the present. Sometimes we have to plan ahead, we have to think of our future generations and give them the tools they need to make this world a better place.

It’s not always easy to be a mom (single or otherwise) and live constantly in the present. Duties call. Spilled milk may not be something to cry over, but someone still has to clean it up. I was having one of those spilled milk days – dog chaos, bills to pay, groceries to put away – when Maggie came to me with this drawing and said, “I want you to make this dress for me.” It’s a miracle I even heard her.

As you can see, the dress was made, Maggie was ecstatic, and somehow, in the midst of chaos, I was able to inspire her to believe she can make anything. The best Mother’s Day gift of all is just to have that moment when you think, “I do make a difference.”

Happy Mother/Daughter Day (coming soon) to Maggie and me… and to you and yours.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

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PUNKS, DIY, AND FASHION

April 29, 2013

DIY PUNK

Last January, we had several conversations in our studio about punks and pirates spurred by Richard McCarthy’s analogy about pirates and “big food.” Just last week, the conversation continued in our studio about how the underground punk movement changed the way music was produced and delivered to the listening public. (More on this coming in the next weeks…)

I was surprised to see this title on the cover of the Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times yesterday:  “Anarchy in the Met: Punks and DIY looks they inspired, captured in a show.”

The story highlights a new exhibit at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Punk: Chaos to Couture, focusing on DIY Punk fashion.

Certainly music and fashion have been two of the more obvious arenas where the gatekeepers (music executives, producers, designers, magazine editors) have decided for us what we listen to and what we wear. The general anarchy that drove the punk era may have been debaucherous and even, violently, against mainstream culture, but the intellectual elements of DIY are lasting and poignant.

As we approach MAKESHIFT 2013, we anticipate continuing the conversation from MAKESHIFT 2012, when we asked and discussed where the intersection of Fashion, Food, Design, Craft, Music, and DIY intersect and how that intersection ultimately leads to collaboration. Pit stained, ripped t-shirts, and safety pin adornments aside, we have something to learn from the DIY Punk revolution.

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MARK TWAIN’S ADVICE TO LITTLE GIRLS

ADVICE TO LITTLE GIRLS

Some of us fell in love with Mark Twain the first time we read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and some of us understood his genius much later on, when we were finally old enough to appreciate his humor and satiric commentary on humanity. Twain’s polished use of irony is ever-present throughout the brief book, Advice to Little Girls, re-published this year with beautiful, and equally provocative, illustrations by Vladimir Radunsky. I loved it immediately.

Whether or not Twain intended this book to fall into the hands of sweet little girls, we’ll never know. And I’m undecided about sharing it with Maggie. Of course, I want to raise a creative, independent thinking, strong daughter, but somehow I think Twain’s “advice” might give her more ideas than she is (and I am) ready for. She’s already managed to exhaust me with her picky eating habits, her refusal to brush her hair, ever, and her snail’s pace at doing just about anything I ask of her.

ADVICE TO LITTLE GIRLS

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MOTHER’S DAY (+ A FEW GIFTS)

April 26, 2013

MOTHER'S DAY (+ A FEW GIFTS)

Mothers come in all shapes and forms. Some we are born to, some welcome us into their lives, some come in the form of heroines worshiped from afar. The dedication in our newest book Alabama Studio Sewing + Design reads, “For Mother, and all the other mothers, grandmothers, sisters, friends, aunts, colleagues, and artisans who have always been there…”

Honestly, I have been “mothered” well by many women in my life. This Mother’s Day, whether you are making something for your mother or shopping for a personal gift, we think we have something for every nurturer.

MOTHER'S DAY GIFT GUIDE

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DIY EMBROIDERED FLOWERS V-NECK T-SHIRT

April 25, 2013

DIY EMBROIDERED FLOWERS V-NECK T-SHIRT

Last  fall, one of my neighbors gave me a box of vintage patterns he found tucked away in his basement. The weather-stained cardboard box that once belonged to his mother was filled with patterns that represented decades of accumulation: Vogue Patterns, McCall’s, Simplicity, and Butterick . Each had been purchased for as little as a dollar and some change.

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MOM AND THE CASSEROLE

April 24, 2013

MOM AND THE CASSEROLE

I think that we all have memories of family dinner with Mom bringing one single bubbling hot dish to the table. I have a favorite casserole from childhood, something that my mother called “goulash” that I’m sure bears little resemblance to the actual Hungarian dish. I’m not sure that I’d even like it if I ate it today, but the thought of the curly noodles and the hearty aroma is enough to make me still believe it was practically gourmet cuisine.

MOM AND THE CASSEROLE

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THE CRAFT OF MIDWIFERY

April 23, 2013

THE CRAFT OF MIDWIFERY - Image from "The Family of Woman"

I think it is pretty safe to say that midwifery is one of the first DIY skills in human existence. Certainly, the human body knows instinctively what to do when the time comes to birth a child. Still, I can’t imagine that we would have gotten very far as a species without someone learning how to assist in childbirth, give guidance to a mother, provide assistance to a newborn, and generally know how to take care of business.

It appears that learning the art of midwifery is flourishing both in the US and abroad. A recent story on public radio discussed how clinically trained midwives in rural Mexico might be a real healthcare solution for mothers living in rural areas, far from hospital care. Officials are hoping that by training professional midwives in basic nursing, gynecology, and obstetrics, they can not only help mothers without access to healthcare, but ease the burden placed upon the country’s overwhelmed hospitals. Worldwide health organizations have the same hope for other countries where physicians are scarce or far from rural communities.

THE CRAFT OF MIDWIFERY

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EARTH DAY

April 21, 2013

EARTH DAY

We celebrate Earth Day every day at Alabama Chanin through our philosophy of slow design and sustainable production methods, and have been celebrating sustainable design for over a decade. We use only U.S. grown organic cotton fabric in our designs and maintain a zero-waste approach to production. Still, the annual calendar event is always a good reminder to reflect on how we treat our environment, both at work and in our home lives.

It’s also a chance to start a new habit that might be practiced all year. This year, as part of their All Hands on Earth Campaign, the Nature Conservancy is celebrating Earth Day with a picnic. We love this idea (and the excuse to take staff lunch outside this week).

The All Hands on Earth Campaign has declared the month of April to be Earth Month, with a focus on sustainable food production. They’re asking people across the planet to consider where their food comes from and the carbon footprint that food production leaves. I try to support local farmers whenever possible, be it a trip across the river to visit Jack-O-Lantern Farms or a Saturday morning walk through the Farmers Market (which will be re-opening next month). Not only does buying local put money back into my community’s economy, but the food I buy is fresher, has traveled far fewer miles with far less negative impact on the environment, and it tastes better.

Learn more about how to host your own Earth Month picnic here. Document and share your picnic photos by tagging them with #AllHandsPicnic on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube or picnic-TNC13 on Flickr.

Learn more about food and conservation here.

Read about how the CFDA is celebrating Earth Day by promoting sustainable production in the fashion industry and follow their members (including Alabama Chanin) to learn how American fashion designers across the globe are celebrating Earth Day by searching #CFDAEarthDay on Instagram.

And if you want to keep yourself honest, take a quick calculation of your personal carbon footprint with the Earth Day Network’s Ecological Footprint Calculator.

Members of our Alabama Chanin staff will be pitching in to help keep our Florence community clean by joining a city-wide effort on Saturday, April 27th. Find out if your community has a city-wide clean-up effort you can join, or organize your own.

 

 

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