A Very Fun Day

In case you couldn't tell from the two mid-class blogs, I really enjoyed my day with Alabama Chanin.

First off, you really need to check out the site.  An amazing amount of eye candy and green living thoughts/advice.

Although I don't really sew, at least not in the typical clothing sense, I enjoyed the whole hand-sewing concept and was pretty amazed by how tough and practical this beautiful clothing is.  Natalie says she puts hers through the washer and dryer.

So, on to the pretties.  I took lots of pictures for you.

Kitty's wrap around

This is Kitty.  She was sitting next to me (wearing the tee her husband picked out for her at a trunk show) and working on a beautiful wrap top.

Here it is closer up.

Inprogress

All tee-shirt jersey fabric, which is hard to believe when you are looking at the pictures.

Jennifer was working on a shawl.

Jennifer

The concept is simple — two layers of jersey, the top layer has a design stenciled on in fabric paint, and you can applique or reverse applique.  From there, you can become more involved, embellishing with beadwork or with embroidery stitching.  Once finished, pieces are sewn together to create a finished garment.

Beadedtop

We had a room full of sample pieces around us for inspiration.

Coat

Cutwork

I fell particularly in love with the pieces that had journaling on them, like this one.

Journalskirt

My little book cover seemed very minimal in comparison, but I was able to get it about half way finished in the middle of the fun of being with such a fascinating group of women.  It's such a portable project that I'm sure I'll finish it up during the week.  My plan is to move on to a beaded skirt kit — something that I can work on all summer and wear this fall.

I'll leave you with a picture of some beautiful quilts, with fascinating stenciling/embroidery treatment.  I think I came away from this day with enough inspiration to keep me happy for a long time!

Quilts

Posted in Art

4 thoughts on “A Very Fun Day

  1. You’re so lucky! I love the Alabama Stitch book, and have made a number of projects — started with the book cover, have made a skirt and a shawl and several t-shirts, and started a quilt. I never would have though I would enjoy hand-sewing so much, but I love the results.

  2. I love this, I wish you had MORE pics to show. So if I go all the way to Alabama to take this class, can I take an Ellie Belly lesson too??

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