alabama studio style by natalie chanin blog tour

I am so pleased that my blog is today's stop on Natalie Chanin's blog book tour. I loved the Alabama Stitch Book so much and am so excited about her latest book Alabama Studio Style . Pictured above is some of the beautiful photography you will find in the book. In addition to the sewing projects and instruction on stitching techiques there are also some recipes.

I had the pleasure last year of attending one of Natalie’s workshops. It was held at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. When I arrived I was greeted by Natalie who offered me some coffee and fresh baked scones.  I took my coffee and went out to the garden for a few minutes – I had suspected it was going to be an amazing day and walking around the Edible Schoolyard confirmed that.

There were only about 12 of us and we sat around 2 big tables. Natalie gave us instruction on her approach to stitching, and the reverse appliqué technique. My chosen project was a skirt from her first book.  As we stitched Natalie told us a little bit about how she started her business and some other stories about her life. A beautiful lunch was served.  After lunch was more stitching and more stories - I didn’t want the workshop to end. I became an even bigger fan of hers that I already was. It was very special day, one that I am not likely to ever forget.

I first became aware of Natalie Chanin while flipping through the pages of Vogue magazine. It was maybe around 2001 or 2002. There was a picture of Shalom Harlow wearing something that was completely stitched by hand. I had to do a double take. I went on to learn that Natalie, a native of Alabama, traveled to world for many years working in the garment industry and as a stylist. She was noticed wearing a shirt that she had hand stitched and Barney’s wanted to place an order. To fulfill that order she found herself back at home in Florence, Alabama where she worked with local artisans.

Here's a little interview I did with Natalie that I wanted to share with you.

CC: How did you start your business?

NC: The old story of me cutting apart a t-shirt and sewing it back together again for a party is really the basis of the company I own and run today.  I sewed that t-shirt because I wanted something special to wear. What I found out was that it had been a very long time since I had made something with my own two hands.  That process of making rather than buying excited me.  I got up the next morning and started making another shirt, then the next day another, and the next day another.  Those “upcycled” shirts became a t-shirt line, then a collection and today what I would consider to be a lifestyle

CC: How were you able to find such talented women do the hand stitching for you? And what have you learned from them?

NC: In the beginning, I just ran an ad in the local newspaper that read “Part-time Hand Sewing and Quilting” and gave the phone number. We got about 60 calls, 20 people stuck and it just grew from there.

I have learned so much from the people of my community (and through the process of building a business with them) that I don’t really know where to start.  Perhaps the thing that made me the happiest was a stitch called “Chicken Scratch” that one of our artisans brought in one day.  Little things like that brighten our working relationship.  But on a deeper and more profound level, our artisans have helped me learn to know the kind of business I want to run as well as become a better textile designer. Their talents are at the core of what we do at Alabama Chanin

CC: What crafting traditions did you grow up with? What kind of things does your mother make? Your grandmother?

NC: I am really a child of the 70’s.  I was never really that into sewing.  I made the bags from cut off jeans, I added butterfly appliqués, made a few Barbie dresses, potholders, crochet blankets – that kind of thing. My mother was a knitter – which I never really understood – even to today, I can’t really make my fingers conquer that craft!  But my mother is very crafty.  Today she does beading, basket making, sewing, smocking… very talented – and she learned from her mother who I think could do anything. Anything.

CC: Please tell my blog readers a little bit about "slow design".

NC: I think Penelope Green said it best - this really sums up our work and Slow Design:
“Slow means that Alabama Chanin is run on the tenets of the Slow Food movement, which essentially challenges one to use local ingredients harvested and put together in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Above all it emphasizes slowness in the creation and consumption of products as a corrective to the frenetic pace of 21st-century life. “Good, clean and fair” is the Slow Food credo, and it has — rather slowly — begun to make its way out of the kitchen and into the rest of the house.”
Penelope Green – The New York Times, January 31, 2008

CC: Why should we think twice about purchasing "fast fashion"?

NC: The reasons are too numerous to count… natural resources, fair trade practices, the list goes on and on.  If there is a cotton t-shirt selling for 9.99 at your local retail store, you can be certain that someone and/or some location suffered through the process of making that t-shirt or was paid less than a living wage. The process of growing cotton (from Spring through to Autumn), ginning cotton, spinning yarn, knitting fabric, coloring that fabric, cutting out a pattern, sewing the body, sewing in a label, shipping to a store, store employees who unpack a shipment, hanging, tagging, selling, bagging… on and on ad nausea.  By the time you walk out of a store with that $9.99 t-shirt, it has been touched by hundreds of hands…who or what has paid for that shirt.

I just keep going back to this short film called The Story of Stuff over and over again as it just says it all:  http://www.storyofstuff.com/

CC: Who are some of your favorite designers, artists, crafters, etc.

NC: Dries Van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Pippilotte Rist, Margaret Kilgallen, Butch Anthony (my partner), Judith Eisler, my grandmothers, Lisa Eisner, Ira Glass (story crafter), Maira Kalman, Samuel Mockbee, Lillian Bassman, Agnes Martin, Diane Arbus, Cathy and Robin @ HEATH Ceramics, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Alice Waters, Disfarmer, Li Edelkoort, Hella Jongerius, E.V. Day… I could continue on for the rest of the day…

Thank you so much Natalie!

You have until March 22nd to enter to win a copy of Alabama Studio Style. Please visit the STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books blog for all the details. 

Comments

[Mitzi Curi]

Natalie's comments about the $9.99 T-shirts reminds me of a show I recently watched called "Blood, Sweat, and T-Shirts". It was a documentary of sorts, where several young British fashion students were sent to India where so many garments are made in factories with deplorable conditions. They even visited the homes of some of the workers, which was very eye-opening. I'm sure it will be repeated here and there, and I'd recommend it if you want to know more about where our clothing comes from.