Natalie Chanin Livres

A master class in customising any Alabama Chanin garment from the first three books, plus three brand-new garments with multiple variations.

A breakthrough guide to the art of embroidery and hand-stitching with Alabama Chanin

Designer and bestselling author Natalie Chanin blends embroidery and hand-sewing techniques with her own personal story in this empowering guide for all who love stitching and handcraft.Foreword by Grammy Award–winner Roseanne Cash Threads and Stories from Alabama Chanin and The School of Making mixes lessons in sewing, design, and embroidery with Natalie Chanin’s engaging, personal story of the evolution of Alabama Chanin and the indelible mark the techniques she pioneered and the company she founded have made on the sewing and fashion industry.Chapters explore design-related themes—craft, technique, relationship, repeat, and color—through images, instruction, and stories from Chanin about her life, Alabama Chanin, and the evolving view of craft and hand-sewing in the modern world. The book also explores how sewing and embroidery relate to wider concerns of sustainability, community, and women’s empowerment.As makers, we tend to learn different stitches over time without thinking much about how they relate to one another. Embroidery challenges us to go deeper by examining the history of a beloved company and cherished pastime.Includes Color Photographs

Guide to sewing and embellishing basic wardrobe pieces including mid-length skirts, fitted dresses, and fitted tops.

“Haute homespun out of the Deep South.” That’s how Vogue magazine has described the fashion of Natalie Chanin. Alabama Stitch Book brings us a collection of projects and stories from her clothing and lifestyle company, Alabama Chanin, known for the cutting-edge twist it puts on tried-and-true sewing, quilting, and embroidery techniques, applied mostly by hand to recycled cotton jersey.This long-awaited book from Chanin begins with her story. After living in New York and Vienna for over 20 years, she began to transform cotton T-shirts into high fashion using the needlework skills she learned as a child in Florence, Alabama. When she moved home, Chanin hired local women (many of whom had worked in the state’s now defunct textile factories) to stitch her couture collections with her.What follows is a step-by-step guide to the stitching, stenciling, and beading techniques used in the 20 projects showcased in the book: T-shirts, skirts, and corsets that are sold at chic shops around the world, plus a journal cover, sampler quilt, and tablecloth, among others. Also included are a pullout stencil, perforated postcard for bead-embroidery, and reusable patterns. Throughout are Robert Rausch’s beautiful photographs set against the back roads, farms, and homesteads of the rural South.

In Alabama Studio Style, Natalie Chanin, founder and creative director of the acclaimed fashion and lifestyle company Alabama Chanin, takes readers on a compelling journey of creativity, technique, and inspiration. Picking up where the celebrated Alabama Stitch Book left off, Alabama Studio Style is a craft and lifestyle book all in one. Here Chanin shares many more of her stitching, stenciling, and beading methods and applies them to twenty extraordinary clothing and home décor projects, each made with organic or recycled materials and designed with “haute homespun” flair. Along with the company’s celebrated camisole and tank dresses, the featured projects include skirts, scarves, pillows, woven chair seats, and a stenciled scrap-wood table. Rounding out the book are recipes for three delicious party menus. Alabama Studio Style shows us that true style encompasses not only what we wear, how we decorate, and what we eat, but also how we care for our environment. Praise for Alabama Studio Style “Transform organic or recycled materials into clothing or home décor items with haute homespun flair.” —Better Homes and Gardens Quilts and More magazine