December’s Desktop of the Month highlights an elaborate modification of a traditional embroidery technique, negative reverse appliqué. Negative reverse appliqué looks much like traditional appliqué, but is worked slightly differently. Here, we stencil the top layer of fabric, then place it on top of the backing fabric. We then use a straight stitch to attach… Read on

November’s Desktop of the Month demonstrates that tone-on-tone designs—where both the front and back appliqué layers are the same or similar colors—allow the stencil to subtly take center stage. The Magdalena stencil is shown in black-on-black backstitch reverse appliqué. Both the textile paint and the embroidery floss are black as well, but light hitting the… Read on

October’s Desktop of the Month highlights the detail of a herringbone embroidery stitch along the rib binding of our Basic Tank Dress, featured on page 69 of Alabama Studio Style. The herringbone stitch is an impressive stitch because of the variation created by the small slanted stitches and it has appeared often in our collections…. Read on

September’s Desktop of the Month illustrates the strength of contrasting color choices in a fabric design. Red and blue elements, when placed beside a light, neutral tone, bring a strong focus to the image or pattern – in this case, long-time favorite, Angie’s Fall. Additionally, placing some of the knots on the outside of the… Read on

Long a favorite image for textile patterns, the fern is an adaptable plant, suited both to moisture-rich, woodland areas, and tall rock crevices. It is also an air-filtering plant that can eliminate certain dangerous chemicals from the environment. Natural elements have often inspired our stencil designs, including this Satin Stitched Fern, one of our oldest,… Read on

In honor of Independence Day, we chose stars from our Indigo American Flag quilt for July’s Desktop of the Month. The variations of our natural dyed Indigo fabric mirror the diversity that defines our nation and its origins. This photo displays the intricate stitching and details of each appliquéd star, plus the natural color changes… Read on

June’s Desktop of the Month celebrates the idea of collaboration. Alabama Chanin @ Heath Ceramics have worked together to create some beautiful pieces that we have loved and put to good use. But, this pattern, The Camellia, highlights the intersection of design and craftsmanship perfectly; the white glaze shows off the intricate hand-etched floral pattern… Read on

May’s Desktop of the Month is dedicated to Mom. Mother’s Day is just a couple weeks away, and our Gift Guide for the occasion features a number of sale items, including DIY kits, garments, accessories, and more. Find something lovely for your mother or grandmother, and don’t forget the flowers come Sunday morning.    

This month’s Desktop of the Month celebrates the arrival of spring. Variations of reds and pinks highlight our Daisy stencil, creating a strong contrast against the Natural colored background. Taken from our new Collection, the Daisy appliqué features red variegated embroidery floss sewn with a whipstitch. We use this technique on our A-line Dress and a… Read on

This month’s Desktop of the Month features our Spiral embroidery technique from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design. Due to its textural quality, I think the Spiral is one of the most beautiful techniques that we use here at Alabama Chanin. Those that wear garments embellished with this simple (but time consuming) embroidery treatment often remark… Read on

February’s Desktop of the Month is all about pink (and shades around it). To celebrate the spirit of love, we’ve talked about what the heart symbolizes and what we might want it to mean for 2013: joy, beauty, acceptance, and more. Here, the backstitched reverse appliqué hearts in gray and pink are simply a way… Read on

I think that our Beaded Fern treatment lends a holiday feel to December’s Desktop of the Month. Up close, Beaded Fern resembles a holiday tree, but the glass beads can also catch your eye across a crowded room. Perfect for your next holiday gathering… Learn more about the Fern Stencil here and flip to page 121… Read on

For November, we’re featuring the Couching technique as our Desktop of the Month. Couching lends substantial weight and warmth to any garment. The final days of October brought quite a chill to Alabama, perfect weather for my favorite couched coat. I love pulling out my coats for the first time of the season; a sure-fire signal… Read on

This month’s desktop features our organic cotton jersey fabric with Wet-Paint Stenciling from page 48 of Alabama Studio Style. Using an Angie’s Fall stencil, this distressed, painted version of our Faded Leaves fabric was actually an accident.  Often times, the best and most exciting things in life come from accidental meetings, accidental spills, and accidental conversations.  This… Read on

September’s Desktop of the Month features our Anna’s Garden pattern worked with an appliqué technique. Create your own Studio Style garment using these techniques with our Anna’s Garden stencil, our Dove and Dark Grey 100% organic medium-weight cotton jersey fabrics, and the help of our Studio Books. Notions and other necessities for our DIY projects can be… Read on

For the August Desktop of the Month, we are featuring the backside of fabric using a backstitch. These stitches were made with our Button Craft thread on our 100% organic cotton jersey fabric. We believe that this is a simple reminder that beauty can be found behind the scenes and out of the spotlight. The… Read on

In Chapter 7 of Alabama Studio Sewing + Design, we present various methods of appliqué using a variety of stitches and decorative elements. These techniques include Appliqué with Beaded Parallel Whipstitch, Appliqué with Straight Stitch, Appliqué with Blanket Stitch, Appliqué with Backstitch, Appliqué with Beaded Straight Stitch, and Appliqué with Beaded Backstitch. This month, for… Read on

In conjunction with our Star stencil post today for DIY Thursday, we are featuring our Satin Stars fabric from page 129 of Alabama Studio Sewing + Design as our March Desktop of the Month. xoNatalie

Melanie – my editor – recently asked if I would send her a hi-resolution photograph of one of our embellished fabrics that she could use for her computer desktop background.  In talking about this simple act, we decided it would be nice to share these photographs with everyone. Thus was born our Desktop of the Month series. Each Desktop… Read on

Our final Swatch of the Month for 2014 combines several techniques explored (and hopefully mastered) in previous months’ swatches—including appliqué, negative reverse appliqué, and eyelet beading. The design, titled Natalie’s Dream, is beautifully intricate and one of my personal favorites (hence the name). To create the swatch, begin by stenciling the design to the top… Read on

The Swatch of the Month for November highlights one of my all time favorite designs, Climbing Daisy. The technique uses ribbon embroidery, which beautifully adds dimension and detail to projects and garments. The concept is simple: we use cotton ribbon rather than thread or embroidery floss to stitch the design. This technique can be applied… Read on

The ancient Greeks believed that the olive branch brought not only food, but deliverance from evil—or that is to say, they believed that the olive branch kept evil away. Since that time (and most likely before), the olive branch or the olive branch in combination with the dove, can be found in all manner of… Read on

This September is shaping up to be a big month for us here at Alabama Chanin. Last week, we launched our brand spanking new website while Alabama Chanin—in its current structure—turned 11 years old. Today (the day after 9/11), Natalie celebrates another turn around the sun. (Happy Birthday, Natalie…here’s to another big, beautiful year.) And… Read on

The fourth month of 2016 launches the second quarter of our Build a Wardrobe program and, with it, the Alabama Sweater garment pattern. Available for individual purchase for $18 – $24, depending on format. The PDF download includes the nested pattern in sizes ranging from XS to XXL and comes with tips on fabric selection,… Read on

Today, we launch our Maggie Dress garment pattern—available in PDF format through our website. Part of our Build a Wardrobe programming and available for individual purchase at $18, the PDF download includes the nested pattern and comes in sizes XS to XXL along with instructions for fabric selection, cutting, and garment construction. Our PDF patterns (more styles… Read on

Couching is another age-old technique that we employ over, and over again as a design practice at Alabama Chanin. When embellishing, we often use cotton jersey pulls as appliqué to give weight and a sculptural quality to our crafted garments and home goods. From page 110 of Alabama Studio Sewing + Design: “At Alabama Chanin,… Read on

Nature and flowers are often a source of inspiration for my pattern designs, which is evident in their titles: Climbing Daisy, Anna’s Garden, and Kristina’s Rose, to name a few. I simply find Mother Nature’s curvaceous forms and shapes alluring. I look for pattern inspirations everywhere I go, and most often find them when gazing… Read on