THE COLLECTIVE: TEXTILES AS COMMUNITY In 2019, and after 20+ years of planning and work, Natalie and the Alabama Chanin team officially formed Project Threadways as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to record, study, and interpret history, community, and power through the lens of fashion and textiles. That year also marked the inaugural Project Threadways Symposium, now an annual… Read on

Today, National Nonprofit Day, recognizes the efforts nonprofits and charities put into making an impact in their communities. In 2019, Natalie, CEO and creative director of Alabama Chanin, continued her commitment to textiles and community by founding Project Threadways. Learn more about the organization below and ways to support them here.   Project Threadways is a nonprofit that records,… Read on

“It is no secret that I feel a commitment to my community; it is equally evident the role that growing up in Florence, Alabama, had on my development as a designer. Textiles – the growing, picking, spinning, knitting, cutting, and sewing – were a part of the vernacular of small southern towns from the late… Read on

Founded in 2019 as a 501(c)(3), Project Threadways records, studies, and explores the history of textiles. Through their work, they seek to understand the impact that textiles and their creation—from raw material to finished good—had on our local community, the region of the American south, the nation, and finally at the global level—connecting the people, places, and materials throughout… Read on

Project Threadways has been in the works for several years. In spring 2019, our team’s planning, learning, researching, and visioning came to life at the inaugural Project Threadways Symposium, held at The Factory. Following the symposium, Project Threadways was officially established as a nonprofit 501(c)(3)—allowing us to further realize its mission of recording, studying, and exploring the history of the… Read on

Founded last year as a non-profit, Project Threadways examines, documents, and records the history of textiles. In preparation for our next symposium, we have been researching textile history over millennia and the broader arc of time (look for updates next week). As we think ahead to the future, we can’t help but question how COVID-19 will forever… Read on

“These living arts have been passed down by oral histories through generations of women and men—connecting us to our roots, our past, our community, and consequently to our present.” — Natalie Chanin, 2008 From the original introduction to Alabama Stitch Book A connection to community has always been deeply rooted in Natalie’s work and is… Read on

Project Threadways, as a concept and idea, has been in the works for several years—taking shape in Natalie’s mind for even more. Last spring, the planning, learning, researching, and visioning came to life at the inaugural Project Threadways symposium, held at The Factory in April. Following the symposium, Project Threadways was officially established as a… Read on

Each year the holiday season renews our sense of thankfulness and fellowship. Thankful for the abundance of love and support in our own lives, we are inspired to give back to the community that nourishes us. This year we focus on Project Threadways. Working in partnership with the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area and the… Read on

Among the upcoming Project Threadways Symposium events is a dinner with chef Cheetie Kumar, with small bites by chef Angie Mosier and dessert from chef Lisa Donovan this Saturday evening at The Factory. Cheetie Kumar is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based chef and sometimes rock star. (She tours with her band Birds of Avalon, and owns… Read on

As the Project Threadways Symposium approaches, we are excitedly finishing up last minute details and getting the final product ready for you to view. These details include completing our exhibition, which will be on display at The Factory. Our documents and oral histories will be presented and include quotes from former textile workers like Sherri… Read on

Welcome to 1972. The Rolling Stones just landed at Muscle Shoals Regional Airport to record three of their classic songs: “Wild Horses,” “You Got To Move On,” and “Brown Sugar.” Aretha Franklin recorded what was considered the first big hit of her career, “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).” Across the… Read on

The work of Project Threadways continues. We’ve been busy planning for the inaugural symposium in the spring and collecting oral history interviews from textile workers in our community. With the expert help of our friends at Nest and support and funding provided The Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area, we’ve developed a survey to help us… Read on

Project Threadways records, studies, and explores the history of the textile industry in The Shoals community, and the American South. Our goal is to accurately and respectfully retell the story of textiles—from farm to finished product—and the way the act of making textiles shaped the lives of the communities and the individuals of those communities…. Read on

In 2016, Natalie wrote the following on the Alabama Chanin Journal, ”In my design training, we never really spoke directly about the cultural impact of the things (products) we were making. In my memory, conversations tended more towards how the culture impacted us as designers. I learned to make dresses and thought about the manufacturing… Read on

Above: Pages 101-103 from The Road to Unforgetting: Detours in the American South 1997-2022, by Pete Candler, 2023 | 103, Homeless Car Wash, Sheffield, Alabama 2019 Read (or listen) along with us. #AlabamaChaninBookClub(Updated June 5, 2023) Some of the links below contain affiliate links. By purchasing a book or audio recording at these links, Alabama… Read on

Above: from The Quilts of Gee’s Bend by William Arnett, Alivia Wardlaw, Jane Livingston, and John Beardsley; quilts by Loretta Pettway. Photograph by Abraham Rowe. The 2023 Project Threadways Symposium will be held April 20-22 in Florence, Alabama. In-person and virtual tickets are available—purchase yours here. ORIGINS AND VOICE OF THE 2023 PROJECT THREADWAYS SYMPOSIUM… Read on

Pictured above, Embroidery: Threads and Stories, pages 74-75: (from left to right) Piney Creek, Tennessee River backwater, Limestone County, Alabama, photo by Abraham Rowe. Spiral screen print design, photo by Robert Rausch. County Road, Limestone County, Alabama, photo by Abraham Rowe. The Tennessee River has shaped the human experience in northwest Alabama for over 12,000… Read on

From top, left to right: Fabric swatch of the Fiorire paint design on organic canvas; menu for the Friends of the Café Dinner for Project Threadways, featuring Chef Nicole Mills; The Nieve Skirt in Wax; The Noto Bandana; A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit; Alabama Chanin Core Club in Navy and Natural…. Read on

Project Threadways and Alabama Chanin are excited to present the 2023 Friends of the Café Dinner featuring chef Nicole Mills, the Chef de Cuisine at Pêche in New Orleans, where she focuses on working with local fisherman and farmers who harvest sustainably. All proceeds will benefit Project Threadways. Tickets are $250 per person for an… Read on

Pictured above: Kinlock Falls, photographed by Abraham Rowe The landscape of the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area (MSNHA) moves from the flat valley floor of the Tennessee River to the hills of the Highland Rim and the Cumberland Plateau, creating a variety of hiking experiences. Many of our favorite sites—such as Bankhead National Forest—have rich… Read on

Pictured above: A south-bound dirt road leading toward the swampy backwater and hidden landscapes of Mooresville, Alabama, photograph by Abraham Rowe The National Heritage Area program began in the 1980s and includes 55 National Heritage Areas today. The program is funded through the National Park Service and carries their mission outside of park boundaries into… Read on

Continuing our new weekly inspiration series where we share the stories, works, and musings that inspire Natalie and our team each week. Follow along on Instagram @alabamachanin to see more stories that #NatalieLoves each week. (P.S.— Explore our inaugural Stories we Love post here.) InStyle: “Peek Inside Alabama Chanin Founder Natalie Chanin’s Gorgeously Curated Home.”… Read on

Introducing our new weekly inspiration series where we share the stories, works, and musings that inspire Natalie and our team each week. Follow along on instagram @alabamachanin to see more stories that #NatalieLoves each week. Congratulations to @cedric.burnside on his @recordingacademy win and to the whole @singlelock family for a year of award winning sounds…. Read on

2021 marks the tenth year of our annual review, looking back on the highlights, and accomplishments, of the past year.   We are grateful for the opportunity to do what we love for another year—being stewards of sustainability, sharing inspiration, creating designs and experiences with our family, friends, colleagues, and guests. We recognize that many of… Read on

Left: “African Burial Ground”, 2009; right: “Meanderings of an Imaginary River”, 2020 by Valerie S. Goodwin  This Thursday: Exhibition + Opening featuring fiber artist Valerie S. Goodwin | Florence, Alabama   Valerie Goodwin is a mixed media fiber artist, architect, and educator whose fine art works are included in museums and private collections. She has received degrees… Read on

Lead image from Beauty Everyday, 2013 by Rinne Allen, Kristen Bach, and Rebecca Wood (page 59)    “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” ― Aesop  Winter finally made it to Alabama last week, with snow and ice blanketing The Shoals. Prioritizing our team’s safety, Alabama Chanin made the decision to close The Factory for the week. This winter… Read on

The holiday season inspires ways that we can show generosity, express gratitude, give back, and support others— oftentimes through charitable giving. Today, on Giving Tuesday, we highlight an organization whose work, like Alabama Chanin, is rooted in textiles: Project Threadways.   Project Threadways is a nonprofit that records, studies, and explores the history of textiles. Through their work, they… Read on

In my memory, I’m sitting next to Renita Green and we are best of friends. We share giant SweeTarts, a favorite but rare treat we both loved, by breaking them in half—or quarters to share with our surrounding classmates. In my memory, my class is racially balanced. However, there I am, fifth row down, with my first-grade smile and… Read on

Chef Whitney Otawka, along with her husband Ben Wheatley, have developed a beautiful culinary program at the Greyfield Inn on a remote barrier island in Cumberland, Georgia. This special place has allowed them to live and cook alongside their ingredients, and it inspired her to write The Saltwater Table: Recipes From the Coastal South which celebrates the foodways unique to… Read on

“We first started talking about slow fashion as a derivative of the slow food movement. I think in many ways that industry is light years ahead of where the fashion is. People started looking at the ways things were planted and grown much sooner than we did with textiles. I think a lot of what’s… Read on

Though we are surrounded by many uncertainties right now, we at Alabama Chanin will continue, as best we can, to share stories and have conversations that are uplifting and positive. Today’s post reminds us about enacting change through acts of courage. “I know you are asking today, ‘How long will it take?’ Somebody’s asking, ‘How… Read on

Dear Alabama Chanin Guests,  Thoughtful design, ethical, and responsible production are the highest priorities for us. Our guiding principles of quality, impeccable service, unified teams, organic, local, regional, and domestic sourcing are reflections of our care for the wellbeing of all. We seek to be a benefit for the broader community in our region and… Read on

As part of our sixth annual Friends of the Café Dinner Series, we are excited to round out the year’s slate of star chefs. Both are familiar faces who continue to surprise us with their culinary evolutions, and their food lends itself to the comfort and sense of community that these café dinners always offer. … Read on

“I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other; for no man should take me alive; I should fight for my liberty as long as my strength lasted, and when the… Read on

“And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”― Meister Eckhart 2020 ushers in a new decade as well as the 20th anniversary of Alabama Chanin. As we prepare for the year ahead and celebrate Natalie’s two decades of commitment to sustainability, we wanted to take this opportunity… Read on

For the final dinner of our 2019 Friends of the Café series, we hosted James Beard Award-winning chef Tandy Wilson for a special evening that combined savory with sweet and included personal touches to each dish. Benefitting Project Threadways, the evening featured a brief discussion of Project Threadways by Carolyn Barske, director of the Muscle… Read on

At The Factory, we thrive on creating an environment that is welcoming and inspiring to all. It’s been our great pleasure for the last six years to open our company doors to anyone who wants to learn more about who we are, what we do, and how we make. Our events, workshops, and parties have… Read on

“The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their stories for them.” ― Czeslaw Milosz   2019 marks the eighteenth year since the September 11th attacks. Remembering the victims – their lives and their courage – has kept their memories alive in the years since the tragedies of that day. This week we share our own memories, tributes from the 9/11 Memorial and Museum,… Read on

In addition to our first dinner by chef Bill Smith, in conjunction with the Project Threadways Symposium, we hosted a second event featuring chef Cheetie Kumar, with small bites by Angie Mosier and dessert from Lisa Donovan. The meal was served in the style of a traditional factory lunch, and included some traditional Southern-style dishes… Read on

As part of the Project Threadways Symposium in April, we hosted chef Bill Smith of the renowned Chapel Hill, North Carolina, restaurant Crook’s Corner. Bill has been a chef for 30+ years and provided our guests with a true Southern experience that included one of his well-known signature dishes, Atlantic Beach Pie. It was a… Read on

“Bldg. 14 works to preserve [the] history and tell a new story of modern manufacturing in the United States.” ― alabamachanin.com It’s been 5 years since we opened Building 14, the machine manufacturing arm of Alabama Chanin’s Family of Businesses. In those five years, we have ushered in the Core Club and the Clean Tee,… Read on

“The buildings are simply elegant and the machinery is of the latest style and embraces all of the modern improvements for making cotton yarn.” ― Tom Anderton on the Cherry Cotton Mill in East Florence, quoted by William McDonald in his book, Sweetwater, Yesteryears, 1990 Though the history is not always pleasant, cotton and cotton… Read on

We are constantly singing the praises of our home state—its natural beauty, its historical musical past, its food culture, and its people. Our people: Alabama’s greatest treasure. In this Travel + Leisure article, author Kevin West winds his way across the state observing our inspiration and witnessing as we try to reckon with our ghosts…. Read on

“Food is everything we are. It is an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.” ― Anthony Bourdain This Thursday kicks off The Gathering at The Factory, and next week, we welcome the community for the first annual… Read on

Born in New Bern, North Carolina, chef Bill Smith grew up appreciating the simple yet elegant food cooked by his great grandmother. Family tradition has played a central role in his more than 20-year career at Chapel Hill’s revered Crook’s Corner. A member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, Bill expanded the scope of Southern food… Read on

It has been five years since we began our Friends of the Café dinner series here at Alabama Chanin. Take a look back on our Journal for a look at the experiences created by the generous chefs who donated their time for these fundraising events. This year’s events will certainly be as special and we… Read on

Every year it seems that we say what a busy year it has been for us at Alabama Chanin, and every year we mean it. We seem to keep growing as a company and as people and making opportunities that expand our horizons. Look back at the 2018 happenings for The School of Making, Bldg…. Read on

“Southern history encompasses migrations from Africa to the Americas, from farms to factories, from the rural South to the urban North and back again,” writes John T. Edge in his book, The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South. In this book, John T. reports on 60-plus years of Southern food histories—from the… Read on

It is almost impossible for us to believe, but we have reached the fifth anniversary of the creation of Bldg. 14 – the manufacturing arm of Alabama Chanin. This has been one of our most collaborative enterprises and represents the elements of what our company stands for: sustainability, creativity, design innovation, promoting the living arts,… Read on

I’ve been reading Pattern Recognition (2003) by William Gibson as a sort of “digital book club” with a friend of mine who lives in another state. I’ve never been a huge fan of science fiction—and had, honestly, never heard of William Gibson but managed to get lost in the book—equal parts thriller and exposé on… Read on

From top left: Luna Rae Top in White Gold Palm; The Willie Top in Blue Slate; Waffle Caftan in Natural; Lightweight Organic Cotton Face Mask in Black; Left and bottom right: Lee Dress, 2017; Top right: Chandler Jacket and Austin Skirt, 2018 by Natalie Chanin for Alabama Chanin from The Women who Revolutionized Fashion: 250… Read on

The fabric tells a story. In the careful stitches, the colors, the pieces, a narrative takes shape. The blue water, the bright sun overhead, the American flag. In the center, a black fist holds a red lightning bolt. Harnessing power, and powerful itself.   This fabric is a quilt, designed by Ruth Clement Bond, one of six so-called… Read on

In August 2019, The Factory Café hosted celebrated chef and literal rock star Cheetie Kumar for a special evening of savory and sweet offerings highlighting her Indian and American culinary background. We were also joined by renowned wine importer Eric Solomon, who curated delightful wine pairings for each dish. Benefitting the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA),… Read on

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” ― Helen Keller One of The Shoals most famous residents was Helen Keller. Blind and deaf, the Tuscumbia native devoted her life to education and improving the lives of the deaf and blind.  She authored numerous books throughout her life and on September 14, 1964 (55 years… Read on

Born in India, the now-Raleigh, North Carolina-based chef Cheetie Kumar’s life in America began in the Bronx, New York. She and her family lived in a small apartment in an immigrant neighborhood, where she began to cultivate her new Indian-American identity. Her mother began introducing Cheetie to her culinary heritage at an early age, teaching… Read on