Monday, September 23, 2013

Alabama Chanin and My Boys

Do you dig Alabama Chanin (AC) as much as I do? Look how they mail stuff - I'm pretty sure this is recycled paper and they even STENCILED it! How cool!


Here are the color cards of the cotton jersey. I'm thinking of doing 2 reds with the reverse applique so the darker one is on bottom and shows through the cut out parts. It's Mardi Gras, so the traditional colors are purple, gold, and green. Green is my favorite color, but this emerald is kind of light, which might show undergarments more, so I'm going with a darker color. I've even worn black, so I could do something like that dress I showed earlier that was gray and black. Sequins and beads will dress it up.


So here's my first attempt at hand-stitching a seam, as seen from the wrong side. It's also felled, thus the 2 rows of uneven crappy stitching...which is also too close to the cut edge I think. Forgot to draw the seam allowance for straighter stitching....and I chose red thread because the other choices were brown and gray, and I wanted non-white so I could see what the stitches looked like.


And here it is from the right side - bleh.


My mom pointed out that if the seams have any stress on them, the following will happen. We think it's because I'm so close to the cut edge. Has this happened to anybody else with hand-stitched seams? Maybe I need shorter stitches...


Oh yes, this is the Vogue coat that comes with the Craftsy class. I'm not a coat person, but I guess that's kinda cute.


In other news, Drew purchased his big item for out-of-uniform day Friday for Homecoming. The theme is "Masquerade," and they were all sold out of horse masks, so he got stuck being a unicorn. Hey - one of the PR guys was all about unicorns - remember that?


And lastly, here's a video of Lucas demonstrating his handmade Lego crossbow, complete with firing mechanism.



Hmm, unicorns and crossbows, Drew better watch his back...

6 comments:

Pam said...

I do like AC -- it's so opposite to California style I haven't made any (yet) -- but if I lived in the SE -- AC on! Great job on your first attempt.

Ann Made Studio said...

Great first try :) I bought their book this week end, the Alabama Studio Sewing + Design..love their style.

Cute boy stuff going on :)

Anonymous said...

I must be out of touch. I've never heard of Alabama Channin. I"ll have to look it up. BTW, I do think smaller/shorter stitches would improve the strength of your seam.

Hey, I like unicorns!

Robbie

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Pam, I agree, it's a definite style that I wasn't sure about at first, but I like the philosophy behind it. We'll see how it turns out.

Ann, I can't wait to see what you do if you make something up from the book!

Robbie, I was just browsing in the sewing section of the bookstore and got sucked in, then she had the class on Craftsy that cemented my addiction. (2 weeks till Expo!)

Bianca s said...

I see you A.C. package and I am dying to know which stencil is in it?

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Ooh, Bianca, I didnt order a stencil yet - this was just the color cards. I think for the real dress, I'll probably order an actual kit, because the stenciling scares me, but I may work myself up to it. Did you buy stencils from them or make them yourself?