CasaSugar

Casa Verde: Alabama Chanin's Interiors Collection

CasaSugar — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:00:20 -0700

While I've featured Alabama Chanin before, the design company's site has beautiful new interior pictures that I thought were worth reflecting upon. Alabama Chanin, the collection of designer Natalie Chanin, features clothing and interior decor pieces that strive to be as environmentally sensitive as possible. Organic cotton, natural indigo dyes, and US-made products are all part of the line. The interior collection offers limited-edition pieces for the home that emphasize upcycling. Natali calls the collection "Alabama Studio Style." Right now, Alabama Chanin's collection includes home furnishings as well as decorative pieces.

To find out more about the interiors collection, read more.

All of the lighting and furniture are handmade, artisan creations that were found in vintage shops, flea markets, or scrapyards in the southeastern United States, and then repurposed. Old metal scraps have been transformed into sculptural objects, and farm chairs feature new seats woven from cotton jersey scraps and old ties. Chandeliers made with old lighting fixtures are decorated with cow bones, string, metals, and sticks retrieved from river beds. Ancient, tattered quilts have been washed, patched, and decorated with appliques and decorative stitching, and all of the pillows in the interiors collection are made from 100 percent Certified Organic Cotton from the Alabama Chanin Fabric Line.

If you're interested in seeing more of the interiors collection, check out the online store.

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Inspired: Cameron Diaz's Reverse Appliqué

CasaSugar — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:15:56 -0700

Cameron Diaz's Oscar de la Renta dress, which she wore at the Women in Film Awards, reminded me of another beautiful lady who's fond of appliqué and reverse appliqué. In fact, this designer marks them as signature techniques in her fashion and home décor lines. I've featured her work a few times in the past, along with her inspiring book.

To find out who the designer is, read more.

Cameron's dress reminded me of designer Natalie Chanin, who's made appliqué and reverse appliqué two of her signature techniques. Reverse appliqué is a method creating a cut-out look in a piece, and often uses a contrasting color. In Cameron's dress, the top layer (the white layer) would be the part that would be cut out, while the orange fabric would be laid underneath and stitched over. Natalie's company, Alabama Chanin, has created pillows, dresses, T-shirts, and napkins that use reverse appliqué. This designer claims it's easy to learn (I've done it once or twice, and I'd have to agree), so if you love the look as much as I do, buy her book, which has patterns and directions for projects using appliqué.

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Home Library: Alabama Stitch Book

CasaSugar — Mon, 05 May 2008 07:44:49 -0700

Seamstress, designer, and author Natalie Chanin is something of a virago - and I mean that in the most positive sense of the word. Indeed, she is a woman to be reckoned with. With her newest venture, the Alabama Stitch Book ($35) she takes you further into her world, sharing stories of cotton production, growing up in rural Alabama, and the family tradition of embroidery. Of course, Natalie's take on embroidery is decidedly modern. Whether she's showing her readers how to create a cotton jersey layered corset shirt or instructing them on how to embroider a postcard, the book's tone is always personable, knowledgeable, and approachable. I read the whole book in one sitting, and then immediately started listing projects to start in on, since there are numerous patterns and instructions included in Alabama Stitch. You can buy the book here, and I highly recommend you do. It's been one of the most delightful reads to cross my desk in quite some time.

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Designer Spotlight: Alabama Chanin

CasaSugar — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 13:30:55 -0700

In its September issue, Domino has a very cool interview with Natalie Chanin, the designer behind Alabama Chanin. I first became smitten with Chanin when I discovered her now-defunct clothing brand Project Alabama, so I was excited to read that the designer has expanded her repertoire to include jewelry and home wares. (Thanks to Poppytalk for the tip.)

Like Project Alabama, the Alabama Chanin brand is all about creating handmade, limited-edition pieces from new, old, recycled, and vintage materials - such as this reclaimed chair and necktie creation (left). It's as if someone climbed into a Southern attic full of treasures and crafted them into very hip furniture and home accents. Chanin, who has a degree in Environmental Design from North Carolina State University, is all about eco- and low-impact living in Florence, AL, where her studio and soon-to-open flagship store are located. To see a gallery of Chanin's work, read more

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Alabama Chanin

CasaSugar — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:40:43 -0700

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Cool Idea: Daddy's Fatties Chair by Tracy Deramus

CasaSugar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:30:18 -0700

The Bertoia Diamond Chair ($909) is a classic that needs no fiddling with. But a little reinvention never hurt anyone. Or has it? In this case, I think Tracy Deramus deserves some props for Daddy's Fatties Chair ($2,750), which features vintage neckties hand-woven into Harry Bertoia's steel masterpiece. The new design looks more like one of the Campana brothers' showstoppers than a 1952 archetype. I've seen neckties woven before by Alabama Chanin, but this guy employs less country sweetness and more bravado. What do you think?