Red, White & Blue Alabama Chanin Skirt

This skirt has been in the making for over 2 years. I originally dyed the red fabric in the summer of 2014. I was experimenting with Shibori tie dying. I bought some white cotton jersey from Dharma Trading for the dying process. I folded a yard of the fabric like an accordion then used several rubber bands to hold the fabric together. I like the red design but it had a little too much white for my wardrobe. I thought the fabric would be perfect as the bottom layer of an Alabama Chanin Bloomer Skirt, my favorite of all the Alabama Chanin skirts, I have 6 of the bloomer skirts. Some in the original leaf pattern and some in the paisley pattern. I wear these skirts almost every day, for everything from gardening to going out to dinner. 

The bookstore I worked at use to give us a t-shirt every year. After 25 years I had enough shirts, so I ordered a 6xl shirt, knowing that I would be able to use the fabric for something else. When I ordered the shirt I did not know what color it would be, when I got the shirt I though it was the perfect  blue color to go with the dyed red & white fabric.  

When I saw the New Leaves Stencil I knew that what pattern I would use on the top layer of the skirt. That took me another year to figure out who to get the pattern on the fabric. I was going to teach myself to use an airbrush but after a couple of attempts I realized that screen printing was way easier. I attempted to locate some rubylith, but it turns out that it's a lot more expensive then I remembered. I needed a very large piece and the only rubylith that would work came in a roll that was about $300. OK...I needed another way to get the new leaves design on my screen. I printed out the stencil from the latest Alabama Chanin book at Kinko's. It's large 25x40. I tried just burning the screen with the paper stencil but it did not work. So I decided to use a drawing fluid on the screen after drawing the images on the screen. Again it was problematic as the drawing fluid was old and a little too thick. I did end up making a screen and printing on the blue fabric but it was a lot more work than I had anticipated. The first color I used was a blue because I didn't want the ink to stand out too much. Well the blue ink I used matched the fabric perfectly and I was unable to see the stencil on the fabric. So I had to screen the skirt again...this time I used black. 

Now I had the skirt ready to sew. I spent a week stitching so I could do a reverse appliqué on the skirt. I started to cut out some of the design and my husband suggested that I not cut out all of the stencil but cut the stencil so it looked like vine wrapping around the shirt. I like that idea but I wanted he full impact of the red & white dyed fabric...so I cut out all the stencil. I may make another one with a vine type of design flowing around the skirt. That is another skirt for another post. 

The final result is a Red, White & Blue Skirt...it's my 4th of July out fit this year.

Another Alabama Chanin Skirt

Back in October I started to cut out this stencil for another Alabama Chanin Bloomer Skirt. I really like the leaf pattern and I wanted to try to airbrush the pattern instead of screen printing the ink. 

I finally completed the cutting of the stencil because I was going on vacation and wanted to take a skirt to work on while out camping. The air compressor that a friend lent me was missing a hose so I had to figure out some other way to get ink on the fabric. I decide to check out Michael's Craft store to see if there was some sort of fabric paint that was in a spray can. 

 I found two different spray's that I liked and said were for fabric. The Colormaster is more of a spray paint and is probably better for more solid items, it's a little stiff on the fabric. The Color Shot by Tulip was decent, it covered nicely and I liked the color. The only issue I found was it took the entire bottle to do one skirt. At $5 a can that can get a little expensive. I can a $5 bottle of ink that will cover about 10 or more skirts. I guess I paid for the air. I have to go get a hose for the air compressor so I can use the airbrush.

I used the Color Shot blue on the rose fabric because it was not as stiff as the Krylon spray paint on the fabric. I think it turned out OK, there is a little fuzz around some of the edges of the stencil, I have also not washed the fabric so I don't know how it will feel after a couple of spins in the washing machine. The Color Shot also stayed tacky for longer than I thought it should. The package stated it would be dry in 24 hours, the spray painted fabric stuck other fabric and I had to pull it off like sticky tape. It did not leave color behind which was good. 

Next I made some samples. I have found if I question my colors or stencil choice it's best to do a small sample. I tried the pattern with the reverse appliqué and appliqué. The sample on the right and on the top left have a dark blue for the bottom fabric. I thought it was a little too strong for the murky rose color of the top fabric. I asked a couple of people and they both said they liked the bottom right combination the best. I had already cut both top and bottom piece for this project so I had to set aside the dark blue and cut the dusty blue for the bottom layer of the skirt.

So that is what I took camping with me last week to Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge. I did finish one panel while out there but I spent more time rockhounding with friends and just enjoying the silence of the area. It was hot the first two days of camping so it was easy for me to sit in the shade and sew while talking. The second two nights of camping it rained so we all sat under the shade structure and played games. I have 3 of the 4 panels done so far and since it should be about 100 degrees out tomorrow I have a feeling I will be sitting in the air conditioned house and finishing this skirt. I already have another one planned...I just need to learn how to use an airbrush. 

Alabama Chanin

The recent interest in Slow Sewing is interesting to me. I started hand sewing knit skirts after taking a workshop with Natalie Chanin in Portland Oregon several years back. She did an show in the gallery I was managing of her quilts (they are beautiful if you ever get a chance to see them in person). She offered the class to me for hosting her at the bookstore and having the show. I was hooked!! Sewing knit fabric by hand took all the fear out of sewing with knit fabric. Earlier this summer I bought another kit from Alabama Chanin because they were having a sale. It was the Facet Pattern. Now that is slow sewing…it has taken me all summer to complete the stitching on the 4 panels of the skirt…now I have to cut out the centers for the reverse appliqué  I also want to add some beading detail to the skirt. I hope to get it completed by Thanksgiving. 

 The top photo is of the 10 skirts I have made over the years (the most recent Facet skirt makes 11). I added beading detail to some skirts when I got a chance, I look at some of these skirts as a work in progress. I can keep adding detail when I have time. 

I have not even talked about the dresses I have made from the Alabama Chanin books. That is another post. 

Cherry Pies and My Next Project

I was recently up in northern Washington. When I saw cherries for $1.50 a pound I was very excited. My friend said we should try to  get cherries for less than $1 a pound. I was trying to explain that in Portland the cherries were $3.99 a pound and that was ON SALE. I ended up buying about 5 lbs of cherries before I left to come home. When I got home it was too hot to turn on the oven so NO cherry pie for me. Finally this evening I pulled out the puff pastry and made some little hand pies.

I work at a bookstore and every year at work they give us a t-shirt with some image or logo. I have enough t-shirts so this year I ordered a 6X. I figured that I can at least use the material for something else. I think with this one I'm going to make an Alabama Chanin Bloomer Skirt.