stenciling an Alabama Chanin dress

The two back panels are nearly done. Here they are (not joined yet).

Overall, I like the way it's coming together, although I need to do some cleaning up:

Not thrilled with the close-up, and still not sure how to create clean edges, aside from fussing and cleaning and snipping a lot. Maybe this will be my practice dress.

I stenciled the first front panel today with the airbrush. I'm still torn on the best possible stenciling method -- Sharpie, spraying or sponging Tulip fabric paint, etc. -- but even though the airbrush is a pain in the ass, it seems to have the best results.

Some stuff I learned along the way:

1. Stencil placement is super-duper important and hard to get right. You also don't want too much of the same colors/shapes at the edges when you sew two panels together. I learned the hard way with my first Alabama Chanin skirt, when two of the leaves on the front panels butted up against each other, making one large, misshapen leaf.

2. It's especially hard to do with regular Alabama stencils because they don't run the whole length of a fitted dress. That means you have to stencil half, pull it up, let everything dry, then carefully figure out where to place the second half of the stencil (while keeping in mind the stencil placement on the panels you've already sewn).

I spent a good half an hour lining up fabric panels and moving the stencil around.

Pay no attention to my chocolate peppermint sauce and frosting jars.

I wound up masking out some overlapping shapes to get the placement I wanted. Hope it all looks okay when it's sewn up.

4. BLOT. BLOT. BLOT. Blot the shit out of the excess paint on the stencil before you remove it from the fabric, especially if you've watered down the paint. Otherwise you get tiny little drips and dots all over everything.

However this turns out, it's been a learning experience -- and I plan to keep practicing till I get the Alabama Chanin mini-wardobe of my dreams.

*****

ALSO. Very important Harley update. (Because some people on PatternReview asked...) He's fine. The Cone of Shame is off, and he's mostly healed up.

If you're curious: He just had his second surgery for basal cell carcinoma. It went well, and I sure hope this is the last one.

He's anxious to get back in the sewing room (as am I), so I hope to have some more machine-sewing projects done soon!

Comments

finished: Alabama Chanin Classic Jacket

Hi! Lots going on around here lately. Thing One: I bought a new sewing machine! This is my new Bernina 480 , purchased from Sew Creative in Beverly, which recently closed. Sorry I don't have a better picture. I love this thing—it's fancy! I'm still learning my way around it. Thing Two: I was supposed to have another article in Vogue Patterns Magazine, but it folded! Bummer. It's on lighting for sewists, and if you want a copy, feel free to contact me on le social and I'll send it to you. I interviewed the gadget person from the Carroll Center for the Blind, and he recommended a lot of great stuff. (Really going to miss Vogue Patterns—it was my favorite sewing magazine! RIP.) And finally, Thing Three: I completed an Alabama Chanin Classic Jacket, from their Sewing Patterns book. The backstory is that I really wanted a nice reversible travel jacket in nice AC organic cotton for an upcoming trip to Japan. (This is after ordering an expensive travel hood...

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I made a dress! With the new sewing machine! Wheee! And not to bury the lede, but: We went to Japan for two weeks, and I completely fell in love with the clothing—especially Nani IRO and their amazing fabrics. I'm hooked. We tracked down the atelier in Osaka. ( Here's my review on PR .) They wouldn't let me take photos of the shop but said it was OK to take pictures of the fabrics. Lots of linen, cotton gauze and sateen in bright colors, as well as buttons and notions, an archive (I wasn't sure if it was possible to buy any of the archived fabrics), and jewelry. I bought some lovely blue linen with an asymmetrical print: And the book—the English translation had just been released. And it was signed! (I have a picture, can't seem to post it, sry.) So anyway. I couldn't stop reading the book—you know when you get really really obsessed with a pattern book? Like that. As soon as I got home, I decided to try out the pocket dress. Here'...

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Hi there. It's been a while. Didn't mean to go on mute, but some things happened over the last year or two. Anyway! I finally paid Alabama Chanin a visit. I've wanted to go for years, and finally reached out to them to sign up for a Studio Day and embroidery workshop while I was sitting in a high school gym in Lynn recovering from my first Covid shot. Definitely a bucket-list thing. I would have signed up for their three-day workshop in May, but it happened to coincide with the date of my second shot. :( It was a bit nerve-wracking -- only my second trip since 2019, going to a new place and all that. I went with a friend from my stitching group, and we'd never traveled together before. We had a great time, though. It was an amazing three days! We landed in Nashville on a Wednesday, drove straight to AC, and spent the rest of the afternoon looking around and trying stuff on. Thursday was our Studio Day, where they let you focus on whatever you want. We toured the facto...

duck bucket sewing

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