Natalie Chanin, founder and creative director of the  fashion and lifestyle company Alabama Chanin,  is an American fashion designer from Florence, Alabama.  She is part of the “zero-waste” fashion movement. Her design company uses 100% organic cotton jersey fabric and recycled material in their hand-stitched designs.

Natalie’s School of Making Book Series features open sources techniques and materials, which grew from the commitment to sustainability.  Below are two books recently added to our collection.

The Geometry of Hand-Sewing is a comprehensive guide to hand-stitching and embroidery. This book focuses solely on the stitches themselves rather than projects or garments. It takes embroidery stitches and breaks them down into different geometric grid systems that make learning even seemingly elaborate stitches as easy as child’s play.

 Alabama Studio Style is a craft and lifestyle book all in one.  Here Chanin shares  her stitching, stenciling, and beading methods and applies them to twenty clothing and home décor projects, each made with organic or recycled materials. Along with the company’s celebrated camisole and tank dresses, the featured projects include skirts, scarves, pillows, woven chair seats, and a stenciled scrap-wood table. Rounding out the book are recipes for three delicious party menus. Alabama Studio Style shows us that style encompasses not only what we wear, how we decorate, and what we eat, but also how we care for our environment.