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Art & Soul: An Interview with Natalie Chanin
Natalie "Alabama" Chanin is the owner/designer behind Alabama Chanin, a small design house based in Florence, Alabama that handcrafts artisanal garments, accessories, and home decor made with organic and recycled materials. Chanin is a passionate proponent of preserving traditional regional crafts and also believes in tapping local artisans to cultivate community and a strong local economy. Earlier this year, Chanin (with co-author Stacie Stukin) published Alabama Stitch Book, a homey primer on hand sewing, quilting, and embroidery. More recently, in collaboration with New York-based Goods of Conscience, Chanin launched Alabama Denim, a collection of sustainably-produced “grown-to-sewn” denim garments made in the USA. I recently interviewed Chanin about life and livelihood:
How have you changed as an artist since moving back to your hometown of Florence, Alabama?
I have settled into “myself” since coming back, which is a really good place to be.
Your designs really convey a sense of grace and, corny as it may sound, love. Does love show up in the stitching?
Well, this makes me laugh and smile (I love that word: "grace".) We have a little mantra that we say over the thread. From Alabama Stitch Book, "Loving Your Thread": Loving your thread should be the basis for all of your work. It infuses the work with kind intentions, but it’s also a very practical step that removes excess thread tension and prevents pesky knotting. Here’s how to love your thread: Cut the thread twice as long as the distance from your fingers to your elbow. Thread your needle, pulling the thread through the needle until the two ends of the thread are the same length. Hold the doubled thread between your thumb and index finger, and run your fingers along it from the needle to the end of the loose tails while saying, "This thread is going to sew the most beautiful garment ever made. The person (insert name) who wears this garment will wear it in health and happiness; it will bring joy and laughter."
Continue loving that thread, wishing it all the good that you can think of, and running the thread through your fingers again and again. What you’re actually doing is working the tension out of the high-strung thread with rubbing, pressure, and the natural oils in your fingers. In the process, you’ve also taken a moment to calm the tension in your mind, concentrate on the task at hand, and add just a little bit of love to your garment or project. Now you're ready to tie off your knot and start sewing. Love your thread well, and it will never tangle or knot up on you again.
Like Beehive, Alabama Chanin seems to really embrace the idea of local economy. Why is that important to you?
Important to me is "community" and part of belonging to a community is also being in a position that everyone in the community can support their families. What better way to support our families than through supporting the local economy? It simply means that we are "taking care of ourselves."
Why is preserving traditional craft within a community meaningful?
While survival is important – food, clothing, shelter – it is the craft that elevates our lives from mere survival to a richness of living. Think of the perfect apple pie crafted by your next door neighbor!
We've heard a lot about "Slow Food" - is "slow fashion" as practiced in hand stitching another way to practice sustainability?
Slow Fashion has to go way beyond the stitch that holds a garment together into the fiber of our existence. It speaks to farmers who cultivate the land, workers who produce quality fabrics and garments, to designers who think to the next generation and create products for the endurance.
What has the response to your (fabulous) new book about stitching by hand, Alabama Stitch Book, been?
Oh, the response has been simply overwhelming…we are very grateful and proud.
Do you enjoy other traditional domestic arts, like canning and baking?
All of the above and more!
What do you love most about your life in Alabama?
Family, countryside, and laughter.
Social justice seems important to Alabama Chanin; can you tell us a little bit about including photographs from the civil rights photographer Charles Moore in a recent collection?
I have always been totally overwhelmed by Charles’ work and feel completely honored that he would allow us to draw inspiration from the images and include them in our catalog. It is not only the power of the images themselves but the image of people putting their feet to the pavement and their lives on the line to make this a better world to live in. I am in awe and hope that we can learn from these photographs to continue today to make this country a better place for our children.
Who are your heroes in life and in art?
This great big wild world inspires me…
www.alabamachanin.com
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Tags: Natalie Chanin, Alabama Chanin, Alabama community, artisinal garments |
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Categories: Entrepreneurship, Sustainable living, Designer Connection |
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