Remember when I wrote about being inspired by the Alambama Chanin books? Well, the idea of this project has been in the works ever since. The dress pattern and stencil are taken from Alabama Studio Style and Alabama Stitch Book, respectively. This is the left side panel of the princess seam dress:
I plan to bead at least one other panel, the adjoining side back panel. I'll probably make a bunch of construction changes to the Alabama Chanin instructions, like adding a silk organza backing for stability (I tried doing that before I beaded, but the layers kept shifting and bunching, oy). It'll be more finished looking than the book projects as well, without the unfinished hem and all that jazz that never looks quite right when I do it! It will probably also need a crinoline and a matching belt, don't you think?
I'm heading to Palm Springs at the end of this month (to guest teach at one of Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing Workshops, yay!) so I'm looking forward to having more travel time to work on this. Though planning and sampling this project was initially frustrating, I've really enjoyed the process of hand beading. So relaxing! Plus, it's nice to have a portable sewing project. Goodness knows lugging a Bernina about with you and holing up in your hotel room with it is hardly socially acceptable!
Do you have projects you like to take with you on the road?
Crikey, that beading is impressive! How do you find the time to do all these things?!!!
ReplyDeleteAND you're guest-teaching at a Heather Ross workshop!!! I absolutely love her drawings/ fabrics/ etc. (and her blog - she has such a lovely writing style). I am green with envy!
I've wanted to try tambour beading for ages. I even bought Tambour work by Yusai Fukuyama from ebay, but with one thing and another, I never got round to buying a tambour hook. Thanks for reminding me with your beautiful work :)
ReplyDeleteAshley x
This is looking absolutely stunning! What a beautiful colour too! WOW!
ReplyDeletewow your beading looks great!! doesn't seem like many ladies these days take the plunge into beadwork with their self-made garments. very impressive!
ReplyDeletejanine
honeyhivintage.blogspot.com
Gorgeous beading! I can't wait to see the finished thing.
ReplyDeleteMy portable sewing project is a hand pieced hexagon quilt that i'm working on.
Oooh - pretty!
ReplyDeleteI have a Chanin-inspired skirt that I keep working away on - I love doing the handwork, but I have to be in the right mood to do it. I've learned a lot. The number on lesson? Next time I'm putting the garment together by machine and saving the handwork for the embellishment!
That will be so lovely when it is complete! I take applique quilt squares and knitting with me on trips.
ReplyDeleteI love the color combination, it'll look great when it's finished. What type of fabric are you using?
ReplyDeleteI have a bead addiction. I hand beaded the dots on a teal green silk paisley as part of a couture project when I was in college. Loved every minute of it.
ReplyDeleteHave you bumped your bead container and spent half an hour picking up beads off the floor yet?
That looks beautiful! I got inspired by Alabama Chanin too after reading about her on your blog. Here's a link to the bag I made with her passion flower stencil:
ReplyDeletehttp://seersuckersally.blogspot.com/2010/11/completed-project-2-alabama-bag.html
This is absolutely gorgeous! I just finished a skirt based on the Alabama Stitch book... as soon as I take some pics, I'll be posting it on my blog. I love the dress, though... maybe that will be my next Alabama project!
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OH! Gertie - your post yesterday just SPOKE to me in so many ways!! How to reconcile.... But today, your take on Alabama Chanin is amazing! And, I will be at the first Weekend in Palm Springs with Heather and Anna Maria.....I am so excited, but oh man - I would have died to have hung out with you too!!!! I am jealous! I love your blog and what you are doing with it - You seriously rock! xoxo Rave
ReplyDeletePretty pretty! The contrast of the beading and the green is amazing.
ReplyDeleteYour beading is very pretty but that is going to be very heavy for a double knit. It will stretch and throw the hem off while you wear it and it might effect the swing and drape.
ReplyDeleteWow. That looks like tons of work, and I can't wait to see the finished project! I take regular embroidery with me on the road. Every once in a while, my nieces end up with embroidered clothes because the embroidery bug bit Auntie Laura. :) The last one I did was Evie's Christmas dress, and the results were lovely. I don't think I'd do that dress again with embroidery like that. See, I embroidered the waistband and the hem of the pinafore all the way around. And it was a dirndl skirt, too. I hauled it with me everywhere and pretty much embroidered for four straight days. My next embroidery project will probably involve a vintage layette for my newest niece, who's due in April, and/or two Easter dresses for my other nieces, which usually end up being embroidered.
ReplyDeleteThat looks so great! I admire your patience, it will definitely be worth it in the end.
ReplyDeleteI always bring knitting with me when I travel. I taught myself how to knit and crochet when I studied/backpacked around Europe about 4 years ago. At that point, I only sewed and I was not happy with the idea of not crafting for months.
OMG - the dress is going to look amazing. The final items will be a definite head turner.
ReplyDeleteGertie, this beading is just stunning! I have resolved to add more trim to my projects - this is such inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks, everyone!
ReplyDeleteSally, your bag is awesome!
oversewn, I'm sorry you won't be at the same weekend as me! But you'll have the amazing Anna Maria Horner as consolation, so that should help. :)
dawns, I hear ya. I did worry about the beading weighing this fabric down. The doubleknit doesn't stretch in the lengthwise direction so that should help, along with the organza underlining. Hopefully it will be okay! If not . . . live and learn, I guess. :)
Bratling, adorable!
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ReplyDeleteYour beading looks really stunning Gertie ~ excellent job!
I usually carry my crochet or cross stitch for a project on the go. I am thinking about dabbling in embroidery as well which would be another project I can tote around with me.
xox,
bonita of Depict This!
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wow, that is a really hardcore project! I love roadtrips when someone else is driving and I get to sew things but my efforts are usually confined to slightly less taxing items such as Suffolk puffs!
ReplyDeleteThe organza underlining can be invisibly tacked to the fashion fabric in the area of the beading. That way there is support for the beading without dealing with the shifting issue during the beading process.
ReplyDeleteThanks Amy, that's super helpful!
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm so impressed by your beading. I've done a little and know how time consuming it can be. I think this is a lovely combination of the Chanin look (I've never figured how to add this to a garment believably either), and beading. It looks fabulous. I can't wait to see the finished piece.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting to work with Heather Ross. I so wish I lived in New York right now instead of the UK. Hope it goes brilliantly.
Can't recall if it's in the King book (I've had him as a teacher, btw), but he showed another, more sophisticated (and time-consuming) method of image transfer called "pouncing."
ReplyDeleteYou draw or trace the design on a piece of pattern paper. Then you pierce it with a pounce wheel (looks like a tracing wheel), or you can put it under a sewing machine without thread and follow the outline.
You lay the pierced sheet over the fabric, swipe it with a pounce pad (an object that is filled with powder that it gently releases), and the powder seeps through the holes and leaves a faint design on the fabric.
I saw a video in which a French couture house was using a pouncing machine to pierce the designs.
That beading looks amazing. Love how you turned the Alabama Style into your very own design!
ReplyDeleteOooh! Beading! I always adore the look of beading--and the fabric color you're using really makes the handwork pop! Can't wait to see the finished dress. I've been obsessed with the projects in the Alabama Studio Style book since you posted about it and I gleefully discovered my library system had it. But making it work within my aesthetic has been a bit of a conundrum, so I'm eager to see what your final dress looks like!
ReplyDeleteI tend towards knitting projects for when I travel. But occasionally I'll bring along some sewing. It's just easier to shove a bunch of yarn in a little tote along with some knitting needles for me--I don't have to worry about wrinkling fabric! ;) hehe!
♥ Casey | blog
oh wow! fantastic post! love seeing this sort of work.
ReplyDeleteI love Alabama Chanin!! I remember when you posted about that, and was wondering what your interpretation would be. Can't wait to see the finished product!
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