Sunday, September 29, 2013

Alabama Chanin Anna's Garden Corset and Long Skirt

I have always liked the hand-stitched corset from Alabama Stitch Book. For whatever reason, I never made one didn't think I would. That was until I saw a version made by  Nixxi, on Craftsy. She embroidered the June's Spring design to her sand colored fabric and stitched it using a baby blue colored embroidery floss. I think her end product is delightful and it brought this pattern back into play for me.

Even after making my beaded sampler top, I decided to change my entry for the mini wardrobe contest to include a corset. I had a white cotton jersey sheet in my stash that would serve as my fabric source.  I stenciled my fabric in "Anna's Garden" using  grey paint I blended. 

Painting the fabric
The pattern for the corset is from the Alabama Stitch Book and includes all the instructions to create this corset top and a multitude of other garments. They are sized xs-xl. I traced and I cut the size medium.


 I find A.C. necklines too low for my tastes so  I raised it about 1 inch. I sewed my corset with double stitching; once to secure it then again to top stitch. I had my seams fell to the inside of the top.    I chose to bind my neckline and armholes using a strip of white jersey fabric.  I secured the binding with a herringbone stitch using slate button and craft thread.
Anna's Garden Corset Front
  I really like the rounded hem on this.

 I am glad I raised the neckline and think it could still go up just a smidge more.
Herringbone stitch on bindings
Stencil close up
I am happy with my corset and the fact that the only significant alteration to the pattern was raising the neckline. It was really quick to stitch and I will certainly be making more.

To go with this lovely top, I needed a coordinating skirt. I selected the Long Skirt option from Alabama Studio and Sewing and Design. 

I had not made this pattern and thought it went great with the top. I love that the front is shorter than the back which has a train. Again, I made this by re-purposing the white jersey bed sheet. I traced and cut the pattern and began sewing.

The construction was easy but a tiny bit tedious. The seams are super long and needed to be stitched once with the seams inside, then, stitched again on the outside. After the sides were stitched up, I added fold over elastic (foe) to the top waistband. The pattern called for 1 1/2 in foe, but I didn't have any. I bought a spool 3/4 of  foe elastic on sale and a ridiculous price years ago and decided to use what I had on hand.

It was a bit fiddly to work with, but basting it in place instead of pinning, solved that problem. I attached it using a parallel stitch.
 Here is the finished product.
Skirt Front
 
Skirt back (I am stooping so the curve can be seen better.)

I really like this outfit! I will be making this again, and again. As we come upon the holiday season, this has been added to my gift giving list. Are you my friend?

Happy Sewing,
Bianca

5 comments:

  1. Just discovered your blog when I was looking for Alabama Chanin corsets. Your skirt and top are absolutely lovely. Did you make that stencil or did you buy it from the AC website?

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I am proud of the work I did on this outfit though the neckline is a bit low for my liking.. I made this with a stencil I purchased from A.C. I still do a lot of hand-sewing, but I no longer use A.C. products. I have fallen out of love with the company. You can read about why in this blog post.
      http://thanksimadethem.blogspot.com/2014/01/new-alabama-chanin-collection.html

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    2. Whoa! This looks serious. Off to read your post.

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  2. Bravooo; good job!

    I have been watching her courses via Craftsy all afternoon. I'm up for this. ISO affordable medium weight jersey knit for I have not upwards of $60 for two yards.

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    1. Hi Lyric, thanks for stopping by. I've not looked at this post in so long. My, I changed since then.😛 It appears, by this comment, you've seen the link for why I no longer support Alabama Chanin. If you are looking for a source of organic cotton Jersey sold by decent people, check out Nature's Fabrics. I am their brand ambassador and I recommend them because the fabric is great (I actually partnered with them because of their organic Jersey and they came highly recommended by a friend). I especially love that you're not paying $30 a yard for it. I found the organic Jersey works well, as does the regular. I have also starting selling stencils (more in the way) in my Etsy store as an option for those who enjoy Jersey hand-sewing but have decided not to support AC. All the best to you!

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