Next Wednesday I head to Portland, Oregon with my friends Annie and Crista to visit friends, eat great food, drink local beers and wines, and participate in/help out  (secured location, organizing food, drink, helped promote…) with an Alabama Chanin stitching workshop.  Natalie Chanin, who runs Alabama Chanin, is one of those extraordinary people who when I met I felt inspired.  Actually, the first time Ruth Altchek wrote about her in Domino, I was inspired.  She embodies every positive memory (and there are a lot!) I have of my childhood summers in Magnolia, Arkansas.  A native of Alabama, she runs Alabama Chanin, a company that produces couture clothing, accessories, and home goods from organic and repurposed materials by hand. Her clothing line is (or at least most of the fall/winter 2009 collection was) at Barney’s and her wedding line is at Bergdorf Goodman. I am finishing up a DIY kit for the Bloomers Reverse Applique Swing Skirt and will make a T-shirt at this workshop.

An excerpt from Ruth’s charming column “My Green Life” with Natalie September, 2007:

4:48 a.m. Wake up to a snuggle and kiss from my 18-month-old daughter, Maggie. We just moved into a small (by Alabama standards) home in Florence, a little town at the foothills of the Appalachians, where I grew up.

5:53 a.m. Head out tot he garden. This is our favorite time of day, when the sun is just coming up over the trees. Maggie plays while I hoe around the tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. I promised my family I’d make my grandfather’s pickles for the holidays, so this is a long project - I planted the cucumbers in April!

7:26 a.m. Put on an “Eagle” stencil tee. At my company, Alabama Chanin (as well as my first couture line, Project Alabama), we use a cottage-industry style of production, in which artisans craft pieces by hand in their own homes. Because of this, our line can be cost-prohibitive for many people, so we offer DIY kits, like (this) make-your-own shirt.

8:55 a.m. At the office, prepare organic-cotton “Alabama Builds” shirts (no longer available) - profits (went) to Architecture for Humanity, for rebuilding the Gulf Coast with sustainable materials.

10:30 a.m. Send fabric to Earth Creations, a company that uses clay to dye textiles.

11:10 a.m. Hang fabric for our spring collection on the clothesline. We dry it 90% outside, then throw it in the dryer for the last bit to soften and preshrink. This saves electricity and avoids heating up our offices.