Southern Makers – 5 Star Dinner with Mike Wolfe & Natalie Chanin

Southern Makers 5 Star Dinner
29th Street at Pepper Place, Birmingham, AL
August 11, 2017
Cocktails: 5:30-7:00
Dinner: 7:00 until

Tickets are now available for this one-of-a-kind dining experience to benefit Southern Makers nonprofit. With special guests Natalie Chanin and Mike Wolfe.

Special dinner guest, Natalie “Alabama” Chanin, is the founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin. She was born and raised in Florence, Alabama, where her company, which creates beautiful hand stitched clothing, is based. Natalie has traveled the globe working as a stylist, costume and fashion designer. In 2013 she won the CFDA/Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge, an award competition that identifies and celebrates the greatest American designers working in the realm of sustainable fashion. Natalie’s fashions focuses on sustainability at every stage of the manufacturing process – from materials and processes, to cultural sustainability in the form of preserving hand sewing skills. Over the years, Alabama Chanin has expanded to include The Alabama Chanin collection, The School of Making, The Factory Store + Cafe, and Building 14 Design + Manufacturing Services.

Our other special guest for the evening is Mike Wolfe. Mike is the creator and star of History Channel’s American Pickers! While we have all come to know Mike on television as a picker, Mike is so much more than a finder and rescuer of old objects. Mike is an American history buff who’s passion lies in discovering and preserving the stories of the treasures that he uncovers. In addition to American Pickers, Mike is the creator and executive producer of Nashville Flipped, has is own line of American made products and apparel, Two Lanes, and is an avid motorcycle collector and enthusiast!

This very special evening will start at 5:30 PM in the cocktail lounge with libations and a Southern Makers anniversary craft cocktail created by Chris Hastings. Guests will enjoy a five course dinner prepared by a variety of top southern based chefs including: Adam Evans, formerly of Optimist, Atlanta, GA,  James Lewis Bettola, Birmingham AL,  Alex Harrell, Angeline, New Orleans, LA, David Carrier, Certified Burger, Sea Island GA, and Josh Quick, Odette, Florence, AL. Miami’s own, five-star sommelier Heath Porter will pair wine with courses. Each chef will prepare a special plate to add to this one-of-a-kind culinary experience. The atmosphere and surroundings will complement the dinner with an urban farm-to-table feel and theme. Table flourishes include place settings from McQueen Pottery, cotton napkins by Alabama Chanin, flowers by Stone Hollow Farmstead and more. 29th Street to the historic Pepper Place will be transformed for one night only into a joyful dining room under the stars of Alabama. Dress attire for this event is business casual. A very limited number of tickets are available and can be purchased by visiting southernmakers.com.

Friends of the Cafe Dinner: Southern Makers

This past weekend Alabama Chanin, Southern Makers and The Oxford American presented the Friends of the Cafe Dinner with Atlanta-based Chef Anne Quatrano. The dinner was held Saturday, October 24, 2015 at The Factory in Florence, Alabama. The cost of the event included cocktails, dinner, and the very first Maker Box created through a collaboration between Oxford American Magazine and Southern Makers.

The Oxford American is a non-profit, quarterly literary magazine dedicated to featuring the best in Southern writing while documenting the complexity and vitality of the American South. The magazine, founded in 1992 in Oxford, Mississippi, relocated to Arkansas in the early 2000’s, under the auspices of a newly formed nonprofit organization called The Oxford American Literary Project. In addition to publishing the Oxford American, the Literary Project is dedicated to promoting literacy and exploring Southern culture through various other creative endeavors.

Both having been created and developed in the deep south, the Oxford American supports the entrepreneurial spirit of Southern Makers. Our goals are similar; to explore and promote quality, hand crafted and one-of-a-kind goods to a larger market and exposing gifted artists with unique talents to a greater audience. In an attempt to spread the word about Southern Makers and the makers who participate, the Oxford American website will feature a revolving selection of Southern Maker-approved goods in their online store. Additionally, Oxford American Magazine is offering a “Maker Box” as a subscription upgrade. In the coming weeks, those who purchase an annual subscription to the Oxford American will be offered the opportunity to upgrade their subscription to include the Maker Box which will contain a curated selection of goods from Southern Makers participants.

Each attendee of the Friends of the Cafe Dinner received a Maker Box.

We were honored to be part of this unique event. It was a fun evening and we look forward to future collaborations!

Alabama Chanin – American Flag Quilt

 Southern Accents is proud of our Alabama roots. We are always thrilled when given the opportunity to both collaborate with, and lend support to, fellow makers from our home state. This week we received a stunning American flag quilt from one of those makers, Alabama Chanin. The quilt is completely hand-sewn from two layers of 100% organic cotton jersey and features Alabama Chanin’s signature reverse appliqué along with a beautiful blanket stitched border. This incredible work of art is currently on display in our showroom and available for special order.

One of many things that first impressed us about Natalie Chanin, founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin, is her vision. Natalie works from her hometown of Florence, Alabama. Florence has a long history of textile production. Sitting on the banks of the Tennessee River, the city was once home to one of the first textile centers in this part of the country. Alabama Chanin is headquartered in a building that was once a sewing, dyeing, and embroidery facility. Natalie’s vision is to see the return of the textile industry to the state of Alabama.

Building a business that is both environmentally and economically sustainable, encourages and supports the local economy which is an effort that Southern Accents can get behind. Alabama Chanin creates their fashions from 100% organic cotton jersey that is sourced sustainably from seed to fabric. Not unlike our own philosophy of rescuing and restoring architectural salvage, we share with Natalie a passion for helping to protect the environment by using and reusing local resources whenever possible.

Southern Accents collaboration with Alabama Chanin is a natural fit. The artistic aspect of architecture and fashion go hand in hand. The bigger connection for us, is the passion that we share for quality and our creativity that produces a back-to-your-roots awareness. Garlan and Natalie are both artists who think “out of the box.” Both recently participated in the highly curated Southern Makers Festival in Montgomery which celebrated the creative heritage that is Alabama.

Collaborations with like minded artists just makes sense to us which is why we are so excited to currently be working with Natalie on some of the interior design aspects of the manufacturing facility and up-and-coming event space, The Factory, in Florence. The manufacturing facility, working under the label of A. Chanin, is intended to make their items more accessible while continuing their focus on sustainable products and practices. We are looking forward to following the progress of Natalie’s newest ventures!

Stop by Southern Accents to view the beautiful Alabama Chanin quilt. You can also view the quilt online at: www.sa1969.com. To learn more about Alabama Chanin, visit them online at: www.alabamachanin.com.

Written by: Lisa Jones

The details of this hand stitched quilt along with the colors of the organic cotton are exquisite! This work of art is 111″ x 60″ and available for special order.

Natalie Chanin, founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin. Photo courtesy of Peter Stanglmayr.