Christine Haynes's Blog, page 20

Knit Franken-Dress

Sometimes I want to wear my jammies to work, so last week I decided to make up a knit dress to wear the next day, because well, I wanted to wear jammies! I pulled out my Built by Wendy Sew U Home Stretch book and followed the boatneck top tutorial for the top of the dress. Then for the bottom, I simply cut two rectangles to be gathered up.

Everything went together pretty quickly and easily, though the shoulders on the top were so wide that I had to sew in some emergency insets to keep the top from falling off my shoulders. I'm a bit too old to try to pull off a Flashdance look!


I took Anna's advice and put elastic in the waistband for gathering the skirt, which also provides stretch when taking the dress on and off, keeping the waistband threads from snapping. Works like a charm!

The fabric is from my stash- just some charcoal rayon knit that I've had forever. I didn't want to use up anything precious since this was probably going to be a wearable muslin. In the end the dress is too big, but to be honest, I'm totally okay with that since it certainly adds to the coziness of it.


And following some suggestions from my post about sewing for a changing body, knits is a great way to go! I have no idea what my body is becoming, and where things are going to end up - size, measurements, etc - but I can tell you that things are shifting and that a cozy knit dress will always be wearable, no matter how big it ends up in the end.

Also, huge thanks to my pal Devon for taking these photos of me. Not exactly perfect (man, I really need to practice posing - which is the weirdest thing I've written ever) but a huge improvement! Thanks Devon!

Pattern- Top half: Built by Wendy Sew U Home Stretch Boatneck Top; Bottom half: two rectangles
Fabric- Rayon knit from my stash
Shoes- Dansko

Book Release Day!

Today is the day! My new book, The Complete Photo Guide to Clothing Construction, is now available! Who wants to make it the #1 seller for sewing today on Amazon? Let's do it! Here is the direct link to go get yourself a copy!

Stay tuned for loads more information on a blog book tour and upcoming workshops, meet & greets, and book parties! There is a lot more to come, but in the meantime, go get yourself a book!

Thanks to everyone for the amazing support and I hope you love it as much as I do!


UPDATE: So it seems as though Amazon is already sold out of my book! I suppose I should be flattered that it has sold so fast, but to be completely honest, it's super irritating! I'm not sure what's going on. I don't know if this is simply that Amazon under bought, or what, but as today is the release date I would suggest two things if you want to get a copy:
1) I would buy it on Amazon, knowing that they will get more ASAP and most likely they are simply waiting to get them from the publisher. And…
2) I would NOT buy it from any of the people listed as selling "used" copies, since even I don't have my copies from the publisher yet, so anyone selling a used copy of the book is not to be trusted, as there's no way there are any used copies out there yet!
Sorry for any inconvenience! Fingers crossed they have more copies soon!

A Call for Sponsors!

I'm sure you've noticed all those amazing advertisers on the right side of my blog. Aren't they awesome? Want to join them? I have ads in large and small sizes, and they are pretty darn cheap for the amount of viewers they get each day.

If you have something to advertise that you think my readers might like - sewing blog, pattern company, fabric business, etsy shop - check out the advertising link at the top of the page and read all the details! If you have any questions at all, shoot me a message!

Sewing With A Transitional Body

Keeping with my goals for 2014, I have been hard at work on taking better care of myself. I promise a full report on my food and fitness progress at the start of next month, when I've been at it for a full month, but suffice it to say that whatever I'm doing so far is making a difference. And that of course makes me beyond happy.

But what I find happening is that my usual desire to sew clothing for myself is really nonexistent. Since I am happy to see change in my body and hope for more, it seems so pointless to sew clothing for myself until I've either hit my goal, or plateau at a comfortable place.

So what do you do when your body is in transition? Apparently you start the world's largest quilt. Okay, it's not that big, but when you look at the cold hard number of the quantity to cut, it certainly feels like the world's largest quilt! It is liberating to cut and organize my fabrics without any thoughts of fit in my head and I can just move forward with cutting and piling tons of little squares. (And the quilt will be made of 100% stash fabric, completing another 2014 goal!)

I saw Devon's quilt in progress and decided that I was going to use the same design as my starting point too. You might have seen the Economy Block Quilt-Along on Instagram or some of the other blogs, which is a square, inside a square, inside a square. The center square is on its side so it has great dimension and forms diamonds all over the quilt. It's really adorable and I'm enjoying working on it so far.

How do the rest of you deal with sewing for a transitional body? I'm not a mother and don't plan to be, so dealing with the flux of weight before and after childbirth must be an intense experience for a sewer! I'm simply toning and losing weight, but it really does have me thinking about what I want to wear and when I might sew again for my body.

Meanwhile, there's always gym clothing to sew :)

More Emery Dresses!

It is so satisfying to see the many Emery Dresses pop up on the internet! I already shared a whole bunch during the Emery Dress Sew-Along Parade, but since then I have found many more! If you've finished one and have photos of it, let me know! I'd love to see them!

It's also nice to see them featured on Kollabora and/or in the Christine Haynes Patterns Flickr pool, so if you're on either of those platforms, post your beautiful dresses! Okay, on with the show!

First up is the gorgeous version that my pal Devon (whom you might know of as Miss Make) made for the release of the latest London Calling collection from Robert Kaufman (pictured above and below). Elizabeth who works for Kaufman modeled the dress and Nichole (who also works for Kaufman) shot the lovely photos, at none other than Disneyland! Could you die at how adorable these are? I die.


In a completely different photo shoot location, the lovely Erin of Miss Crayola Creepy was recently in my favorite place and shot photos of her modeling her Emery Dress on the streets of Paris. Again, I die.  (Erin's dress was in the last post, but only on her dress form. Clearly these are worth a repeat!)


Fellow designer Pauline Alice made up an Emery to wear to a New Year's Eve party, and it is pretty much party perfection. I am a sucker for vintage-looking metallic brocade and think her version is divine!


Tasha from By Gum By Golly declared her Emery the best fitting dress she owns! Which given her handmade wardrobe, is a HUGE compliment! Her dress is vintage floral perfection.


Bay area blogger C Sews made her Emery with a ton of customization: piping in the waist seam, hand embroidery on the collar, and lace on the hem. Simply gorgeous! She wrote many posts on the process if you are interested in checking them out!


I realized that I didn't post these two Emery Dresses from my Quilt Market post in the Emery Parade last time, and thought they deserved a mention. On the left is me and the kind Lizzy House, both in Emery Dresses. Lizzy's version is made from her adorable Cat Nap collection with Andover Fabrics. On the right is another Emery that Devon made for Robert Kaufman, this time from Carolyn Friedlander's recent Botanics collection. 

And lastly, but hardly least, as the hardest working woman in the Emery factory, Kathy has two new Emery Dresses. The first one was made in my class at Sew L.A., which you saw in our group shot. And below that is her latest Emery, made with a fitted skirt and an altered sleeve. She's launched The 100 Ways of Emery project on her blog where she uses the pattern as a jumping point for a closet full of dresses. Thanks Kathy!



Thanks to everyone for using my pattern and for looking so fabulous!




All photos (except the two from quilt market) from each maker's blog or were sent to me for use.

Leisa's Rosemary Collar

One of my patterns that doesn't get talked about much is my Rosemary Collar. It's so basic that it seems silly sometimes that I made a pattern for it at all, but every now and then a version of the collar pops up on the internet and reminds me of why I released it in the first place.


There are collars, and then there are collars. The version that Leisa made just knocked my socks off! You can read all about her process on her blog post here. I am truly impressed at this version, made with gorgeous Valentino fabric purchased at Mood.

Isn't it a stunner? I might just copy her…. ;)


photos by Leisa and used with permission

A Kickstarter Worth Supporting

I know, I know, everyone has a crowdsourcing thing out there right now, and sure, most are really worthwhile. But I can say with 100% confidence, that this one is truly worth supporting.


My friend Annie was an architect that decided she wanted to make shoes. Her company Mohop hand makes these shoes here in America and they are amazing comfortable to wear. I speak from experience, as I own three pairs of varying heights, all made from reclaimed wood and tied with changeable ribbons (or whatever else you want to put on there). The tie system is awesome because you can swap them out and tie them in dozens of ways, so with one pair of shoes, you really have many pair since they can be endlessly customized.


I supported her campaign (and no, she didn't ask me to write this... I'm doing it because I believe in her!) and in turn will be getting pair number four as a reward. So tell me, when was the last time you got a handmade pair of gorgeous shoes, made in America, for only $45? Seriously, this is a win-win situation for everyone!


Watch the video above, check out her page with all the info on rewards, press she's received, her back story, and loads more, then pick a level to support her! The time is running out and she's SO close to her $50K goal, which will enable her to manufacture more shoes using a high-tech system that will allow her company to grow and have her shoes show up in shops around the world.


I think all of us who hand make our goods find stopping blocks in the cycle (bras, undies, socks, shoes) and when you can get over one of those hurdles and find something handmade in those categories, it feels amazing. Check out her page and support her (and reward yourself) before it's too late!

My Birthday Laurel

Okay, so here goes with me attempting to shoot photos of myself in my apartment with a timer. I'm not going to lie, I've seen better. But I've done it, and have pulled the bandaid off so to speak. I learned SO MUCH from shooting these and promise that they can only get better! But first, let's talk about the dress!

Pattern: Laurel Dress from Colette Patterns
Fabric: Navy and white heart stretch cotton from The Fabric Store
Size: 8 for the lower body, with small shoulder adjustment and bust dart apex moved to suit my bust

You already know that I love the Laurel Dress, so when it came to making a little something to wear out for dinner for my birthday last week, I wanted to use something that was tested and easy, since I'm a wee bit too busy right now to work out a new muslin and such. When the lovely Sarai was in town a bit ago, we had a day together, as you might have seen her mention on her New Year's Eve Laurel post.


We hit Mood and The Fabric Store and kept each other in check, buying only classic prints. She got the black on black polka dot for her Laurel, and I found this adorable heart print for my Laurel. It suits me perfectly in that it is fun and feminine, but the navy and white keep it classic and sophisticated.

It's a stretch cotton, which I like, though it is a bit "loud" as I wore it, like you know how fabric like taffeta makes noise as it brushes against itself as you walk? Yeah, it is kinda like that. Though not so bad that I highly doubt anyone else noticed.

I made my usual adjustments as listed above, and I pretty much can make this dress in my sleep right about now. I've made so many Laurel Dresses, and am actually ready to move onto another shape, believe it or not. So this might be my last Laurel for a bit.


As for the photos, first off, MAJOR props to ladies like Anna and Lauren who make posing in front of the camera look easy, because it is not! I learned that though I had natural light coming into my room, it could use much more help in the lighting department and shooting at high noon or outside would really improve these photos a lot. But whatever, I'm getting over the fear of doing this and these are the shots I have, so I'm putting them out there!

So there you have it, my first make of 2014, and properly blogged only a week after making it! That's a job well done, if I do say so myself :)

How To Sew Our Palm Springs Caftans

Remember that amazing Palm Springs vacation I took last fall with my BFF's? Well, I wrote a post for Craftsy that went live over the weekend on how to make the super easy-to-sew caftans that we basically lived in the entire time. Pop over to the post on the Craftsy site and check it out!

And if you make one, let me know! I'd love to see it!

Travel Tuesday: How to Pick a Seat On a Plane

Over the holidays my man and I booked our flights for our upcoming Paris trip this spring and I thought I'd share with you all how we choose our seats. First of all, I take picking my seat seriously. Truth be told, I hate flying, so I want the most comfortable seat I can get so I can convince myself that I'm not on a plane, which is no small trick when your flight is 12 or so hours long.

If you can afford to fly first class, there's no need to read the rest of this post. But if like me, you need to find the best cheap seat in the house, continue on!

When you book your ticket, you can see the make and model of the plane you are booking on the flight page. This information can be put into use on an awesome site called Seat Guru. On their home page, you can select the airline, then pick the type of plane you're flying.

After you have found a match to the airline, make, and model of the plane you're flying, you can see the seating chart of the plane. On the right are details for the plane, number of seats, amenities, etc, and at the lower right there are user comments and general comments on the best and worst seats in the house.

The plane image is highlighted with color coded seats, indicating the best, worst, and seats with mixed reviews. These are of course as seen through their eyes, so your reasonings for ideal or less than ideal might be different. Here are the things I consider when booking:

Always choose your seat when booking your ticketChecking into your flight in advance of your flight secures your seat and prevents the airline from giving it away Consider the flow of the airline when picking a seat - how close are you to the kitchen, bathroom, and places where people would generally congregate, especially on long flightsIf you pick a seat with a break wall behind it, that seat might not fully recline, so check before bookingSome seats are set aside for people traveling with a baby, so avoid sitting near those seats if you will be bothered by crying babiesWhat do you consider when booking a long flight? Do share your tips in the comments!