About

Christine Haynes is a sewing author, teacher, and pattern designer. Christine grew up in Saugatuck, MI, a small beach community on the southwestern coast of Lake Michigan, where the arts were part of her daily life. Her mother taught her to sew around the age of 10, and it grew from a personal hobby, until it became her main artistic outlet, many years later.

She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the department of Film, Video, and New Media. After graduating college in Chicago, Christine moved to Los Angeles, CA and sold ready-to-wear garments for many years. When Random House approached Christine to write her first book, she left ready-to-wear, and turned her focus to teaching others to experience the joy of making clothing for themselves, through her patterns, books, and workshops.

While in Los Angeles, in addition to teaching, patternmaking, and writing, she was the shop manager at Sew LA. Following more than a decade in Los Angeles, Christine relocated to New York, NY, where she became the shop manager of Purl Soho. After managing Purl Soho for a few years, Christine returned to patternmaking and teaching, which she does from her studio in San Francisco, CA.

Christine has written four books, How to Speak Fluent Sewing (2015, C&T), Skirts & Dresses for First Time Sewers (2015, Barron’s), The Complete Photo Guide to Clothing Construction (2014, CPI), and Chic & Simple Sewing (2009, Potter Craft), and has contributed to other books, such as One Yard Wonders (2009, Storey). Her articles have been published in Sewstylish, Sew News, Craftstylish, and Craft Zine magazines.

She teaches sewing classes in-person, as well as virtual & video workshops on-line, and has presented lectures and workshops at the American Sewing Guild Conference, Camp Stitchalot, A Gathering of Stitches Slow Fashion retreats, Camp Workroom Social retreats, the Craftcation Conference, and the 2016 QuiltCon West Conference.

Christine was a featured guest on seasons 2 and 8 of PBS’s Sew It All TV show, and her work has been featured in Threads, Mollie Makes, New York Times, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Martha Stewart’s radio network, and NBC’s Today Show, among others.