Meet the Designer: Christine Haynes!

We are pleased to welcome Christine Haynes to Fancy Tiger Crafts! Christine Haynes designs vintage inspired patterns for modern women from her hometown of Los Angeles, where she also manages Sew LA. She will be in town next weekend to teach her ever popular Emery Dress. Her class filled up quick, but don't worry, we do have the pattern in stock if you'd like to make one on your own. Let's meet Christine!

1) How did you get started in the crafting industry? What is your background?
I've been artsy-crafty my whole life, taking painting and ballet classes at a very young age, so I knew the arts were in my future. After high school I earned my BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the department of Film, Video, & New Media, but I was always sewing and eventually that took over all of my time. Things really changed when I participated in the second Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago which launched my ready to wear line of clothing. I produced finished garments for boutiques around the world for many years, but that all changed with the collapse of the economy which was perfectly timed with my first book, Chic & Simple Sewing. At that time I closed up my garment district studio and focused on teaching and writing, which has now led to my own line of patterns! It's been a crazy ride and I'm so happy with where it's going!

2) Do you have a  favorite type of project to design? Or, what are you most excited about making right now?
I'm pretty much completely sewing-centric, but of course that can include other elements like fabric design, block printing, dying, embroidery, beading, and loads more embellishments. My favorite type of project to design are dresses, and they are my favorite thing to wear. They are so easy to toss on and go. No fuss at all! Right now I'm really excited about my next pattern which will be coming out in July! And spoiler alert: it's a dress! I'm also really excited about an upcoming long vacation to Paris and have already decided to bring a large embroidery project to keep my hands busy while I'm there. I take that time off of sewing completely, but it's nice to work on a related project.

3) What influences you creatively? What is your creative process for coming up with new ideas? What inspires you?
I am most inspired by real women and how they dress themselves everyday. I have no interest at all to design or make things that are only wearable for special occasions and not for everyday life. For instance, I have no desire to make red carpet gowns or wedding dresses or anything like that, but I love making women feel good on a random Thursday when perhaps they aren't having a good day. Hopefully they can put on the dress they made and make that average day a little bit better.

My creative process really starts with what I feel is missing in my life and in the market. I can't be overly influenced by the others that do the same thing that I do, and yet I also don't want to be redundant. So I'm not going to design something that exists in the same way by another indie designer. I think about what I am longing to wear and how that relates to the big picture. I have 100's of vintage patterns from the 20's-80's and try to pull in vintage elements into my designs to blend the retro with the new. I don't like wearing anything that looks like a costume, but I do love vintage detailing that is missing from most modern patterns. From there, it's a lot of sketching, muslin making, testing, and finally settling on the finished idea.

4) What is your favorite mythological animal?
I've always related to my zodiac animal. I am a Capricorn and most people think it's the goat, all bull headed and practical thinking in nature. But that's not true! The Capricorn is actually the sea goat; goat on the top and fish on the bottom. It's a pretty bad ass and wildly misunderstood animal, which I think works perfectly for Capricorns themselves. We are a misunderstood bunch! The sea goat constellation sits among the water bearers in the night sky and the Greeks associate the animal to be an embodiment of Pan, the god of nature, who was only half submerged in the Nile while helping Zeus fight. The lower half acclimated with the sea and the top half stayed intact. We are strong and resilient but not at all as cold as people think!

5) If you could have any super power, what would it be?
Oh, without question it would be teleportation! I'd love to just be beamed up from place to place at a moment's notice! I love traveling, but I hate flying and this would fix everything. Get on that someone!

Thanks Christine, see you soon!

New Patterns: By Hand London

By Hand London is an independent sewing pattern label out of London run by three fabulous women, Charlotte, Elisalex and Victoria. They launched just over a year ago and are producing beautiful sewing patterns.

Being surrounded by stylish women offers these ladies a constant inspiration for new designs. Creating patterns influenced by, and named after the women they admire, they create charming patterns to cater to individual style. We are so happy to stock these patterns with a modern twist on classic designs.

By Hand London celebrates our desire to dress up and stand out!

Merchant & Mills

Merchant & Mills is a British haberdasher that makes beautiful sewing patterns, tools and more. We are pleased to welcome their products to our line-up at Fancy Tiger Crafts. Merchant and Mills patterns are really beautiful traditional garments. The detail in the instructions, pattern design, even the packaging makes for a wonderful presentation. Their focus is on classic, simple designs. You will find few fastenings and no unnecessary difficulty while working these patterns.

The Camber Set is a simple dress with tapered A-line silhouette and fitted sleeves for an easy-wear classic. This pattern provides two versions, a dress or t-shirt. 

The Dress Shirt is inspired by "Grandpa's shirt" and is a lightweight, versatile dress. This is a loose fitting comfortable dress for all your casual needs. 

The Top #64 is inspired by the fisherman's top with a little feminine flare to it. This top works well with fabrics in varying weight - do I see a heavy wool jumper in your future?

The Trapeze Dress is Merchant and Mills signature dress pattern. With a flattering fit, you can't go wrong with this staple! 

If you are seeking a more well rounded Merchant & Mills look, this book will take you through their tools, techniques, philosophy and working methods. Each task builds on the skills learned in the previous one to help expand your expertise. 

We are so happy to be carrying Merchant & Mills! Check back on Wednesday to see which pattern Jaime has already sewn up! 

Chambrays and Shirtings and Jerseys, Oh My!

Garment sewists, rejoice! Loads of new garment-friendly fabrics are here! We have been up to our elbows in exciting shipments this week and we've finally got it all unpacked.

New homespun shirtings are here and we love the details, like dots, stripes and cross marks, woven right into the fabric. We can't wait to make Tovas and Esmes and Laurels galore from these great fabrics!

These double-sided fabrics feel like a double gauze and look amazing on both sides! They would be perfect for reversible garments or bags. We are thinking the simple Wiksten Tank with flat felled seams would be perfect!

Omg, batiks? You might feel like our shop is a desert when it comes to batiks, but we are batik-curious, that's for sure. When we saw these zig zag batiks, it was over. Chevron batik Staple Dress? Yes, please!

Featherlight chambrays are here--perfect for ethereal blouses or dresses. The Chantilly or Clara Dress would be lovely!

There is a rainbow of new jerseys here, too! We hope to be sporting new Lolas and Leggings in these babies soon.

See you soon!

Better Know Two Crafters: Laurel-Along-ing with Becky and Sara!

Two of our favorite ladies have been spending a lot of time in our sewing studio lately during Open Sew Nights! They've been on a Laurel-making adventure, whipping up cute Laurel dresses and tops left and right. You may know these presh ladies from around town--Becky is one of the Fancy Tiger Clothing folks, and the woman behind Becky's Buttons & Things. Sara is one of our favorite local artists (although Denver stole her away from her homeland of Canada). In addition to their love of making Laurels, Becky and Sara also join forces making miniature illustrated worlds with their collaborative Diorama Lockets.

Becky Wareing Steele & Sara Guindon

Tell us about your crafty selves.
Becky: I am a compulsive crafter. I try to create something every day whether it be something for myself, a gift, or for my business (insert shameless promotion here...) I love to crochet, sew and mainly work with miniatures.

Sara: I'm an illustrator and I like to draw and paint people. I'm new to sewing, but I used to do a lot of felt applique, and I have some English paper peicing for on the go.

Tell us about the Laurels you've made.
Becky: This was my first time sewing with a pattern. Sara encouraged me to try the Laurel pattern from Colette and now I'm addicted.

Sara: I made three Laurel dresses. It was fun adding extra details like contrasting bias tape and applique collars.

How did each of you learn to sew? 
Becky: I came from a long line of crafters. My grandfather taught arts and crafts at a prison in Philidelphia and, even though we never met, he's been a huge inspiration of mine. 

Sara: A long time ago I used to hand sew applique bags. Then I started making small alterations on my home sewing machine. Now I want to learn how to follow patterns--I'm addicted to Colette Sewing Patterns.

What is your favorite animal?
Becky: I love all animals, but I live with two cats.

Sara: My boring answer is dogs. Visually I like giraffes because they have big eyes and long eyelashes. 

Thanks Becky and Sara! Happy crafting!

Loony for Laurels

--Jaime

Amber and I are loony for Laurels and now we are total twinsies in our terrific tops and distinct dresses. The Laurel pattern is the newest pattern from sewing superstar Sarai Mitnick of Colette Patterns. It can be sewn up as a top or dress - it is a simple shift-dress design that is easy to sew and perfect to embellish. We've only had this pattern in for a couple of weeks, but Amber and I have already each made a top and dress!

 

My top is made from a Japanese print that I have been hording for a while now. I used our natural linen bias tape to trim my top and I love it. This was an easy top to sew and only took me 3 hours start to finish for my first one. The Laurel features bust and back darts so it has a nice fitted look despite its simplicity. I already have more fabric cut for my next Laurel top. I can't wait to make this sleeveless as well for summertime funtimes!

Amber is crazy for cats so she made a sweet cat shirt that features cats in baskets with butterflies and yarn. Perfect. The Laurel's simple design is made to show off bold prints so if you have some cat fabric just waiting for the right pattern, the wait is over. A black bias binding lets the cats pop for maximum cat-action.

Next we took on Laurel dresses. The Laurel dress is a shift-style dress with half length sleeve that features a zipper closure in the back. I chose a Lizzy House Constellations Twinkle Twinkle print for mine and Amber chose a bold Japanese graphic linen print for hers. For my dress, I used a pale purple shot cotton as a contrasting bias trim while Amber chose to go with black for her dress. They turned out great--Laurels 4-ever!

We hope to see you all take on the Laurel this upcoming spring and summer. We can't wait to see how you embellish yours... pockets, collars, ruffles, oh my!