Christine Jonson Patterns

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I began my clothing design career more than 25 years ago after completing a 4-year certificate program in pattern making at a privately owned design school in Michigan. The small school was owned and operated by two European women who were couturiers in their respective France and Italy for many years. This was the only school of its’ kind in my area and I consider myself very fortunate to have been exposed to such expertise and knowledge. I felt that I had found my calling. It wasn’t that I picked up the art of pattern making so quickly as much as it was the enthusiasm I felt inside for what I was learning. I still feel that same enthusiasm today. My mother, an Italian couture dressmaker taught me how to sew. Her patience and experience was my next guiding hand after I graduated from school. At 25 I became partners with her and expanded her couture dressmaking business where I spent several years sewing and honing the design and pattern making skills I learned in school. This experience brought theory and application together. On holiday in California during the early 1980’s I noticed a trend in dressing that I had yet to see in my hometown. A fabric that I had only seen used in exercise garments being manufactured into ready-to-wear clothing. A cotton/LYCRA knit fabric that used shape and design as its only attributes! Details were scarce. After years of detailed, exacting, by-hand couture sewing, I was ready for a change and this fabric was my vehicle for change. I spent many years designing and producing my own label of ready-to-wear clothing for the wholesale market designing exclusively with this cotton/LYCRA knit fabric. It was this wonderful knit fabric and its qualities that allowed me to design and perfect sewing techniques that have translated to my pattern company today. After 12 years in the wholesale market I opened a retail store in my hometown selling my own label ready-to-wear designs and offering couture dressmaking to a select few. It was a “home sewing” friend who suggested that I offer my patterns to home sewers. She knew we produced our own clothing and was intrigued that our garments did not look “home made”. She felt that women sewing at home could benefit from our production sewing techniques. Honestly, the thought never entered my mind. Sell my patterns? Well, several years later I can say it was an excellent idea! To be able to take my years of experience and translate it into a new business that brings me in touch with others that love to sew and appreciate what I do is very gratifying! I am a girl who loves to sew! It is really just as simple as that. Sewing is an excellent creative outlet for me that is non-competitive and personally gratifying. The best part for me is completing my garment, seeing my idea come to fruition gives me a great sense of accomplishment that few other things do. I am a nature girl who loves to walk in the woods, fish, and build a campfire. I also like to knit and cook and I love my animals! I have two female Stafforshire Bull Terriers named Edie and Ella and a Maine Coon Cat named Sara.

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