Building a Capsule Wardrobe
with Christine Haynes

16-24 June and 27 June-5 July 2027

Learn to sew garments to a professional level with designer and pattern maker Christine Haynes during an 8-night/9 day retreat in London and in the Kent countryside at Goodnestone Park, a beautiful stately home often frequented by novelist Jane Austen. The retreat is in two parts with three days spent in London visiting textile and fashion related venues followed by six nights at Goodnestone where the sewing workshop takes place in a light and airy studio space.

For the sewing workshop you can choose up to three patterns designed by Christine from her online collection which includes pants, dresses and tops. You’ll download and print your patterns in advance and bring them with you to the retreat along with your fabric and notions. Bernina sewing machines and a range of accessories are all provided for your use. All levels of sewer are welcome to join and depending on your experience, you will leave with at least one completed garment.

The retreat begins in London with three days of visits guaranteed to excite and inspire you. We’re planning visits to the Fashion and Textile Museum for a curator-led tour of their vintage couture collection, a visit to a large textile print studio to see their screen printing process, a costume exhibition at a major gallery and a visit to the legendary Victoria & Albert Museum with access to their major exhibition, Punk to Pop that examines the rich and eclectic creative explosion across music, art and fashion from 1972-1985.

Your accommodation when we are in London is the 4-star Petersham hotel in Richmond-upon-Thames in southwest London, ideally situated close by Heathrow airport and with good underground and train links to the city. On day three we travel by coach to Kent and to Goodnestone Park, the former home of Jane Austen’s brother Edward. This beautiful house dating from 1704 is surrounded by Goodnestone Park’s exceptionally beautiful 15-acre gardens which are known for their ancient woodland, parterre gardens and classical English planting. Described as one of the top three gardens in Kent, we will have access to the gardens during our stay including the recently restored Serpentine Walk, a favourite of Jane Austen.

While in Kent we visit the medieval town of Rye. home to drapers’ Merchant & Mills, the perfect place to stock up on fabrics. With its timber buildings and cobbled streets this charming town has an artistic vibe with interesting independent shops. On the final day of the retreat we visit Sissinghurst Castle Gardens which was created in the 1930’s by writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicolson around the ruins of an Elizabethan manor. Famous for its structured “garden room” - such as the iconic White Garden - it combines formal paths with romantic, abundant planting.

We arrive back at the Petersham hotel in Richmond by late afternoon on the final day.