Contagious Creativity podcast /episode 1

So... I kind of took the leap and filmed the first episode of my podcast just before my birthday, back in early december.

I clumsily share about my knitting works in progress,  about the yarn I use, and why I love creating so much!

Here are some informations about my works in progress I talk about in the podcast:

knitting:

• Tegna sweater: a bottom up cropped sweater

pattern by Caitlin Hunter

yarn: ecological hand dyed yanr : Hey mama wolf on Etsy

• Quokka sweater : a sweater with a front pocket for my 8 years old boy

pattern by Compagnie M
yarn is french brand De rerum natura: yarn is Gilliatt in Night 

 future project: the Zweig sweater by Caitlin Hunter in yarn by Mon sheep Shop.

 

 I have never made a handbag that I could use daily.
But I could not resist anymore making the Compass Bag by Noodlehead . I know I can trust her for making the best bag patterns ever! and this one does not disappoint. Everything falls into place perfectly, she gives great trips too. And all in all it is a pretty easy sew.
The only hard part was to find the proper hardware in France.


Voici ma version du Compass bag de Noodlehead. Un patron en anglais de très bonne qualité comme tous les patrons de cette créatrice. Le plus dur n'a pas été de coudre le sac mais de trouver les bons anneaux, crochets, ... J'ai eu du mal à trouver une boutique qui ait tout ce qu'il me fallait.
Si vous êtes en France et que vous connaissez une bonne boutique en ligne pour le matériel de fabrication des sacs , je suis preneuse!

 For the fabrics I chose some Les Fleurs Canvas and some Essex Yarn Dyed in Nautical for the pockets and the lining for more sturdiness.

  The lining is also made out of Essex Yarn Dyed. I did not include the zipper pocket but I am really proud to have installed this magnet closure!

 I chose the long adaptable straps.

 I have already adopted this bag and got lots of compliments for it!
On my computer I saved the photos under "compass bag #1" because I know there will be more versions of this pattern!

{ Winter Janie Dress }

It feels like ages since I made a garment.
But this pattern by Welcome to the Mouse House had been calling my name for ages, especially after seeing the version sewn by my dear Rachel of Stitched Together.

Et me voilà de retour avec une robe pour Blandine. Cela fait une éternité que je n'avais pas cousu de vêtements et ce patron par Welcome To The Mouse House était exactement ce qu'il me fallait pour ce grand retour! Il s'agit de la Janie Dress, un patron qui permet des variantes intéressantes. Un patron très bien expliqué, comme la plupart des patrons indépendants américains, avec ses illustrations et ses photos. J'adore!
 

 For this dress, I used a very pretty and light knit I found (unexpectedly!) at my local fabric store.
I combined the same knit in two different colors using the darker for the collar.

Pour cette robe j'ai utilisé un tissu de  mon Laurent Tissu local. Une espèce de maille très très douce, en deux couleurs pour mettre en valeur le col.

My 10 years old girl is a tiny girl! She is "petite" and I should have cut a size 7 according to the measurements. But she and I wanted a longer lasting garment, something she could wear next winter if she wanted. So I made a size 8 and added length to the bodice and skirt. Therefore it is a bit wide at the chest and waist, but we don't mind. 

J'ai choisi de couper la robe dans une taille supérieure à celle que j'aurais dû choisir, pour que ma petite minette puisse la porter encore quelques saisons. 

 The dress twirls like a dream, and Blandine, who still dreams of princesses, loves it!
And her brother agrees!

C'est la robe qui tourne par excellence: le rêve de toute petite fille, et surtout de la mienne!!

 This dress was so fast to make and so easy with my beloved serger.
I hemmed the skirt and sleeves on my normal machine with a jersey needle.

  This girl.... I am so proud of her. She is clever and witty, creative and funny! I love her to pieces!

Thank you so much for visiting!

Wild & free // a new quilt

knock knock....
Anyone?.......
Can we not talk about the fact that I have not blogged in a year?? please.... this is too embarrassing!

 I think I kind of burnt out on blogging and sewing for some reason. I think sewing felt like a job at one point.
So I had to take a break but the hiatus was not total as I did sew a few pieces of garment and I also knitted a lot. Creativity is my fuel, after all!
But doing it all at the same time got me a bit dizzy in the end and I have decided to concentrate on one craft only this year! Because quilting was my first love, that's going to be the one I am going to do - a lot- this year!

Toc toc! .... il y a quelqu'un? ............

Oh cela fait tellement longtemps que je n'ai pas écrit ici! j'ai même eu du mal à mettre en ligne ce billet! cela fait plusieurs mois que je n'ai pas blogué. Je crois que j'en avais trop fait et que la couture était devenu presque une obligation. Rien de pire pour tuer la créativité!
Mais je ne suis pas restée inactive pendant tout ce temps: j'ai cousu et j'ai beaucoup tricoté. J'ai dessiné et écrit. Mais toutes ces activités créatives , mélangées, m’ont laissé un arrière goût d'inachevé. 
Je me suis dit qu'il serait bon de me concentrer sur une seule de ces activités et le patchwork l'a emporté! après tout, c'était mon premier amour après le scrapbooking. 
J'ai donc repris le chemin du quilting, des marges de coutures hyper précises et du matelassage, avec une joie immense. 
Et j'ai commencé avec un projet que j'avais en tête depuis longtemps: un quilt pour ma fille en tissus Cotton and Steel, et en wonky stars ("étoiles tordues"!) .

And as this decision was made, I felt suddenly very relieved and very happy!
And I decided to tackle this project I had in mind for quite a while: a wonky star quilt for my girl using some Cotton and Steel fabric I had for quite a while in my stash.
And so I did.
 

It is called Wild & Free because I did not plan ahead the placement of the blocks. I just wanted to enjoy the process for this first quilt. This free process did have a few drawbacks but in the end it was a very pleasant project!

J'ai appelé ce quilt "Wild and free": "Libre & sauvage". 
Tout d'abord parce que je voulais assembler ces étoiles sans projet préétabli. Ce qui a été fort agréable mais a posé quelques soucis lors de l'assemblage final car j'ai eu du mal à trouver un design qui me plaisait. 
Ensuite parce que ce quilt est pour ma fille. Et que c'est comme ça que je veux qu'elle soit: Libre et Sauvage. 
J'ai entendu récemment Elisabeth Gilbert - l'auteur de "Mange, Prie , aime" , mais surtout du génial "Big Magic" - dire cette phrase: "Je suis fatiguée d'essayer d'être parfaite. Je veux juste être libre!" et je me suis dit: e-xac-te-ment!!!  

 It is also called Wild and free, because I let go of my fears of hand sewing and decided to handquilt the stars. And , oh my word, it was sooooo awesome I couldn't stop!

I followed Suzy Quilts advice on handquilting and got the whole set of gear: the Clover leather Thimble, the DMC Perle Cotton thread, and I luuuuuve the result!

Enfin il tient son nom du fait que j'ai  enfin réussi à vaincre ma peur de la couture à la main et que j'ai tenté le matelassage à la main. Et vraiment j'ai adoré et je n'arrivais plus à m'arrêter! J'ai suivi les conseils de Suzy Quilts en matière de matelassage moderne et j'ai utilisé ce dé à coudre en cuir (une révolution!!) et ce fil DMC taille 8.  

 This quilt is for my girl. I told her it is called "Wild and free" and I explained to her why.
I told her that's what I want her to be, wild and free. I want her to enjoy and embrace her creativity, her dreams.

I heard this phrase in one of Elizabeth Gilbert podcast series called "Magic lessons" and it really stuck with me and inspired me :  a friend of hers said: "I am so tired of trying to be good. I just want to be free!" 
Amen to that! yes! All I want for my girl is to be free: free from fears, free from the desire to please others, free from desires that will make her life small. I want her to know she is a child of God and that in Him she can do anything. 

By the way I incourage you to listen to this podcast if you are a creative person like I am ! it is very inspiring.

 I hope this quilt reminds her always of how much I love her and how she can be "WILD & FREE"!

{ ISHI dress pattern tour }

Meeting An from Straight Grain in Paris last April was delightful. And when she asked me to take part in her much anticipated Ishi pattern release tour, of course, I joined happily. I had seen sneek peaks of the dress on her blog and thought it was a pattern my girl would love: princess seams and big pockets are bound to make little girls happy! 

When we were in Paris I found the perfect combination of 3 fabrics with my Ishi in mind: I found the floral and pink neon stripes at the Petit Pan shop and what I believe to be silk lawn at La droguerie. 

I was so happy because , really, the 3 are a perfect match!

The dress is a very easy sew. The only tricky part is the princess seams, but An takes you through it with tips and tricks.
However, I would not be able to tell you how long it could take on average to make this dress: the last few weeks have been quite nightmarish for me, with so much work and 2 displaced vertebraes! so I really took this dress one seam at a time: and it took me a whole 3 weeks to complete. But I would say that it took about 3 hours maximum to make it altogether!!

I thought this very special dress needed a little accessory: I made a headband in 15 minutes to make a cute outfit.

Because my girl is so thin , I cut a size 6 in all widths and added 2  3/4 inches  to all hemlines following Julie from our chez nous advice (yes there are some real conversations happening on Instagram! if you have not joined that amazing community, I can only encourage you to join us in the fun!!) .

 The fit is perfect that way!

The head band is reversible: the other side is made out of the neon stripped fabric. 

The result is amazing: we all love this very special dress here: the fabric is extremely beautiful and precious and the cut of the dress is something quite unusual too. 

One more happy sewer and one more happy girl in this world! thanks An for inviting me to be part of this tour!

Today you can also check out Kelly's version on her blog here. 

VanAtotZetje | P'tits Monstres | Aamore | Flieg Federfrei | Neven Jansen | Lieveke en Zus | Feathers Flights | Brigitte Whatsup | Lily & Woody | Kaatjenaaisels | Our Chez Nous | Creative Needle and Threads | Sisko By Mieke | Conversas de Hermanas | My Minnie Mie | Bobby & Minouch | Bonnie and Lottie | Bellelien | Kid Approved | Les Jardins d'Elysse | S Is for Sewing | Groovy Baby and Mama | Made By Sara | C'est La Vie | Boomie Blogt | While She is Sleeping | Kelly Jade | Miestaflet | Glitter & Wit | La Folie Sewing Booth | A Jennuine Life | De Zusjes | Le Labo* d'Isa| Welcome to the Mouse House | Stannel | My Cozy Co | Morningstar Designs

{ Sewing with fabric from Paris: a pair of Ottobre trousers }

The fabric:

This is the first item I have sewn with some of my Paris fabric. 

I am crazy about the fabric: it is a gorgeous linen I bought from La Droguerie. It is light enough for summer clothes and has this gorgeous stone gray I love. 

Un nouveau pantacourt pour Max, avec un tissu en lin acheté à la Droguerie à Paris. 

{ Thursday soulmate stitching : the washi dress }

Today my friend Annika from Näh-connection and I are both posting our take on the Washi dress pattern by Made by Rae! 

If you follow me on Instagram you might have seen this already, so I apologize for the fact that I am not showing anything new!!

Aujourd'hui mon amie Annika et moi postons notre version du patron de la robe Washi de Made by Rae. Pour ma part, je me suis contentée de la version top, pour être sûre que le patron taille bien et c'est tout à fait le cas!! 

{Thursday sewing: Babydoll Linden Sweatshirt }

Although we are way near the end of March and officially in spring, our weather has been very windy and so cold! 

SO I thought I needed to bring spring to me in the shape of a nice pink, yet very warm and cosy Linden Sweatshirt!

Ma troisième version du Linden Sweatshirt de Grainline Studio dans un tissu d'une douceur indescriptible de chez Pretty Mercerie!!

 Une fois de plus, rien à dire, un vrai plaisir à coudre grâce à la surjeteuse magique du père Noël!!

This is my third take to this pattern. You can see my two other versions here and here. There is nothing more to add about this pattern: I think it is an amazing staple and I love the fit. 

I cut in size 4 and just added 1 inch to the sleeves because I thought that on the previous one, which I am wearing all the time, the sleeves are a bit too short.

I totally adore the fabric : you can't see it here, but the inside is like a "long hair softy"!! 

it is so so soft! I got it from this french online shop called Pretty Mercerie: they have a great range of sweatshirt fabric.

I wore this outfit many times already, it is super comfy!

I wanted to add a little note to  you , my dear readers: I hope you not too confused about my creative projects and what I post here. I used to feel self-conscious and somehow guilty to have different passions. I thought it was a bit weird and believed my blog would not interest anyone if it did not deal with one topic / one craft only. That is partly why I stopped scrapbooking a year ago, when I discovered my passion for sewing!

But after much pondering and a bit of self-examination, I realized that I love being crafty, I just do, whatever the way, the medium. I HAVE to create daily in order to find a balance in my life. It is the way I recharge and reload. I have come to terms with the facts that I have multiple passions and that it is ok. I will not make a career out of any of these passions, but I don't mind, well, not really::) 

So, now that I am back to scrapbooking I thought it would be nice if I try to post twice weekly, if I am able to. Thursdays will be "thursday sewing posts" and at the week-ends I will post my scrappy projects: I am thinking that either a "scrappy sunday or saturday" would fit!!:)

Anyway, thats just a plan!!:)

Thank you for visiting!

{ Quilted Linden Top }

Hi there!
I am back with what is now know in the house as : the fastest project ever made !!
Yes this Linden Sweatshirt, not only is another fav and will be worn a lot BUT it was also so fast to make!
With my beloved serger, it took less than an hour to assemble!

Bonjour!
Je suis de retour pour partager mon tout nouveau pull, aussi appelé "projet le plus rapide de l'année"! grâce à ma surjeteuse , ce petit pull tout simple a été assemblé en une heure environ!
Il s'agit du Linden Sweatshirt, de Grainline studio, un patron en anglais mais, avec son niveau débutant, tout le monde peut le faire, même les ceux qui ne sont pas polyglottes!! Et même sans surjeteuse évidemment. Le sweat n'est pas très extensible, un point droit peut suffire.

{ THE french LOUISA PATTERN TOUR / test de patron: la robe Louisa et un giveaway !}

Bon, je vais avoir du mal à contrôler mon hystérie tout au long de ce post!

Car , comment vous dire ma joie d'avoir été choisie pour tester ce patron version française de la robe Louisa de Compagnie M. 

SI vous n'avez jamais vu cette robe sur le net c'est probablement que vous avez hiberné depuis la rentrée de septembre ou/ET que vous n'aimez pas lire les blogs anglophones!!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to share this post with you today:

My first ever pattern testing!!

And for the great Louisa dress by Compagnie M. !! I could not be happier!

Marte who created this pattern, had it translated in french and we are a bunch of happy french sewing bloggers this week, who are going to share our take on this dress with you!

Car ce patron a déjà fait le tour du monde !

ET nous avons la chance aujourd'hui de pouvoir y avoir accès en français!! youpi!! 

Compagnie M est une petite entreprise de patrons d'origine belge. Leur blog est magnifique, Marte est un amour et moi, j'adore ses patrons!

Cette robe Louisa est adorable, très simple a réaliser et il y a plusieurs options possibles ! 

I used some Liberty Lawn in Betsy for the pocket and back and a blue linen for the top

J'ai choisi l'option en deux parties dans le dos:

 

Pour ma part j'ai choisi de coudre le bas de la robe en Liberty Betsy Fluo thé (chez Cousette) et le haut en lin couleur jean. 

J'ai ajouté un passepoil framboise et de gros boutons bleu-gris:

 

 

 

 

 

La fermeture éclair invisible ajoute au look professionnel de la robe.

J'ai utilisé une doublure framboise, sur toute la longueur de la robe:
The dress is lined and I love the look of the invisible zipper:

Enfin bref , j'en suis ravie et ma fille adooooooooooooooore:

 

Vous pouvez acheter le patron version digitale ici pour 7 euros seulement! Pensez à sélectionner la langue qui vous convient!
ET jusqu'au 23 mars , Marte vous offre une remise de 10% sur l'achat de la version frnaçaise avec le  code: LOUISA-FR.

Mais vous pouvez aussi tenter de gagner une copie gratuite du patron en français: entrez donc par ici:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Patron: Robe Louisa de Compagnie M.

Tissus: Liberty Betsy et lin de chez Cousette

Taille: 6 ans mais 7 ans pour les longueurs. 

Et voici la liste des liens vers les blogs des talentueuses couturières qui ont testé ce patron, ainsi que les dates de leurs posts.

Tout au long de cette semaine vous allez en prendre plein les mirettes!!

17		http://muetcompagnie.canalblog.com
17		http://viguialca.canalblog.com
18		http://lescrapdesoph.blogspot.be  (c'est moi!!)
18		http://cestquiquicoud.wordpress.com
19		http://lacabanedelilou.canalblog.com
19		http://lesptitspots.canalblog.com
20		http://etpuislaneigeelleesttropmolle.blogspot.fr
20		http://ceciledeplechin.canalblog.com
21		http://rconnection.canalblog.com
21		http://lilylazuli.canalblog.com
22		http://isalabo.canalblog.com
22		http://lestroisetoiles.canalblog.com