Summer dress anyone? :: Dressmaking Inspiration ::

*Do not forget to enter my current giveaway here*

There are a few reasons why I am keen to improve on my dressmaking skills - one of them is to able to recreate some items of my favourite fashion designers, for instance Maje, and save some pennies in the process.

I love Maje style but find sometimes that it just on the too-expensive side for me, especially when it comes to dresses - I hardly wear any so I am not necessarily ready to splash out. However I am a happy browser, and when I saw the Rayano dress in the flesh, I just knew I had to share with you this possible adaptation of the Cami dress, so you could have yours too (for a fraction of the price) - or make another Cami dress if you have the pattern like me!

Pattern: Cami dress by Pauline Alice Patterns (my version is here)

Fabric: I chose an organic eyelet fabric in 'natural', but I also love this organic blue fabric - if you are keen on red, you may consider this one.

Probable modifications: Remove the collar 

(whoohoo collarless, such an obvious modification); 

Maybe shorten it as well,

and Add more fabric to the get a fuller skirt.

Dress: You can buy the dress here. 

We are looking at a grand total of £55.00 which is not cheap of course, but still saves £250.00 on the Maje dress - a pretty good result - and of course allows me to make different versions of a pattern I already have (and get the colour and borderie anglaise detailing I want)! 

You can see my inspiration to make other designer garments here.

Nessa Wrap [Giveaway] :: Knitting ::

Happy Sunday everyone! And welcome Spring! I was finally able to take pictures of the Nessa wrap since finishing it! I really needed natural light for this shawl, to show off the texture and the amazing colourway of the yarn I used. I may have also needed a bit of time to work out how to take pictures of Nessa. It is really long and wide, and with a lot of detailing, so not necessarily the easiest to capture. But now that Libby has published the pattern, you will be able to find more pictures on Ravelry. 

I did this test knit for Libby - I have been knitting it for the past 2 months, and as those following me on IG know as I kept bombarding them with pictures of Nessa. The longest part was the middle part (the garter stitch bit), I could not get myself motivated to sit down and just knit it. Give me lace panels and I will be happy to finish these in days. In fact, the lace panel was the reason why I wanted to knit Nessa, and they are amazing. Nessa is a wrap that I will most probably wear as a scarf, I like my scarves really long and wide - so this one is perfect for me. 

 Pattern: Nessa by Truly Myrtle Designs

Yarn: Fyberspates Vivacious DK (Tweed Imps) - 
I reviewed Fyberspates in my yarn with attitude series here
Yardage: I used 564m/282g (2 skeins and a bit)

Needles: according to pattern

So for the giveaway... Libby is kindly offering the pattern to one of my readers!

You have 3 chances to enter this giveaway:

1. The giveaway is open only to my followers  - old and new. 

Let me know how you follow my blog in the comment box.

2.Follow me on Facebook (and let me know you did in the comment box)

3. Follow me on Instagram (natmadeinhome) and post the picture of the shawl (or regram my post) 
and come back to leave me a third comment

The giveaway ends Easter Monday at 5pm (UK time). Please, please, please leave me a way to contact you if you are a no-reply blogger. Good luck!

So what do you eat these days?

Happy Friday everyone! I have stopped counting the number of times my friends ask me what my eating habits are at the moment - they do not know, and to be honest it is totally my fault, I was not sure what I should eat anymore. I have read quite a few books in the last 8 months and I have been confused - I have been experimenting successfully and unsuccessfully, putting some unnecessarily strict rules in place (that of course I could not maintain), and be really unhappy as well as being happy. 

I wished I could tell you I was a raw vegan. From my experiments it did bring me more energy and a real clarity of thinking. Unfortunately I like cooked food (especially when cold weather hit us) and I also like fish (and a bit of meat) - not a good plan when you want to become a vegan. 

However trying to become a raw vegan helped me get rid of refined sugar in my life (which is really interesting as the UK government has just announced a sugar tax on soft drinks - honestly I am not impressed with this tax, but it does show there is an issue with the level of sugar in our food). People it was not easy. I was in a bad mood - really bad and the mood swings were horrendous, Mr MiH was not impressed. But then it got better, much better. And I have never looked back, in fact I haven't had a soft drink since July. I cannot touch one. And I am on the hunt against sugar in every product I buy. Not that I buy much processed food - hardly any in fact, but there is sugar everywhere if you look carefully. 

OK, so raw vegan is out, but I do care about animals. I talk a lot about it when it comes to yarn (as you can see in my yarn with attitude series). Two things: who gave us the right to treat animals this badly, and why do we need to pay more to eat products that have been treated kindly and naturally (organic fruit and veg or grass-fed beef for instance). I have really reduced my consumption of meat and poultry because it is so expensive to have free range and organic products. Even Mr MiH does not eat meat at his canteen anymore (I showed him the videos, and once you know, there is no way back). It means that when I am out (lunchtime at work for instance) and cannot control the origin of meat produce I do not eat them. 

But it is not that easy... when I was experimenting I realised that I could not digest gluten, and that dairy had a really effect on my appearance (bloating). I suppose this makes me intolerant, but it is more a sense of feeling better when I do not eat those. This is not about slimming, but about feeling better. For instance, by cutting out gluten I managed to reduce my period pains (and people it was bad, real bad, I could not move) - a definite improvement. With dairy, I talked about my appearance, my face looks leaner, but also I sleep better. If I eat dairy now, I will have night sweats, if I don't I am fine throughout the night (unless Baby MiH makes an appearance of course). Despite knowing the benefits of cutting out dairy and gluten, I am still having massive issues with cutting out cheese. Yes I know I am French, so you would expect it, you have no idea on hard it is sometimes to resist. Some days, I don't and prefer to deal with night sweats and looking more haggard than usual in the morning (yes you can see it). 

So that means I am a (sugar free, gluten free) vegan outside the house. And I am French - you should see the look on my parents' face. I am not sure they still understand what it means. I have to share an anecdote from our wedding. We had British vegetarian guests, and when we asked the chef whether he could accommodate their dietary requirements, he asked whether chicken would be acceptable - euh, probably not (true but wtf?!)

I feel I have come a long way, and can bake again, for my family but also share new recipe. I am still trying to lose weight (not really actively though), but my focus first and foremost is to avoid the food groups that make my body unhappy or increase my mood swings (or potential depression). 

Have you got issues with some food? Have you experimenting with different diets? 

#Meaningful Reading :: Big Magic ::

Happy Thursday everyone! I have finished Big Magic a while ago now, and never got a chance to review it properly here. It is probably due to the fact that I loved 3/4 of the book and the other quarter did not really talk to me. Liz's creativity outlet is obviously writing and the final part of her book was more focused on that type of creativity. 

However I love (3/4 of) this book. Let me begin by the fact that I loved Eat, Pray and Love. I read it, I went to see it at the cinema, it is my go-to-feel-better film on Netflix (alongside the Holiday) if I am having a bad day. The only issue with my obsession with Eat, Pray and Love is that I now think that Liz Gilbert looks like Julie Roberts. So I read Big Magic thinking that Julia Roberts was talking to me - it is fine but a bit weird, especially when I started stalking Liz Gilbert on IG, and realising that Julia Roberts was never featured on Liz' feed - what?! 

Anyway back to Big Magic. The book is really fun as well as being deep. I loved the fact that Liz was not scared of sharing her experience of the success of Eat, Pray, and Love and her experience of her not so successful other books (yes she has written others since, and before, that I have never read). If you were as taken as I was by Eat, Pray and Love, Big Magic is worth a read, just for that. 

I find the book liberating and empowering for my creative process. Liz asks a lot of very meaningful questions about your passion, whether it matters or not; and she also tell you that you should never expect to make money from your art. Well hold on here, I was not expecting that... At first I thought to myself, well it is a bit easy to tell us this when you wrote Eat, Pray and Love - but now I found this quite a liberating statement. 

She splits her book into six parts: Courage - creative living is having the courage to follow your aspirations, longing and talents and recognise (and overcome) fear; Enchantment - ideas are disembodied energy that wants to manifest and you have to make space to welcome ideas; Permission - Liz asks her readers to give themselves permission to start living creatively (but to avoid getting into debt in the process); Persistence - keep going and don’t be disheartened if the first thing created gets no recognition, Trust - living creatively is all about following where curiosity takes you; & Divinity - creativity is scared and that the reader should start creative living immediately.

If you are a fan, you might find that you've already read or encountered many of the core ideas on her Facebook page or in the accompanying podcast. I have never listened to any, but heard that the podcast does cover some of these topics.

Big Magic is inspiring, and incredibly pragmatic. This book will resonate with anyone who wants to live a creative and fulfilled life. On the one hand, it’s deeply mystical and out there (ideas floating around in the universe looking for an owner for instance). I believe in that sort of stuff, but I can see that this might not be for everyone. On the other, it’s incredibly pragmatic, offering down-to-earth advice that applies to anyone engaged in a creative pursuit, whether purely for the joy of it or to make a living as well (avoiding getting into debt in the process). But this is not a “how-to” guide, but a series of essays and meditations on some of the challenges and contradictions involved in creative endeavours - based Liz' experience as a writer.

Has anyone read it? What did you think?

Fidra :: Knitting ::

Happy Tuesday everyone! I am just going to be honest, I had totally forgotten about Fidra until I saw Sonja's one. But I needed to share this - it is an amazing pattern, the perfect beanie hat for skiing and weekends (I prefer wearing Bough when I go into London for work). 

There is not a lot to say - it knits really fast (thank you bulky yarn), but is not a boring knit. The texture and lace work are really stunning I think, and there is a pompom! All my favourite things in one pattern. I knitted it in De Rerum Natura Cyrano (of course ethical as you can read here) - as you have to block it to show the lace work, it did stretch and become just a tiny bit on the big side. So I may change needle sizes next time (I am thinking of a cream/oat version next time). 

Pattern: Fidra by Gundrun Johnston

Yarn: De Rerum Natura Cyrano in Poivre

Needles: As recommended by pattern (I will go for smaller next time - 

just because the fabric stretched after blocking)

Modifications: None

You do need a Fidra in your life - especially for you, the lucky ones who are going skiing at Easter! Also are you glad for the change of backdrop for beanie hat pictures? - no backyard for once! 

As for the winner of the skein of Fyberspates  - lucky no 13 came out of Mr Random, Rachelle. Enjoy!

Friday Randomly Sharing (on Saturday)

* Do not forget to enter my current giveaway here for a chance to win a skein of Fyberspates *

This time there seems to a lot of reading to do... 

- and my future reading list will come from this post

- Marie Kondo for your life - a short post here on meaningful living though minimalism

- A list of tiny but nice things to do to brighten's someone's day

- Read more about Sustainable Fashion's Leading Ladies - and get inspired 

- How I knew I had to quit my day job - inspiring article

- I am wondering whether my boss had not written 'the benefits of waking up early and getting shit done' as his first email to the team usually is at 5am (yes really, and he is in the office)

- Conventional fabric versus eco-friendly fabric post

There might be some sewing as well ..

- Deer and Doe's new season patterns are out. I really really like the Chemise Melilot...

- Breathing easy - the science behind the relaxing properties of sewing.. and breathe...

- I love this modified Ruby Dress featured on Sew Tessuti - on my summer sewing list right now. 

- I love this Polka Dots top - I could learn a lot from these modifications!

- This sewing method for full bicep adjustement will probably be really handy (especially for Japanese patterns)

Just to look at... 

- Amazing pictures - photographers and their eureka moments in pictures in this article 

- Chris Eagleton's A Year on Airbnb

More following to do.. 

- A fashion blogger decided to make the switch to shopping responsibly - of course I am a new follower!

And some knitting of course.. 

- Ysolda has got her own yarn - of yes!

- The Ganseys collection by BT is really beautiful (beanie hats knitting alert).

And some comfort eating.. 

- I love having soup - it is usually one of my meals every day.. I will have to try this vegan watercress soup (recipe in French - yes French and vegan! - but if I like it, I will translate it for you)

- This salad looks so good!

Frost :: Knitting ::

* Do not forget to enter my current giveaway here for a chance to win a skein of Fyberspates *

Happy Wednesday everyone! Have you ever wondered whether it was worth buying a pattern? I do quite a bit, especially when it comes to buy a beanie hat one. I am always wondering whether I could not make it myself - after all I do knit a LOT of beanie hats. I should probably know by heart the number of stitches to cast on, I certainly know which ribbing I like best (not the one featured), and then it is just a new stitch pattern. 

I bought the Frost pattern for an easy knit on holiday (as you can see probably not so easy as I am closer to the start than the end), and I was wondering whether it would be worth the money I spent. It took a while to be sure, but a few repeats down the line, I can honestly say that I could not have knitted this on my own (still a lot to learn then!). I never guessed the pattern, but love the effect. Unfortunately I have already spotted one mistake in the pattern, so that's a bit of a shame. 

I am taking this one with me to Brussels today - some people love taking sock projects with them, I am clearly more of a beanie hat person myself. 

I am knitting Frost in Ulysse, colourway Genet. 

Linking to Yarn Along today. 

Yarn with Attitude :: Fyberspates ::

Happy Tuesday everyone! When I started searching for ethical yarns I had no idea I would find so many amazing yarns. Literally no idea. And I just do not have enough time to knit with all of them - but rest assure that I do try! And today I am bringing to you a brand I have a massive crush on - Fyberspates. I had seen the name a few times, on IG mostly, but never realised that it was a UK brand (I thought it was Australian, not sure why but here we are). I found it through this shop when I was looking for a DK yarn for knitting Nessa. And I was just amazed by it and the colourway I found (Tweed Imps). 

Fast forward a month, a bit of research about Fyberspates under my belt, I actually met Jeni at the Craft Hobby + Stitch International Show . I was slightly starstruck (sorry Jeni) but managed not to totally lose it, and showed her Nessa in progress. I got in touch with her - to discuss a bit more about her yarn. I knew she was really keen on offering an ethical yarn - I just had no idea to which extent this was. 

When I ask her about her yarn, and attention to worker and animal welfare, I had no idea the extent to which she had considered all aspects for her supply chain. Here was her reply (I could not explain better)...  

'All my commercial yarns are made in Peru, and dyed there as well. In terms of dyeing, I visited the dyeing place, and basically its an enlarged version of what I had at home, its a lovely set up, and the girls who dye the yarn work in a nice environment, with the hand paints they sit around a table and dye yarn and chat, its a really nice ethos. Peru have very strict regulations about dyeing and processing, which means the dyes have to be highly regulated, currently the dyes they use come from Germany, as they are very high quality and non toxic. 

In addition we use Peruvian merino, which is sourced from small scale producers whose lively hood is the sheep, and so they tend to look after them very well, the mill also provide a lot of education to the farmers and offer education programmes for the children, we are also working with them on a new handspun yarn which supports women in rural communities, this provides work and income for them (this yarn is available through Chester Wool co which Fyberspates trades through). We never source yarns from Australia because they use Museling on the sheep, we are guaranteed that this practice does not happen in Peru because of the small scale farming methods. 

And finally… we have switched over to Oxybiodegradeable packaging, and whilst it is an improvement on the previous plastic, its not the absolute perfect packaging, however, I always think of it as a process, it took me a good 3 years of asking for better packaging. If we say yes to what the mill is offering, when they are in talks with their packaging sources, they know that we will pay extra for something eco, its our vote as it were, they know then that if something better comes along, we will most likely switch to it, if we don’t show our vote, then if the mill get offered better and better products, they will just say to the packaging manufacture, 'no one was interested, we offered it to our customers, no one took it up', so for me its a process to improvement if that makes sense.

Amazing, right! Jeni has really taken a holistic view. And of course the yarn knits like a dream, and has a great lustrous sheen to it. I cannot wait to finish Nessa to try another yarn, I have my eye on some Vivacious DK in Pebble Beach or try the Cumulus yarn.

 

And, as she is super nice, Jeni has kindly agreed to give one of my readers a chance to try her yarn. Here is your chance to bag yourself a skein of your choice! So which one will it be? 

Here is how to enter the giveaway (1 entry per person)

1. The giveaway is open only to my followers - old and new (follow me on IG, FB, Bloglovin' ...). 

2.And you need to follow Fyberspates on FB or IG - (you may actually want to follow Jeni as she holds monthly giveaway - in case you don't win this time)

And let me know in the comment box when you have done so with the name of your skein of choice.

The giveaway ends Tuesday 15 March (5pm UK time). Please, please, please leave me a way to contact you if you are a no-reply blogger. Good luck!

You can find other Yarn with Attitude reviews here and here. 

Building new memories (and ski school story) :: in Briancon ::

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend - and Mothers Day if you are in the UK! I love going through my holiday pictures. I have great plans for them - as always, and hope to find the time to make it happen. However I have not taken my camera out as much as I had hoped, it is sometimes so easy to rely on my phone. My plans do not require big size pictures so I should be able to get away as far as quality is concerned, but it is not great for posting on my blog. 

So instead of getting a lot of pictures of Baby MiH skiing, here are some pictures of Briancon, the main town near our resort. We went there the worst day of the week - mainly because Mr MiH had a bad fall and there was no point in risking another fall due to poor visibility. And as Baby MiH was having a ski school crisis, retail therapy was very much needed that afternoon. Unfortunately the one yarn/craft shop was not yet opened for business (didn't they know I was in town) - it is selling mainly cross-stitching and I could have done with a new cross-stitching project. I have not followed a grid for a long time. 

Being on holiday was great fun of course. But we are really happy to be back, near Leo of course. Baby MiH is happiest at home, he cannot wait to go back to nursery. He was not really happy at ski school (he chose the ESF one) - nothing to do with the skiing, and everything to do with the social aspect of it. He is missing his friends, and did not manage to make friends in his group. Last year, it was a much smaller group (4 of them) and he loved going there. It is a shame. We took him out one day, we left him the following day - and went undercover to check out on him every half hour. I know - don't judge, I cannot handle tears. In fact I was not allowed to drop him off, Mr MiH did it. 

As you can imagine I went through French ski school, and I can ski well. However I would say that French ski school is a bit harsh sometimes. We only left Baby MiH for 2 hours and a half and then my parents were looking after him, or we would ski with him a bit. I am a bit annoyed that he still cannot slow down or stop - it is his second year of ski school, and this is a pretty key skill to acquire. I will be working on it over this year at our nearest snow dome. 

I like the idea of him mixing with other French kids, and learn skiing in French. I cannot teach him in English. But I don't want him to resent being with other French kids. It is a fine line to strike with bilingual kids - he is French and yet he is not at the same time (ie he is not in a French system). We will carry on going to Serre-Chevalier, mainly because our babysitters in chief (aka my parents) go there, but I might try to look for ski schools with smaller groups - where I think Baby MiH will thrive better. 

Have you got any tips for me for taking bilingual children on holiday?

There will be other pictures of skiing as I wore my Fidra every day out there, and managed to get Mr MiH to stop and take some pics. 

Elkeland Inspiration

This wall hanging is the collaboration between the beautiful Elkeland Studio and Ferm Living. It is elegant but reassuringly woolen and snuggly. It is eye catching, and one way of using yarn as an art form. 

Because I am crafter, I was wondering whether I could make a similar wall hanging, that could be ethical and be adapted to our house (slightly bigger maybe, with different colours). I have found many DIY that could get me there, but not one that replicate this wall hanging, although I reckon that with this one, with the layering look of this one, and the structure of this one - we could be there. I do also like the Merrythought one (the addition of beads!) and this multicoloured version. As for the yarn, for an ethical (but expensive) merino yarn you can go here. 

So are you inspired to buy a wall hanging and make your?



* Beautiful styling by Susanna Vento for Sato apartments. 

Bye bye February, you were short and sweet - but especially short (and busy). Welcome March. I love winter sports - I know it is not everyone's cup of tea but I cannot live without it. In fact, since I am three, I only missed one year skiing. Of course I have done damages to my knees, of course some weeks were terrible (you could not see the person in front of you). But I love it. 

Also it is a real break - because it is unlike anything I do on a daily basis. And believe me I need a break - a break from my life mostly, but as this is not possible a break from my environment will do. I also love coming back home, knowing how everything is the same when I come back and that I can call on friends. 

Also I love to come back to my stash, plan new projects, finish others - share more projects on the blog. My sewing progress has been rubbish - seriously there is no way around it. So this month, I will make one item, I promise. I need to get my machine out and get it going. I hope to make a pair of mittens too - I am not sure which ones yet, but I feel it is missing. I have done a few hats now, so it is time to move to something little and quick and different. I may share some new DIY inspiration too. I am quite excited about this, and some new ethical yarns I discovered (and there might be a giveaway). So stay tune, and bring on March!