Bonjour !
My name is Isabelle and I live in France. I am proudly petite (154 cm, ie. just over 5′), and enjoy creating clothes that fit my small build, reflect my personality, and conform with my belief in sustainable development. I also love making clothes for my two children – and having a girl (born February, 2012) and a boy (born July, 2016) gives me loads of opportunities!
I was born in Pas-de-Calais and grew up in Lille, i.e. the northernmost tip of France; after spending most of my twenties in Paris in 2000, with a few interruptions to go work and live in the US and England, my work led me to settle at the opposite of France from where I was born, in Montpellier – just a few kilometres away from the Mediterranean.
For the past decade and a half, I have been living with P’tite Mignonne, which may translate into Little Cutie. She was born in January 2003, and is a rescue cat. Together we have gone through so much – and have covered several thousands of kilometres, as we have lived in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Northern France, and now Southern France.
Because P’tite Mignonne is very fluffy, I often joke that my knitting and spinning is always comprised of at least 1% cat hair, and that no garment is complete withouth kitty fluff. Sadly, with P’tite Mignonne getting older and more frail, she doesn’t move around as much and therefore hasn’t graced my garments (nor the podcast) with her fluffy presence in a while. She does however remain her calm, cuddly, sunny self.
My history with fibre arts
I fondly remember my trip to Britex Fabrics in San Francisco in the Spring of 2004 – what a revelation that was. My first purchase once I was back in France was a sewing machine – and this is when I started this blog, which used to be called Kitty Couture.
My first dress! Entirely sewn by hand.
Inspiration
My first and foremost inspiration is my maternal grandmother, who was an amazing professional seamstress – and more generally has been one of my role models in life. I remember being fascinated by the magical process through which she created dresses for my mother and for our dolls. Mamie was so happy that I took up sewing (though she was too old and poor-sighted by then to teach me), and sewing has been my special way of feeling closer to her ever since she passed away in 2007. Thinking of her has also often been an incentive not to skimp on the details and on the finishing touches 🙂
Isabelle,
I just caught up on the three most recent audio podcast episodes and I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate the audio podcast. I discovered your podcast a year ago and have gone back and listened to every episode. I’m not a knitter or a spinner, but am working on sewing a handmade wardrobe. I studied french in school and visit France once a year for work. Your comments on life in France and sewing are so enjoyable to listen to. I would love to watch the video podcast, but my work responsibilities don’t leave me time to watch. The audio podcast keeps me company on my commute. You have good reasons for wanting to go to only video, but I wanted to let you know that at least one person is still listening and would miss the audio.
Best,
Jennifer
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bonjour
je découvre ton blog via lise taylor je suis aussi petite et “chti”
et c ‘est un blog en anglais que je comprends enfin
parfait
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Merci Kette ! Vive les petites et vive les chti. 🙂 Je suis heureuse que le blog te plaise. Bonne jourée !
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Bonjour Isabelle,
It has been a long time! Do you remember me? It is Allison from New Jersey. I used to send you patterns and you sent my daughter Daphne some adorable French story books and you translated them into English. Well, my younger daughter is looking at them as I write this. Both girls are studying French. We are visiting Paris (after 8 days in London) from the 16th to the 23rd. We can’t wait. Hope you are doing well! Much love! Allison
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