Featured blogger: Van Miek

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Creating unique pieces to share on your blog and inspire others: the sew & blog combo is all the rage. It's exactly because the number of bloggers keeps multiplying that Fibre Mood is featuring a new blogger every month. Get to know Van Miek , find out what sewing means to her and what her role is in this community.

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Hi there ! My name is Miek Dhaene. I'm 42 and am a secondary school Dutch and German teacher. I live in Rollegem, near Kortrijk. I'm married and have two daughters. One is 12 and a half and the other is 11. They're called ‘sister #1’ and ‘sister #2’ on my blog, but in real life they're just Sien and Noor.

They’re the ones I sew for most. However, now that they've hit their teenage years and have outgrown twirly skirts and colourful fabrics, it's a good deal more challenging. Finding a new style requires some sleuth work on their and my part. The selection of trendy teenage patterns is pretty limited in my opinion, which is why it's great that some women’s patterns start at size 32. That's how sister #1 ended up with a Kilkee Playsuit (LMV) last summer, and I sewed a Victoria blouse (FM) and Paris trousers (LMV) for sister #2.

I got started sewing in 2012, after I rescued my father-in-law’s old sewing machine from the reuse and recycling centre on a whim. There wasn’t a manual so I naively started pulling at a thread that I didn’t think ought to be where it was. The more I pulled, the longer the thread got. How was I supposed to know that sewing machines didn’t just have an upper thread, but a bottom one too? What followed was a ton of YouTube videos, a patient sewing machine seller and a Start-to-Sew course at Fleur Sintobin.

In the meantime, I exchanged my old sewing machine for a Bernina B350 and a Brother overlocker, but dropping the old one off at the reuse and recycling centre? I'm still not willing to do it.

Does sewing play a major role in my life? I’m the person in the shop who turns the skirts and jumpers inside out to see how they're made. And when I see I nice pair of trousers on the rack, my brain picks up on the similarities with one sewing pattern or another. At night, I often dream about making (my own) complete wardrobe. ‘Wait a second... shouldn't the print on that (expensive!) t-shirt extend all the way through? Grr.’

Saying that sewing is just my hobby would be an understatement. It’s become part of who I am.

On my blog, I also take it further by combining it with my second passion, and that's writing. However wonderful I might find making my own clothes, I'm only really done once there are great pictures and a story to go with it. I can get totally caught up in it. That’s why I'm also really chuffed when it seems like some people actually take the time to read my blog posts. 

The most recent item I made was the Peysu sweater (from the book, I love sweaters) for the 11th birthday of sister #2. The best complement of all, was when she picked it out herself a few days later for her school picture. After all, making clothes that don’t make it out of the wardrobe afterwards is a crime, a ‘crime’ I've been guilty enough of in the past from time to time. Now I always think a step ahead. If I sew a jumper, should I add a skirt or a pair of trousers to it? Does this fabric actually go with the rest of my wardrobe? Is a mid-length wrap dress something that really works for me? 

As a result, my absolute favourite creations aren’t necessarily masterpieces, just the items that get frequently used or worn.

Before the first Fibre Mood came out, I'd been invited to become a member of the Secret Sewciety, a Facebook group that always presents a preview of the latest patterns. The very first Fibre Mood teaser was the Frances blouse. I was sold instantly. (Even though later it turned out that I was wearing my example backwards in the photos...)

I've been looking forward to the new patterns with bated breath, ever since. And I'm also super chuffed with my annual subscription, which I won with my Susan dress during the #sewistaworldtour.

Fibre Mood translates current fashion patterns into wearable (and makeable) garments time and again. Flipping through the magazine feels a little like shopping: ‘Oh, that’s pretty!’ ‘I'd love to have something like that!’ ‘I'm going to make this one... and that one too!’ Even though I'm also perfectly aware that I'd have to live to be at least 125 to get it all done...

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