Sewing, knitting, embroidery… These activities can seem complex and time-consuming for those who want to start without knowledge of the subject. Margaux Cambier has therefore created ready-to-use kits and tutorials to guide those who want to start making children’s clothes step by step.
Margaux Cambier learned to sew, embroider and knit in her childhood. After a career in ready-to-wear, the desire to create was reborn, and she launched her company Filomène studios in Hem, in the Nordics, in 2018. Through tutorials on her YouTube channel, she offers fans of DIY to learn the basics of sewing, knitting and embroidery as well as ready-made kits to make your own children’s clothes.
In his book Sewing creations for toddlers, Margaux Cambier will show that couture is accessible to everyone. “When I launched Filomène, the idea was to focus sewing, knitting and also embroidery on everyone, even those who want to start and who don’t know much about it, by giving them all the necessary tools“, she explains.
In the book, all the patterns are listed and the steps are explained step by step. In a few hours it is easy to make a sleeping bag for your baby, small pants, overalls… The goal: to simplify sewing. “I have always been immersed in this world of sewing, but on a childish level, and when I wanted to get into it, the books I found were not very easy to understand. The language was very couture“, notes Margaux Cambier.
To make sure her tutorials would be understandable to everyone, the business manager tested her method. “When I first started, I gave my husband scraps of paper and he had fun reconstructing my steps with paper and tape. If he couldn’t, I started my explanations again until it was clear to him.“
The next step is to understand how a sewing machine works. “I explain it with videos and in the book. You need to practice a bit to get a handle on your machine. But with the tools I suggest, it can be done by hand in minutes.“
Her passion was born in childhood with her mother, who now works with her. “During the holidays she taught us cross stitch, which is really good for learning to sew. I invite you to get into embroidery. It is already a first step with a needle and thread that can be made anywhere, without a machine. It helps to understand sewing. And then it’s something that’s pretty cool to do. We can start with a very small embroidery on a T-shirt“, she thinks.
In very short videos on YouTube, Margaux Cambier teaches her community to do the basics of knitting, sewing and embroidery.
“The idea of the videos was to go straight to the point, to make short and synthetic videos to learn the essentials. I also developed slightly longer videos per project“, specifies the designer.
Margaux Gambier has always loved fashion. “I wanted to be a stylist when I was little. This environment of textiles, materials, aesthetics and beauty has always attracted me. I worked in big fashion houses. But I always wanted to start my own business. I went through different stages and then finally when the births arrived around me, I started much more diligently in all these manual activities to make handmade gifts.“, she says.
Not finding her happiness in sewing containers, she decides to create her project “to offer beautiful materials and allow young mothers to take up these activities during their maternity and young grandmothers to rediscover these activities” but also “to those who knew how to do it but gave up a bit due to lack of time“.
And when you’re short on time, what’s better than ready-to-sew kits? Everything is included, except the sewing machine. “In sewing, we even go as far as cutting the fabric together with Anne-Charlotte, who follows me on a weekly basis about this. So you open your kit and just go to the pleasure of sewing. There isn’t this phase of the pattern where you have to trace the fabrics, cut them out.“
Anne-Charlotte Senlis was a teacher before she participated in the Filomene adventure. “I have always been creative. I love fiddling with my ten fingers“, she notes. She prepares the orders, cuts out the patterns, the fabrics, prepares the kits…”What is very nice about sewing is that you get a result very quickly. In two hours we have a very nice project and it is a source of pride to see our children dressed in our creations“, says Anne-Charlotte Senlis. Margaux Cambier didn’t just want to offer kits, but also create a brand identity.
I wanted it to stay beautiful, trendy, to make you want to get started. So I will look for beautiful natural materials, sourced near us, as much as possible from France. The balls of wool come from Creuse. I have a lot of fun finding the little details that make the product beautiful.
Margaux Cambier, creator of Filomène workshops
The head of the company is preparing another book on knitting for children up to three years old. “My universe started from 0 to 2-3 years, we developed the child until 6 years, we start to expand to 12 years, even the quite nice trends with matching parents-children“, explains Margaux Cambier.
video duration: 00h13mn00s
Margaux Cambier in the show Hauts femmes
•
©French television
Find the entire Hauts feminine show with Margaux Cambier, founder of Filomène atelier and the other episodes of the show at france.tv.
