JOURNAL: NADIA MOULE
Nadia from The Moule Hole describes her fairytale romance of a crochet career
Often I meet other crafters and find much of their creative story feels similar to mine. When I met Nadia from The Moule Hole I couldn’t believe how much her crochet and home life resonated with me! It’s so important to immerse ourselves in our creative community and find these kindred spirits; it can bring so much support, camaraderie, knowledge and above all joy. Nadia, who is originally from Alberta, Canada but now lives in the Cotswolds, UK, shot to crochet fame a few years ago with her exquisite garment designs centred around her children. I was thrilled to hear how she has quite literally crafted herself a career.
STARTING FROM SCRATCH
With a degree in Music Composition and having always been creative, Nadia rediscovered crochet after moving away from her family and friends in 2011, and then also turned to it to help with some postnatal depression. As for so many of us, crochet helps keep her mind and hands busy and is such a wonderful way to find some calm. It wasn’t until her cousin encouraged her to write the pattern for a glorious jacket Nadia designed for her daughter that she began her career as a designer. Having no idea how to write or size a pattern, Nadia had to start from scratch. She set about reading as much as possible, developed a pattern writing style, sizing knowledge, a brand, photography, website, online store – you name it, she did it. Looking at her designs it’s not hard to see why her Magdalena Jacket catapulted her to where she is now; Nadia, however, remembers being absolutely stunned by the reaction. She had over 10,000 likes on her Instagram post when she launched!
BUILDING A BEAUTIFUL COLLECTION
Nadia attributes her timeless yet modern style to the fact that she’s a romantic, and living in the Cotswolds feels like she is “existing in the pages of a fairytale”. When it comes to deciding what to add to her collection she consistently uses simple silhouettes, colours and stitches, and feels that the timeless and romantic style resonates with people the most because it comes from her heart. Nadia shared with me two things that determine what she designs: fashion and necessity. Fashion because she will see an item on Pinterest or in real life that inspires her to create her own crochet version, and necessity because if her children need anything, she will make it! The two aspects work harmoniously as her impeccable taste means she always creates something both beautiful and wearable too.
what
Two things determine Nadia designs: fashion and necessity
A FAMILY AFFAIR
It’s not only that Nadia makes for her children that means
The Moule Hole is a family-orientated business, it’s also that it supports her to be creative, have a career and be a mum too. The love for her family and craft is almost palpable in everything she talks about, whether it’s choosing the softest yarn for her children’s skin (I’m reassured it’s not just mine that complain ‘it’s too itchy!’), creating a beautiful image to inspire others, to how much happier and fulfilled she feels since starting crochet designing. In her words a “happy mom equals happy kids, right?” and this seems so true here. With a proud and supportive husband, Nadia has found a balance which allows her to thrive.
A FABULOUS LEARNING CURVE
While having a flair for design has been instrumental in Nadia’s success, her determination, courage and willingness to learn help too. We talked about the most important things she has learned. When it comes to crochet, take your time. Be careful about your finishing and it will transform your work, focus on your colour choice because it’s worth getting right, make another gauge swatch if you don’t get it right. It’s worth it. In business, Nadia believes you make your own luck. You have to find your opportunities, ask for help and you’ll find out just how amazing and welcoming the crochet community is.
Written by Hannah Cross Nadia’s patterns and inspiration can be found at www.themoulehole.com, on Etsy at TheMouleHole, and on Instagram@themoulehole