I’m Elles, a fashion designer, passionate DIY-er and all-round creative. I live in the Netherlands with my husband-to-be Martijn, where we both are striving to make a living by doing the things we love.

I was raised in a creative Dutch family – my grandmother and mother are my DIY heroes. My mother taught me the art of making your own clothes, just like her mother did before her.

During the past two years, I reconnected again with my love for making my own clothes. I realized that my strength as a designer came from that place. I’m a practical designer – I don’t wish to design things that are uncomfortable, unsustainable, expensive, impractical or temporary. By working for commercial companies I kinda forgot that “handmade” used to be such a big part of my life. Now I’m embracing the “handmadeness” again by designing a product that I just simply love, and can help others to be creative and handmade as well!

Right now I’m in the process of setting up Misusu.co – a web shop for printable PDF Baby & Toddler DIY Patterns. I also have a blog where I share all sorts of projects, tutorials and free pdf patterns. I will be sharing these projects on Cut Out + Keep as well!