About Natissea

My name is Mathilde, I have been passionate about knitting since childhood and a few years ago I set myself a challenge: Create an ecological and plant-based knitting yarn company made from local fibers! Starting from a personal need to knit healthier, I realized that I was not the only one looking for alternatives to synthetic or animal fibers, most of the time coming from very far away. For me, one of the advantages of DIY is being able to choose clean, good quality materials to make personalized and durable clothing while minimizing my impact on the planet.

Thanks to my studies in fashion design and my experience as a project manager in one of the largest professional textile fairs in Paris, I was already aware of this industry and I had already heard about the wonderful properties of hemp and linen. . So I looked for the closest producers, the healthiest fibers, and the means to offer the most beautiful and ecological yarns possible. It was not easy because a few years ago the French sectors had practically disappeared but little by little through perseverance, patience and thanks to your support, I continue to develop and improve the yarns offered.

Why plant threads? I get asked this question often and there are several reasons. First of all, plant-based knitting yarn, organic and local, or not, is necessarily more ecological. Then there is animal welfare which is close to my heart and finally my growing curiosity towards these fibers which were quite simply forgotten with the arrival of synthetic fibres. When we talk about ecology or animal conditions, there is immediately discomfort. However, it is not a question here of saying what should or should not be done, I think that the presentation of the facts is important in order to buy with full knowledge of the facts.

The synthetic thread comes directly from petrochemical laboratories, so it is purely and simply plastic which pollutes even when recycled. As for animal fibers, their production requires at least four times more space than plant fibers. For a field of cultivated hemp, you will need one field to graze the animals and 3 other fields to grow their food. This multiplication also concerns the water used for animals and the cultivation of their food. In an era where deforestation and lack of water are major issues, it is crucial to take them into account. Finally, I add transport to this because the vast majority of knitting yarns come from Australia and New Zealand.

Which brings us to the animal condition in these countries. The equation is simple, there are more and more of us on this earth and the demand for wool, whether for the fashion or knitting yarn industries, continues to grow. To meet this high demand, farms are becoming gigantic, the proximity of animals is increasing, which creates real health problems and deplorable living conditions. Mulesing (removal of part of the perianal skin) is carried out without anesthesia to limit the infestation of fly larvae and the wool from these animals will need more chemicals to be disinfected.

It is not necessarily a question of completely stopping synthetic or animal fibers, every little gesture counts, you have to find your personal balance and the supply of plant and local yarns then allows you to diversify the materials that you can use. As in food, in knitting you can be vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian!

The important thing is to move forward at your own pace, without frustration. Limiting our consumption and making our lives even partially plant-based make a big difference on a planetary scale. I therefore chose to focus on plant fibers because they are a very interesting alternative and they continue to surprise us! I am also delighted to see that there are more and more brands offering local wool from farms where animal welfare is respected.

Added to their ecological and local cultivation are all the natural properties of these fibers! Thermoregulating, these materials will insulate your body at 37 degrees from outside temperatures, whether hot or cold. We also use hemp to insulate houses! Hemp yarn is also anti-perspirant, ultra-resistant, anti-bacterial, antifungal and hypoallergenic.

When it comes to knitting, plant-based yarns offer many creative possibilities. It takes a few rows to get used to the non-elasticity of the fiber, adjust our tension and it will knit like a traditional knitting yarn. Plant fibers being slightly denser than wool, it is preferable to refer to the yardage of a model rather than its weight. Apart from that, the majority of models initially knitted with wool or synthetic yarn convert very well to vegetable ones.

The sons Natissea are dyed, twisted and packaged in France and are GOTS certified. All textile sectors, whether they concern cultivation, spinning or dyeing, are gradually being reintegrated into France. This requires a lot of investment from companies because the government hardly subsidizes the flax and hemp textile sectors. Thanks to increasingly engaged consumers and the different players in this sector who are coming together in the form of associations, things are changing. I am monitoring this very closely to be able to develop the ranges of knitting yarns. Natissea !