Bonjour Crafters! This week we are traveling to France with these books that are très bien!
Simple Sewing with a French Twist by Celine Dupuy is a beautiful sewing book that captures the essence of French style for clothing or home decor. The photos are gorgeous and makes you wish you were living in that loft space in Paris. Some of my favorite projects are the French Wool Beret, Sweet Chemise, and the Brasserie Tablecloth which reminds me of all the kitchen linens we inherited from my husband's grandmother who was a French craft teacher herself. Available at Potter Craft. Link.
For all you quilt lovers comes the Quilts of Provence: The Art and Craft of French Quiltmaking by Kathyrn Berenson. Berenson shows you some of the details and history of French quilts and some techniques on how you can recreate some of the same artistry. I loved reading about the history of Provence's white wedding quilt traditions and all the details of the iconography. It's a beautiful book that can also be displayed on your coffee table. Available at Potter Craft. Link.
Merci to Susan Beal who just let me borrow this great craft book she got from a friend in Paris. It's apparently from this craft boutique that's all over France called, La Droguerie. (If anyone knows more about this store please post a comment!)This is their current book, Mes Accessoires which covers all kinds of knitting, crochet, and jewelry projects. I love the photos and the accompanying project how-tos which have cute french handwriting and illustrations to make it feel like a project sketchbook. I'm not sure if they will do overseas shipping but the contact info for the store is on the web site. Mes Accessoires is 25,50 Euros or 18,50 Euros for the other book titles which also look pretty cool. Link.
I've been subscribing to Marie Claire Idées for the last 3 years now and it's been one of the best magazines to enjoy crafts and practice reading French. I also love seeing all the seasonal themes and the needlepoint (point de croix) projects just can't be beat! Subscribing is easy via Amazon. Link.
La Droguerie is one of my favorite places in Paris. I go there and I can spend a whole afternoon and when I put my credit card back in my bag it has a little burning smell ;o)
The other place you might want to check is the Entree des Fournisseurs and book wise try Astrid Le Provost who designs for Citronille. Amazing!
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I am going to France on Saturday - AAAAAAAHHHHHHH I'm so excited! Will be looking for these books and shops.
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La Droguerie in Toulouse is fantastic - they have a whole wall of jars of beads and more under glass counters. They also have wonderful top class knitting yarns from bamboo to mohair, wool and alpaca and lots of made up examples to tempt you to buy the patterns and yarns. Very sweet assistants who will help with English if your French is as bad as mine!
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Wow that store looks amazing. I am excited to check it out the next time we visit my husband's family in France!
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Hello, I visited La Droguerie in Paris last year and it has all kinds of crafty goodness. Yarn, beads, buttons, appliques, ribbons etc. I posted about it in my blog: http://purlofagirl.blogspot.com/2006/04/paris-in-springtime.html
There are pictures of the adorable kids sweaters and colorful jars of beads. A must if you're in France or Japan!
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Hiya. La Droguerie has been around for years, at least back to the late 90s from my recollection. I remember oohing and aahing over their ads in Marie Claire Idees. It used to be primarily a really cute bead shop but maybe they are branching out into other areas these days? They have a little store in Nagoya, Japan too, if anyone is close.
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Hi- La Droguerie is completely amazing! There is also one in Tokyo and at least at the one there, they sell all the products to make the crafts that they have on display but you can't buy the crafts themselves which is pretty cool I think. Also, maybe you already know about this but Marie Claire Idees is hosting a big craft salon this october in Paris- here's the link- http://www.franceconventions.com/mci/
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