PARIS . A SEWING BLOGGERS MEETING

I am sorry if it has been a little bit quite around here but I have to confess you I have been busy. Super busy, actually!
And now it is time to tell you what I have been doing these last few weeks… Well, I’ve been working very hard to finish a big architectural project, but I will not bother you with that, I have been sewing for a secret project I can’t share yet, I guess you might have seen one or two sneak peeks on my Instagram, and I’ve been to PARIS!
But it wasn’t just a trip to Paris… It was a sewing bloggers meeting in Paris!

So let me tell you a little bit about this trip. It all started when Annika and Gioia decided to send an email to some European sewing bloggers asking if they would like to meet for a weekend of fabric shopping in Paris. I was so excited to receive the invitation! But, at first I didn’t know if I would be able to join them. You know: Who will take care of the children? Will I have enough money for this trip? But I finally said yes and now I am so glad I did!

(The group photo! . Photo by Annabelle from Anna Ka Bazzar)
(Top row: Marte, Miren, Goia, Annika, me, Maartje, Sophie, Nienke, Victoria and Laura . Bottom row: Maria, Nina (and her lovley daughter), Laura, An and Olu)

The weekend was amazing! We had such a wonderful time together! Everyone was so nice and it was so much fun to finally be able to actually talk to all my “virtual” friends. Though we had some visits and dinners already planned, we also had plenty of time just to walk around Paris and get to know each other a little bit better or discuss sewing/blogging stuff.

(Sophie and I at the Louvre . Photo by Annika)

(Victoria, Sophie and I having a picnic and a nice chat at Place des Vosges. Photo by Annika)

And, of course, I (we) bought so much fabric… Amazing fabric, I must add… Paris has some amazing fabric/notions shops. We didn’t have time to go to all of them but here are the ones I have been to. They are all amazing and, if you sew and ever go to Paris, you must visit them:
. Petit Pan . 7 Rue de Prague . Gorgeous and colorful fabric for children clothing. The store also has some lovely finished garments, just in case you don’t feel like sewing…

. La Droguerie . 9 et 11 rue du Jour . Amazing fabric and even more amazing notions on a beautiful shop. The shop is also famous around knitters, I think.
. Anna Ka Bazaar . 17, rue Jean Beausire . All fabrics from Atelier Brunette on a lovely shop. Annabelle was the nicest hostess!

 

(Annika and I at Anna Ka Bazaar . Photo by Olu)

. Le Coupons de Saint Pierre . 1, Place Sait-Pierre . This store is very different from the others. It is a 5 story store with lots and lots of fabric. I wasn’t particularly impressed with it but I did love some smaller stores selling mostly 3 meter cuts in the surrounding streets.

(Chilling out after some crazy shopping near Sacre Cour. Nina’s lollipop was gracefully provided by the super funny owner of the last shop we went to. Top photo: Nina and Marte. Bottom photo Marte, Olu and Annika.)

. France Duval-Stalla . 24, Rue Mayet . This might have been my favorite shop. Besides France’s designs the store also sells Atelier Brunette, Cotton and Steel, Liberty of London…

 
. Mokuba . 18, Rue Montmartre. I came across this store by chance and was so impressed with it! Can you picture a super fancy candy shop? Well, Mokuba looks like it but its shelves are full of top quality (and top price) ribbons and tapes.

I’ve also been to a couple of nice bookstores. Here they are:
. Artazart . 83, Quai de Valmy . Not a sewing related store but a super cool bookstore in a nice neighborhood. A great choice of photography, cooking, fashion and design books and magazines. And it is open on Sunday! .
Junku . 18, Rue des Pyramides . A big Japanese store in the middle of Paris with a very nice choice of Japanese sewing books and magazines. A must see if, like me, you love Japanese sewing patterns.

(Everything I got in Paris. It almost didn't fit my travel bag!)

And if you are visiting Paris in the next couple of months and you are already tired of shopping and need something else to do don’t forget to visit the new Philharmonie de Paris and the David Bowie exhibit. Though the building, by Jean Nouvel, is quite impressive, I was even more impressed with the show. I hope it gets to Portugal one day so I can see it again as I had a great time exploring David Bowie’s world.

So now I think you already have quite an overview of our wonderful weekend, right? So this might not have been possible without the contribution of our wonderful sponsors… Here they are!

Thank you so much: Bernina, Lillestoff, Cousette, Nosh, FabFab, Telaria, Alles für Selbermacher, Supercut, Imagine Gnats, Nutta, Mon Depot, Tuttle, Aurifil, Snaply, Joyfits, Ottobre, Compagnie M., Do Guincho, Titchy Threads, Made It, Kid Approved, Schneidermeistern , Delia Creates, Willow&Co, Mouse House Creations, Sofilantjes, Sewpony, LBG Studio, Loubee Clothing, Straightgrain, Elegance&Elephants, Hey June, Paisley Roots, St. Christopher's Inns & Paris Office du Tourisme

On our goodie bags we had fabric, notions, books, magazines, paper patterns, pdf patterns, coupon codes for online shops,… It felt like Christmas! (Or even better then Christmas!)

(My goodie bag. Amazing, right?)

Besides the amazing goodie bag, Bernina sponsored some fabric shopping at Anna Ka Bazaar and a delicious dinner in a French bistro, St. Christopher’s Inn gave us a very nice discount on their amazing hostel at Gare du Nord (well located, super clean and a nice place to stay in Paris), and Office du Tourisme de Paris offered us a nice boat trip on the Seine river.

But that’s not all! Our lovely sponsors also gave us something to offer our lovely readers!

(The first prize includes jerseys from Lillestoff (the rose print sponsored by Lillestoff, the ABC print sponsored by joy fits), a Andrea Lauren bag filled with goodies from Alles für Selbermacher, an Ottobre magazin, a 15$ voucher for Imagine Gnats Shop and a sewing magazine from Stoffe.de.)

(The second prize includes a jersey with roses from lillestoff, a fun dinosaur fabric sponsored by mon depot, some pink ribbing from Nosh, a lace zipper from Snaply, nice spools from Aurifil, a paper pattern by Compagnie M. and a sewing magazine from Stoffe.de.)

(The third prize includes a flowery popeline from Lillestoff, white jersey from Nosh, blue Lycra (?) with Cupcakes from mon depot, a paper pattern from Compagnie M., spools from Aurifil and a sewing magazine from stoffe.de.)

Nice, isn’t it? So for a chance to win one of these three prizes just follow the rafflecopter bellow. Good luck! And don’t forget to come back tomorrow as I might have already something new to show you…

a Rafflecopter giveaway