Inspiration
La Mia Boutique August 2010
27 August 2010, 12:41After quite a few great issues of La Mia Boutique magazine, it pains me to admit that this issue seems to be a throwback of the weird, not wonderful, old days of LMB. In fact, there’s not really any “Must Sews” for me in here at all, though a few of the designs have interesting pattern shapes when you take a closer look.
cover:
First up, an oddly-shaped maxi dress for those of us with really uneven hips… Even that ruffle shape is strange.
Here’s a rather nice tunic top with a large patch pocket, paired with a knit cardigan.
Seriously, WTF is this? An enormous maxi jumpsuit with windows for your navel and a neckline down past your waist? Really, who would wear this besides this model getting paid to wear it?
Another nice-enough tunic top paired with a simple bias slip dress. This actually looks to be really similar to a Manequim slip dress, but I’ve never seen anyone suggest laying out any bias pattern the way they suggest here! That’s just asking for trouble and grainline problems!! I mean, leaving aside the front piece on the fold, the two back pieces really have to be at opposing orientations…
On the surface, this skirt looks normal enough… but then the pattern pieces jumped out at me and I think my brain is melting. That’s just weird.
And from a section pairing jackets, blouses, and trousers, I kinda liked this grey marl jersey jacket. But I’ve already got very similar patterns from KnipMode and Burda, so I can’t imagine I’d ever make it myself…
I haven’t bothered to scan the Plus section as it was just three dresses that weren’t particularly inspiring, and the kids section had some cute teeshirts and bottoms, but nothing I haven’t seen before. But I fully recognise that what isn’t my cup of tea may totally be someone else’s (like the Sept 10 Burda haters! Oh no you didn’t!), so if you really fancy something in here, I’m open to selling my copy (I paid £10 for it so I just want my investment back is all). Leave a comment if you’re interested and I can email you the at-a-glance tech drawings page, too.
I like to think that maybe they’re just getting the dregs of the summer patterns out of the way and the next issue will be full of amazing Fall fashions!
Up next – a full wedding dress update, with photos! And new lingerie muslins!
Tags: la-mia-boutiqueComment [3]
KnipMode September 2010
18 August 2010, 19:07Still no August Burda or La Mia Boutique in my postbox (though I just found out my 6 month resubscription to Burda, made in a moment of weakness, won’t start until September now, argh.*), but KnipMode’s September issue arrived already, just like clockwork!
The first, colour-blocking feature has a bunch of great patterns in it, though I’m not quite sure about the styilng…
Case in point: fantastic coat! But purple Uggs? Really?
This knit dress appears no less than six times in this issue, but I thought you could see the lines best in this version. Though I think if I make this, I’d add a gathered waistband to the back, too, to make it all even.
I don’t care if this makes me an Eighties trendwhore, I love the ruched, leg o’ mutton sleeves on this teeshirt!
I hate the word “jeggings” with a firey passion so I’m going to pretend instead that these are slim, stretch jeans that you can only wear with tunics or other long shirts to cover up the elastic waist (I’d so alter these to have a slim side zip instead!).
LOVE! The tech drawing makes it look like any ordinary blazer, but I just adore that green colour so much! (Fun Fact: when I first moved to London, I painted my bedroom that exact shade and wished I could take the walls with me when I moved house!)
Leather is a big trend for this Fall, with quite a few good patterns emerging. This leather jacket would be a PITA to make with all those topstitched seams, but it would be SO worth it! There’s also a version of this jacket made up in denim, but I prefer the look of leather on it myself…
And lastly, another view of those slim, stretch jeans, this time paired with a really comfy, oversized sweater. Sweater knits are such instant gratification, I’ve got to keep my eyes open for some good ones in NYC!
And can you believe that this sweater is the same base pattern as the grey tee with the ruched sleeves?? Well done, Knip!
Meanwhile, in wedding land… I finished fell-stitching the lining to the exterior bodice all around the neckline and armholes, and then I went round and prickstitched the lining about 5mm from the edge to keep it from poking out at all (achieving the same effect as understitching, but taking a whole lot longer!). I managed to finish prickstitching the entire neckline, so only the armholes remain.
* Anyone have a good UK source for individual Burda issues that isn’t £10 a pop? Thank you, commenters! You found me a place within walking distance of my office that sells it for £4.75!
Comment [10]
La Mia Boutique July 2010
20 July 2010, 13:51No, you didn’t miss it – the June issue never arrived and is presumed missing in the post by now (so Magazine Cafe extended my subscription by a month to compensate). But that’s okay because June didn’t look that great in the online preview, and July is a fantastic issue!
I utterly love this bolero – mostly for its sleeves! You can see more easily in the layout diagram, but there’s a strip of fabric down the centre of the sleeve, with gathering on either side. I’d so take these sleeves and try them out on a shirt or other style of jacket, too.
This is actually a dress that just looks like a skirt and top – it’d be great for short lengths of stash fabrics with a nice belt…
Just when you thought my birthday dress might’ve been a beautiful fluke, LMB come out with another AWESOME draped knit dress, omg! I’m so excited to sew this!
Here’s another view of the the dress from the cover, which I think looks much better with the softer shape of the jersey than the harsh pleats in the tech drawing.
I rather like the ruffles on this blouse, it reminds me of the Manequim April 2010 cover dress and a top I know I’ve seen in KnipMode with similar ruffles but I can’t quite find right now…
UGH. Jeans FAIL! They seem to have concentrated all of the Ugly in this issue to this one pair of jeans, sparing all the other designs.
I think this tunic is deeply unflattering on the model, though the tech drawing looks very wearable (and what’s with the “low budget p0rn” lighting on this shoot?)
Isn’t this knit dress cute? It kinda reminds me of Tilly’s bow belt.
From a bigger-than-usual Plus section, four fabulous knit dresses! Seriously, I’d wear any of these in a heartbeat!
And thank you all SO much for your help with the wedding gown neckline. I’ve come up with a great solution that uses a big curve on one side and a small one on the other and I’ll be making up my second muslin during my day off tomorrow… Just you wait, it’s perfect!
Tags: la-mia-boutiqueComment [6]
KnipMode Summer 2010 Roundup
13 July 2010, 19:55I’m taken a brief moment to poke my head up from under my enormous pile of BurdaStyle Book sewing, wedding gown dismantling and bodice muslining, running, gardening, wedding planning, and some seriously busy office day-jobbing to bring you an overview of the summer KnipMode magazines… I’ll show off what I’m actually sewing if and when I can, I promise!
June 2010
This dress and skirt are ok, nothing to really grab me, but they’re nice enough basics. I mostly just liked that the model has wrinkles!
Woop! Another origami dress!
I rather liked this one shoulder dress…
But the highlight and entire reason for buying this issue is that they’ve got a pattern for THAT famous Badgley Mischka swimsuit!!
And not only that, but the large step-by-step instructions this month are for the entire construction of the swimsuit (not just a few tricky steps like most months).
July 2010
I feel a certain kinship with the Dutch people when I see that their summer holiday clothes also contain jackets and sleeves! In particular I love the draped jersey dress and this little banded sleeveless tee. That tee takes less than a metre of fabric and would be a perfect Quick Knit Top if I can squeeze it in!
They have a plain version of this blouse also, but I loved the pleat detail on this placket. What a lovely pattern to show off some special silks…
There was another feature on a summer street party that had a bunch of very wearable, casual summer patterns, so you can get another look at that sleeveless tee, this time in solid purple.
July 2010 – Fast Fashion supplement
This entire “no pattern” magazine aimed at teenagers was full of utterly repulsive sad sacks no self-respecting teenager would be caught dead in. I mean, look at these horrible bedsheets on the right!
I get the idea of customising teeshirts, but what’s with these captions?? “Kate Moss sucks”? “Fun Factor 10”? “Cut the Crap”? WTF?
And just another random example of the fashion FAILs in here… oh god, my eyes.
I mean, I applaud that they’re trying to encourage teenagers to sew, but the execution here is just awful. I can’t imagine anyone, at any age being inspired by the designs in this. Let’s forget we ever mentioned this supplement and move swiftly onto August…
August 2010
The first issue of my subscription! Yay!
Ugh I still don’t feel fully recovered from the supplement and now we’ve got some hideous patchwork “happy hands at home” stuff. Looking at these, I just feel bad for the poor woman who must’ve been so excited to be picked to be in her favourite magazine, only to have her heart sink when she saw the ugly patchwork crap she’d have to wear. It just seems unfair they didn’t swap outfits at some point and share the Ugly around a bit…
Thankfully, though, this is actually a really great issue so that’s the only downer this month! From a feature showing us all how to dress for our body type, we get this nice blouse and awesome sailor trousers (though Dutch ladies clearly have much more varieties of shape than the rest of us – the cone? I don’t know anyone shaped like a weeble-wobble, but I like the clothes)…
…and a jacket made of jersey (squeal!) and a nice pair of jeans.
In the cute Mother & Daughter section, I actually found the first pair of “new shape” trousers I’d actually consider wearing! Notice that the mom is wearing these trousers, too, and they look just as great on her!
I also like this skirt, though the back zipper placket seems a little Kriss-Kross:
Now, I really like this surplice, belted top, and I’ve been squinting at the tech drawing over the past few breakfasts trying to work out exactly how it’s pieced together, when I see that Sigrid has made it already and says it’s a bit disappointing! Boo. Well, I suppose I haven’t got time in my sewing schedule for the next few months anyhow…
And last of all, there are a ton of bag patterns, in pretty much every style you can imagine…
Coming up next, the July La Mia Boutique, which has a To. Die. For. draped knit dress reminiscent of my birthday dress!
Tags: knipmode, magazineComment [6]
First rebirthday 10k race
11 July 2010, 14:13Last Thursday was my one year anniversary of my bone marrow transplant, which others have taken to calling a “rebirthday”. James took me out for lunch and a very chill session at a super posh tea shop, followed by a surprise card and flowers when I got home! I’ve been planning a special celebration of my own for about six months now, when I got it into my head that I should run a 10k for my one year post-transplant.
The British 10K London Run was this morning, and even though I’ve been running around the river for the past 3-4 months to train for this, I had only managed 10km in my last three runs so I was feeling pretty nervous and hoping only to run the whole thing (no walking!) and to maybe finish in under an hour.
I had a fantastic run, and though it was a definite slog at times, the memory of three friends who died last year despite their transplants really kept me going (I wrote their names on my hand to motivate me). I couldn’t believe the clock at the finish line – 54:22!! And I started back about 50m from the start line so that’ll come down by a few seconds when the chip times are released, too. Edit: official chip timing says 53:48!! Woop!
Now, I always try to keep this site on-topic, so there really is some sewing-related craft in here…
Yes, I used my freezer paper prowess to stencil “One Year Post Transplant” on the back of my running vest! I used the same process and silver paint that I did for the green sweatshirt bolero last year. I initially tried the yellow Marabu Textil paint, but when they say that it’s not suitable for dark fabrics, they mean it! The yellow just soaked throgh and you couldn’t see it at all, so I had to follow up with the silver. So for future reference, if you’re painting onto dark fabrics, use the Textil Plus or Textil Metallics paints!
I’ve already raised way, way more money for the Anthony Nolan Trust (the UK’s bone marrow charity, and the people who found me my donor last year) than I was expecting to, but if I’ve inspired you and you’d like to donate to the cause, my sponsorship page will still be open for a while longer. Or even if you’re totally skint, please PLEASE consider getting yourself on your country’s bone marrow registry.
Thanks again for all your support, kindness, and thoughts over the past year. You guys are the best.
Tags: hospitalComment [29]
How to subscribe to KnipMode magazine
7 July 2010, 12:23An international subscription, that is! All of you lucky Dutch readers can just subscribe online to one of their many cut-price deals with great freebies (a nice Toyota sewing machine with a year’s subscription, nice!).
I’ve been buying individual copies of the Dutch pattern magazine KnipMode for several years now, and I finally got the funds together to get a subscription for myself, just as the euro/pound exchange rate was at its lowest for ages. I started the process at the very end of May, and look what arrived in my postbox on Saturday (3 July)… the August issue! Yayyy!
There have been quite a few people asking how they can subscribe (I think after getting a taste of the magazine during Naaipatronen‘s 3-for-2 sale! Seriously, way to go, guys, we totally cleared out their back issues!), so I thought I’d sum up the process here for anyone outside the Netherlands that would like to subscribe. Please note that the prices vary with time and postal rates, so always get your own quote!
Subscribing to KnipMode outside The Netherlands
As far as I know, there are no resellers or international distributors for KnipMode (or Knippie, their bi-monthly childrens pattern magazine), so you have to subscribe directly with the publishers.
Email ServiceTeam@sanoma-uitgevers.nl and say you’d like to subscribe to KnipMode with [your country] delivery. They’ll email you back (it may take a few days, they can be a bit slow to respond to emails) with a list of conditions:
The subscription fee (prices subject to alteration) is 105,72€ a year. Knipmode is a monthly magazine. It is sent by airmail in an envelope.
[that’s the UK-delivery price I was quoted – the US was somewhere around 120€ I believe.]
If you agree, then they’ll send you an invoice. This is where we got our wires crossed, because I assumed it was 1) agree to terms 2) get invoice 3) pay invoice 4) get first magazine, so I rang them up when I didn’t get an invoice and faxed them my long address and my card details, then rang again to make sure they got it okay. And slowly, it dawned on me that the process is actually 1) agree to terms 2) get first magazine 3) get invoice 4) pay invoice.
And indeed, I received an invoice in the post at the beginning of July, right around the same time my first issue turned up! The invoice has your subscriber number, address, and amount owed, and there’s a form to fill out and post back if you’d like to pay by credit card (or you can ring up the service team and pay by card over the phone – it’s just easier if you have your subscriber number from the invoice first!).
If you need it, their phone number is 0031 (0) 23 556 6901 and the fax number is 0031-23- 5566370. All the ladies I spoke to there spoke excellent English and were very helpful indeed!
So to clarify – they start your subscription process when you agree to their terms. They get your details together, give you a subscriber number, etc etc, and then they send you an invoice around the time of your first issue (they can tell you when your first issue should arrive if you ask). They do NOT wait until they are paid to start the process rolling, like is standard in the US and UK. So just because you haven’t had the invoice yet doesn’t mean you’re losing all this time… Be patient.
(A roundup of the June, July, and August issues will be coming as soon as I can catch my breath…)
Tags: knipmode, magazineComment [4]
Well-travelled silks
3 July 2010, 20:07Yay! My friend Shasha was in Malaysia recently and she went to the massive Gulati’s fabric store and brought me back some silks!
I must’ve coached her well because she bought 2m each of this gorgeous turquoise silk satin which coordinates perfectly with the blue floral silk jacquard. You can tell she’s got such the eye for colour because these two just look like they’re born to be sewn together, and she said she thought the blues would go well with my colouring. You can see bigger photos of each on their on in my fabric stash gallery.
It’s funny, she first apologised for buying a floral, but she said EVERYTHING in Malaysia was floral, and that after a while, all she could see was “curtains!” when she looked at the fabrics so she had to escape before her brain went batty, ha! I like to think we’ve got great variety and selection in our fabric stores here, but I wonder what someone would think if they only went into, say, Liberty, or a tweed suiting shop and thought that’s all people here wanted? I wish I could find a proper site for Gulati’s to see if they’re a floral specialist or if all Malaysian women really do prefer floral fabrics…
In any case, my immediate reaction was that I really want to turn these two silks into BurdaStyle’s Allie pattern (though with a front opening like a kimono rather than closed front like a muumuu) with matching camisole/nightgown! Maybe I’ll use that Manequim bias slip dress or if the new Burda envelope patterns come out in time, I’d love to try this camisole and shorts set (third image in this preview set). Yowza!
My problem is that wedding sewing deadlines and honeymoon sewing deadlines are just too close together!!
Tags: shopping, silkParis fabric shopping
29 June 2010, 13:45Ahhhhh, Paris! We had a simply wonderful time in the City of Lights this weekend, cramming an entire holiday into a few short hours. We’ve both already been to Paris a few times, so we didn’t feel the need to do the touristy stuff all over again. This left us with an entire weekend to devote to eating and shopping, and socialising with our friends Sat and Sarah (who I’d not met before this weekend, but I now feel like we’ve been friends for years!). As is my habit when I go away, I went fabric shopping so I can now share those shops with you…
As Isabelle says in her guide to Paris fabric shops, the bulk of the fabric and notions shops are in Montmatre, so if you’re pressed for time, head directly to the Abbesses metro and head east (which, conveniently passes right by a branch of my favourite-ever perfume shop, too!). There are a few other fabric shops in the same area that I didn’t pop into, plus a giant notions shop with more buttons than you could possibly imagine, so Montmartre really is your one-stop-shop for fabric, lining, interfacing, zippers, trim – the lot! Everything in Paris shuts down on Sundays, but happily, nearly all of the fabric shops are open on Saturdays which is convenient if you’re only in town for a weekend like us!
Tissus Reine
3-5, Place St Pierre
Mon 2-6:30, Tues-Fri 9:30-6:30, Sat 9:45-7
This place was made famous by Project Runway’s Paris episode, and they really do have nice fabrics, which are sorted by fabric type and very clearly labelled with the price and fibre type on every roll. They had pretty much everything you could think of, from denim to chiffon to tweeds to Liberty to bridal lace to silks, but the prices didn’t seem great and I could get most everything there in London, so I didn’t buy anything.
Their website breaks down what’s on each floor, but the ground floor is just so big I didn’t feel the need to drag poor, non-sewing Sarah up to the other floors (though she insists she really enjoyed fabric shopping!).
They have a separate shop next door selling 3m coupons of their fabric, but their prices didn’t seem much cheaper than in the main shop (I got all excited over a stack of coloured leather skins until I saw they were 80-90€ each!!) and it was crazy busy in there. With the heat, I just didn’t fancy wrestling with a hundred other sweaty ladies all hopped up on fabric. Under those conditions, you know things could turn ugly fast!
Marché Saint Pierre
AKA Tissus Dreyfus, 2 rue Charles Nodier
M-F 10-6:30, Sat 10-7
This is another massive store right across the street from Tissus Reine, but with a bit more of a bargain feel. Fabrics are all grouped by fabric type and laid out by the roll, but piled high enough that you could have a good rummage and get the “thrill of the hunt” that’s missing from Tissus Reine. Most individual rolls are unmarked, but there are plenty of signs in each section saying the price per metre and the fibre content, so it’s not as mysterious as some stores I’ve been in. The ground floor has a huge variety of fabrics and the biggest bargains; I was surprised to see that the first floor was nearly entirely bedding and towels, but go up another floor and you’ll find the luscious silks and expensive bridal laces on the 2nd. The English version of their website goes into more detail on what’s in each floor, but I spent enough on the ground and second to not bother going any higher!
The cutting and buying process was a little unorthodox here so I think it’s worth explaining. If you see something you want, stand near it and get the attention of a roaming employee (seen with big metre sticks!). Get them to cut up everything you want from that floor, and they’ll fold everything up nicely and write out a receipt for you. You then take the receipt to the cash desk on that floor where you pay for it. The process is not well signposted (my French host had to ask for me), but you have to pay for the fabric from that floor only. So if you want something on the ground floor and something on the second floor, you need to have the ground floor stuff cut and paid for, and then go up and get the second floor stuff cut and paid for separately. Don’t mix fabrics from other floors!
I ended up buying all of my fabric here, and the following cost me about 50€ in total (for 7m of good stuff, so I feel triumphant!).
Printed silk charmeuse – 22€/m so I only bought 1m, but I fell head over heels for it and just had to have it
Black bemberg lining – 8€/m and I bought 2m for a specific project
Super super soft stretch laces! OMG I never see these in London, and they were so cheap! At 5.90€/m I just couldn’t go wrong. I bought 1m each of the green and cream to make lingerie, and 2m of the grey to overlay on another colour jersey for a stunning dress. Even the cutting guy remarked on how nice these laces were and how similar they were to the really expensive stuff upstairs…
Modes et Travaux
10 Rue de la Pépinière (very near Saint Lazare station)
M-Sat 10-7
This is mostly a crafts store, with a bunch of knitting, crochet, and cross stitch supplies on the ground floor as you walk in, but head to the basement where they’ve got lots of 3m coupons at cheap prices. I found it frustrating to browse, though as there’s no discernible organisation and everything I pulled out was polyester, which sort of dampened the fun (but at least the lengths are well marked with the price and fibre!). Downstairs they also have a ton of notions, buttons, Gutermann thread, trims, etc, and a big box of Burda patterns. You can get a better idea of what they stock from their website, though, really.
Down with the ribbon trims were several boxes absolutely stuffed full of intricate motifs on netting that you can put right on your own clothing, for 5.90 or 7.90 € each.
I just loved this motif, made mostly from thin metal chain and beads and mounted on turquoise netting. I think this would even look amazing just on a rtw teeshirt. Has anyone used motifs like this? I’m guessing I handstitch around the edge of it to attach it to my garment, then trim away the excess netting, but what do I do with the netting in the design itself? Just leave it?
Here’s my handy google map of my favourite Parisian stores or you can view a smaller version emmbedded below:
View Paris Shopping in a larger map
What I wore
It wasn’t until we were halfway there until I realised that absolutely everything I packed had been sewn by me! This doesn’t normally happen, I do tend to mix up my own stuff with RTW, but in this case I just favoured my own!
On the drive down on Friday I wore my faux-wrap jeanskirt and Prada trompe-l’oeil sequin cowl top. For Saturday’s Montmartre fabric shopping, picnic, and St Germain shopping I wore my new Beignet skirt and bias cowl top, and then after a nap and shower, I changed into my nude sheath dress for dinner (we had a funny moment when my Parisienne host and I both emerged wearing the same pale pink-coloured dresses!). I brought along my silver tweed jacket in case it got chilly after dark, but it was just a hot weekend that it stayed super warm well past midnight so I left it at the flat. For Sunday’s market shopping and the drive home I brought out the faux-wrap jeanskirt again, this time paired with my tie-front teeshirt.
A note on footwear: just because you’re on holiday doesn’t mean you have to look like it! I regularly walk 6km+ around London in heels, so why wear sneakers just because I’m in a different city? So I brought along two pairs of comfortable heels plus a pair of emergency flats, and this was exactly the right decision. My feet ended up swelling a bit in the heat, which made the shoes tighter than normal, but I’m happy to suffer a little to look fabulous (and there are no full-on blisters, I’m happy to report!).
What we ate
Maybe it’d be easier to say what we didn’t eat?
Breakfasts – The hour time difference meant our friends naturally woke up before we did, and a table heaping with croissants, pain au chocolat, and baguettes magically appeared when we emerged each morning! I’m normally a muesli and fruit girl (or a toasted bagel at a push), but nothing beats a fresh, flaky pain au chocolat when in Paris.
Following our little fabric shopping outing on Saturday morning, we rang up the boys and had them buy provisions for a picnic (how jealous am I that mobiles work on the metro in Paris!!). We then met up and headed to the Jardin des Plantes where we claimed a double bench and tore into baguettes, meats, cheese, fresh figs, and macarons followed by fresh mint tea in the gorgeous, shaded courtyards at the nearby Grande Mosquée de Paris (next time I simply must plan ahead and visit their hammam!).
After a round of shopping on the Boulevard St Germain (including stops for macarons and fresh marshmallows at both Laduree & Pierre Marcolini) and a well-needed nap and shower back at the flat, we headed out for dinner at La Rose de France on the Ile de la Cité where I had my utterly delicious escargot (I cannot, simply cannot go to France and not eat escargot!!), followed by duck breast with fresh berry sauce, and a nearly orgasmic chocolate cake with molten centre topped with hot fleur-de-sol caramel. OMG.
Then on Sunday morning, as if we hadn’t eaten enough the day before, we headed to Sat and Sarah’s local market to buy a bunch of food to take back home with us (an advantage of driving was that we could bring back as much as we wanted, including filling two coolers!). Their own little market was actually massive and full of gorgeous, overflowing food stalls, and having local guides meant they were able to tell us which places had the best chicken, which had the best produce, which cheese stall was their favourite, etc. Exactly the sort of thing you need when presented with so much choice!!
We bought…
…produce – cherries (2kgs at 2.95€/kilo!! We pay £4ish/kilo in London!), donut peaches (2€ for a dozen. and we can’t buy these in London!!), fresh forest mushrooms (2€ for a giant bag)
…cheese – two types of chevre, chaource, cantal, brie, camembert, and… Moulé à la louche, which the cheese stall man said was “better than chaource” and is, without a doubt, the most amazing cheese either James or I have ever tasted in our entire lives. Holy crap. I’m giggling with joy just thinking about it.
…plus three types of sauccisson, two types of coppa ham, and rotisserie chicken with those little potato balls you can only get at French markets (one hot to eat for Sunday lunch, and one cold that we brought back with us!), and three dozen pre-prepped escargot from the escargot stall (where else? What, you don’t have an escargot stall on your market?). Oh, and fresh eggs and gorgeous, salty French butter from the cheese man.
The road trip
Everyone in London keeps asking us if we went via Eurostar, and frankly, hell no! For a quarter of the price of the passenger train (and that’s taking the petrol into account), the two of us drove down to Folkestone, got the Eurotunnel (aka “the car train”), and James got to have two hours of fun driving on the French autoroutes and the Paris peripherique (no, I’m not sarcastic, he loves driving!).
The Eurotunnel is actually a great example of simplicity in automation – they have the entire process down to a science. When you drive up (within two hours either side of your booked time), cameras recognise your number plate and you pick a departure time. A little sign with a big letter is printed out for you to hang over your rear view mirror and you park up and go into a terminal to waste some time in duty free-type shops or the toilets until your letter is called (no more than 15min we found). Then you drive through passport control and into a queue before you go down the ramps and into the train itself, driving along the length of the train until it’s full in front of you. Then they shut some doors and you can laze around in or out of your car as it whisks you to France in about a half hour or so, then you drive right off onto the French motorways. With no crappy delays at any stage, really, unlike the ferries, which are always getting held up by something or other. Seriously, we heart the Eurotunnel, it’s the quickest, cheapest, and most efficient way across the channel.
On the way down, we wanted to get there as quick as possible so we just drove the most direct route, and the only hiccup was the lack of dinner. All of the autoroute restaurants and petrol station shops shut exactly at 10pm. That might sound reasonable to you, but remember that it’s still light outside at 10, there were like 30 other people wanting their dinner, and there was nothing else around. And did they really have to lock up the toilets and the vending machines at 10, too? Now that’s just cruel.
In any case, on our way back on Sunday we took the slightly longer coast route home, stopping in the charming seaside town of Etaples (though it was a bit of a ghost town on a Sunday afternoon) and the awesome roadside services at Aire de Baie de Sommes (near Abbeville on the A16). We kept lamenting “where was this place when we needed it on Friday night?” because not only did it have several restaurants, an ice cream stand, and a petrol station stocked with tons of fresh filled baguettes, salads, quiche, slices of pie, and sauccissons (with an included knife!!), but they also had a lovely wetland centre with places to walk around, a playground for kids, a picnic area separate from the car park traffic, and a motorhome hookup area, too! Honestly, this was the nicest roadside service area I’ve seen in any country!
Other Paris resources
- Isabelle’s guide to Paris fabric shops – I didn’t make it to all the shops on her list, so there’s something to look forward to next time!
- Not Martha’s recent series of posts on her Paris trip – covers all the touristy stuff and her plane journey, too, which weren’t really applicable to us (but might be for you)
- Lonely Planet Paris iPhone app – worth the money alone for the fact that the map and all the listings work without a pricey roaming internet connection!!
- RATP iPhone app – it’s quicker to load up their Metro map than to whip out a guidebook!
- Ten Delicious Things in Paris – where I discovered that Pierre Marcolini’s Paris store stocks the marshmallows that the London stores used to carry!
- French ETC – fantastic colloquial French language podcasts for brushing up on your French if it’s been a while, like me…
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Au revoir!
25 June 2010, 13:09We’re off to Paris today for a weekend of food and fabric shopping excess! Unlike Susannah, we’re driving down (and staying with friends), so I can’t really do any sewing to do en route, but I fully plan on hitting up Isabelle’s Montmatre fabric shops and doing some keen couture window shopping while I’m there, too. But because we’ve got the car, I don’t have any baggage limit on the amount of fabric (and macarons) I can buy, either. BWAHAHA!
Now seems a natural point to put my summer sewing on hold, and start sewing my wedding gown in earnest when I get back (more on that next week) in addition to my “OMG crazy busy secret project”, that’s going to keep me really on my toes in July (as soon as it’s announced, I can tell you what it is, honest).
So how have I done on my Summer Sewing Shortlist? Actually, not too badly! I was never expecting to make everything in one month, but I did manage to make…
The Patrones two-tone jeanskirt
…and all were using fabrics already in my stash (and nearly all used those awkward “big scraps” that I tend to accumulate the most)!
So I’ve got plenty of lovely new things to wear in Paris, but timing is very cruel that I’ll probably be way too busy with my gown and the other project to sew up any of the fabrics I buy there right away. But perhaps I can squeeze in something here and there, who knows!
À bientôt, mes cheres!
Tags: shoppingComment [4]
KnipMode sale alert
17 June 2010, 12:13After years of promising myself, I recently finally sorted out a subscription to KnipMode magazine. But since they said it won’t start until the August issue, I took a whirl round my favourite online KnipMode source, Naaipatronen.nl, earlier this week to get the June and July issues, plus one for a friend. I’ve used them for years to get my KnipMode issues and they’ve always given me great service and reasonable shipping costs to the UK.
Imagine my surprise when yesterday they sent me a partial refund, because they just started a 3 for 2 sale on all their magazines (they also stock Ottobre, Knippie, Burda, and Burda Easy)! How nice is that, the sale wasn’t even running yet when I ordered! The sale’s not mentioned on the English version of the site, but it’s a news story on the Dutch side, and runs until Tuesday (22 June).
Anyway, I thought some of you might have been interested by KnipMode in the past but discouraged by the cost, so now’s a great time to grab some! Especially since I’ve never, ever seen their magazines on sale before, and once the issues disappear, they’re often gone for good.
If you want to see what’s in some of the available issues, I’ve done roundup reviews in the past:
- Feb, March, April, May 2010
- Oct, Nov, Dec 2009 and Jan 2010
- June, July, Aug 09
- General info on KnipMode, including the size range
(I’m not quite sure how I missed reviewing Sept 09, but ah well)
Ah! And I’ve just seen that KnipMode have uploaded some of the tech drawing at-a-glance pages – click on “Patroonoverzicht” to see the pdfs.
From the issues available, my personal picks would be Nov 09 (which includes Sigrid’s awesome origami dress on the cover!), Jan 2010 (for a ton of knitwear and jackets and great jeans, plus some menswear basics and my silver tweed skirt), Aug 09 (which has Petite and Tall patterns, in addition to the knit dress I made my mom and the Weekend Bag), and Feb 2010 (with Michelle Obama-inspired patterns, plus four trenchcoats)…
Oh, and Naaipatronen provide a really good Dutch/English translation list, so no excuses!!
Note: I’ve never once received any special discounts or payment from Naaipatronen and this is not a paid review of any sort. I’m just a really happy customer!
I’m nearly done with the Colette Beignet skirt – I’ve just got the buttons and hem to do! It’s taking me forever, not because of the pattern, but because life is just so hectic right now! I got a little bit of it done while I was camping, and I squeezed in all the buttonholes in amongst making dinner and watering my massive rooftop garden last night, but I’m literally having to work on it in ten minute bursts here and there… I’m still hoping I can finish it and make the sleeveless bias cowl top from Patrones 292 before we leave for Paris next weekend! (OMG so excited!)
Tags: magazine, shoppingComment [4]