Gerigny
How could one not like a town called “La Charite” ? La Charite sur Loire more precisely, was the site of our most recent family foray into “la France profonde”.
I love this kind of trip: a few serious pretenses for being there, but mostly lots of downtime for exploring, reading and stitching. And lots of delicious food.
We were there on a quasi business trip and found people very friendly. Except one really nasty guy at the post office.
La Charite has about 6000 residents, the nearest “large” city being Nevers. The countryside is dotted with quite a variety of chateaux, although this is not the famous part of the Loire Valley.
chateau la doucette
Not too shabby for a family abode. (Hopefully though, recent french presidential elections won’t have property owners like these moving their money to higher ground).
And we took rides into the charming tiny hamlets around with their little streams and “lavoirs” (washing huts). Everything was so green! Everyone goes crazy for the south of France, but I think I like the green much better.
lavoir
a bit of sun
canola field, who knew??
Back at the castle we had a great time too. Two of the four boys (13 year old twins) are budding pastry chefs and we were treated to cannelles,
cream puffs, cocktail cakes (savory rather than sweet) and financiers! One of their older brothers is in chocolatier school, what’s not to like about this family??
gerigny
jeune patissier
And one rainy afternoon (of the fifteen rainy afternoons we were there), Delphine, la chatelaine, as she hates to be called, took me to a thrift shop where I got some fantastic embroidered sheets for a song.
embroidered linen sheet
There will always be paris, vive la charite!
the french needle has its own kits
Figurines kits by Helene Le Berre for the French Needle
I have wanted to work up my own kits for a while. it is a bit difficult to find small hand embroidery kits in my experience.
Of course, I grossly underestimated the amount of work and detail involved in such an endeavor.
It was fun, though. First I found a young graphic artist in France named Helene Le Berre. She has done several books I love…her work is fresh and retro-chic.
Helene drew a whole set of what she calls “figurines” ….a pastry chef, a teacher,a ballerina, about a dozen in all little figures.
I took over from that point and worked on the stitching and colors, presentation and printing of the fabric. I ended up in France for that as I could not find anyone in the U.S. and know they still do it in France.
My kits include printed fabric, needle, instructions and floss. I have used the most basic of stitches and I consider these little kits totally suitable for beginners.
la couturiere
a bicylette
the ballerina
the city girl - la citadine
the shepherdess la bergere
About three years into my marriage my husband confessed he married me mostly because I was such a light packer…and I am just fine with that.
Anyway, I am a great packer. After so many long hauls I have honed my minimalist packing skills to the Nth degree.
I can live three days off the contents of a small purse. And even though I do usually check a bag ( I can’t stand to carry stuff), everything will be worn. Twice. Whether it goes together. Or not.
I actually like it when the suitcase is lost as long as it is delivered within a few days to my door.
Lots of thought goes into the tiny soap, mini hostess gifts and pajamas which can double as outerwear. In fact, I pack so well that when traveling with girlfriends I usually end up carrying half their stuff, which at some point will be a reason for me to change friends…
The one and only time I regretted my minimalist strategy was on an all night flight where I had not counted on Baby being tummy sick. She blew through her allotted diaper ration before the first drinks were served… Not good.
But now the kids are big, I am traveling alone to Paris and my main worry is that I NOT take anything I don’t need. I am off to three back to back trade shows looking for French Needle treasures….I am sure I will find many, but thank goodness for FedEx…..
September anemones
I bet folks thought I had gone into the Witness Protection Program….but in fact, I just plain forgot that I had started a blog! Not criminal, but certainly negligent and I will try to be more diligent…
Surfing around the net these days I have discovered my newest and perhaps lamest obsession so far: Crowns and Tiaras…. I really do not care much about the British Royal family but find myself oddly obsessing over which tiara is on whose head and for what occasion… Some of the papers report that the crowns are “loaned” and others say “given”…I do hope at least the Royals are straight on it.
And the crowns have names. The Halo Tiara, The Meander Tiara, The Russian Fringe Tiara…they are mostly very, very, lovely but for the odd, overdone colored stone one …not that I have anything against rubies or emeralds. I just imagine wandering into the vault to choose the perfect one for the evening’s festivities…or perhaps to “loan” to the DIL..
Not a chance in a million I will be near any diamond crown in the near future…. I think the closest I will get is something of my own devices… which brings us to the latest chart from Rouge du Rhin: Fiche Royal. Imagine my delight when the designer sent me a copy of this new chart filled with dozens of crowns, and fleur de lys… maybe there is a crown, or two, in my future…
Rouge du rhin Fiche royal chart and trousseau kitchen towel
Above is a “trousseau” kitchen towel stitched designs from the Rouge du Rhin Royal Chart.
11 pm june 26
Well something really fun about my life is I never know when I will end up in France….that was the case for an unexpected ten days zigging and zagging through Champagne, Provence, Normandy and Paris. And it all happily corresponded with the longest days of the year…The trip was for family business, business business, and plain family. It was fun, productive, and, of course, delicious. When I get my wits about me I will be sharing some of the new treasures, in the meantime, let’s chill, it’s summer.
nogent
bonnieux
la Croix Saint Leufroy
Sophie Digard – new accessories at the French Needle
detail of soleil rose sophie digard scarf
No matter how many times I receive orders from Sophie Digard, when a new one arrives my heart beats faster.
Although I know Sophie designs flawless collections, many of the items I have ordered I have not actually seen made up before.
Sophie Digard accessories are custom made.
We choose design and color palettes and then they are crocheted on a custom order basis. There are so many many colors and designs that the selection is quite overwhelming.
And then they arrive… they are so beautiful that tears come to my eyes. I remind myself : they are not all for me…but then I have fun photographing them and now and again adding to my little personal collection!
Anyway, some new ones came today and I hope you have as much fun admiring them as I do!
sophie digard geranium purse
macaron necklace
pastille minus pop detail
Gotham linen scarf
See the rest of the Sophie Digard items at the French Needle.
sajou needlework box kits – great for gifts
sajou box
The French must have all been squirrels in their past lives. They love packing things, putting little things into other little things, arranging things and generally squirreling their possessions.
And like everything else, they like to do so stylishly. Forget designer handbags; the french have specific pouches, pockets or cases intended for everything imaginable. They even have special envelopes for their cloth napkins ( also a way to avoid washing them but that is for another post.)
Sajou needlework boxes are great for storing treasures.
Featured below are some little boxes made for socking away more little objects: pins, buttons, clips, you name it.
These come as kits, from Maison Sajou, and include the little box and fabric and pattern. The floss is not included, but the amount needed is quite small. Best of all, they are very quick to stitch and then just glue and snap together. So fun to have pretty ways to squirrel!
sajou box kit
sajou boxes
To see more versions of these Sajou Needlework kits at the French Needle, click here.
