Bonjour!
Last weekend I took a trip to Paris for four days with my family to celebrate my Mum’s 70th birthday.
I decided that it would be a great challenge for me to wear only handmade clothes during the trip.
Day One:
Our flight left Bristol at 7:30am so we arrived in Paris at about 9:15am. After a ridiculously long (and overly expensive) Taxi journey to our hotel, we dropped off our bags and headed out to visit Sacre Cour to get a good view of the city.
I wore my cherry print Sew Over it Carrie Trousers and a black vest from Measure Twice as they are super comfy for travelling in. I didn’t get any good pictures though, as I was hampered by bags and coats but here is a recent pic of them!
In the evening, we had a pre-dinner walk to the Louvre and a little wander along by the Seine.
Day Two:
While we waited for my brother and his girlfriend to arrive, I decided to kill some time by going back to the Sacre Cour area and looking around the fabric shops. I had been given some tips as to where to look for fabric by the lovely sewsarahuk. I couldn’t believe the sheer volume of shops and the size of some of them!
I was actually a bit overwhelmed by choice so didn’t buy all that much! I got a lovely viscose cotton mix in an iridescent green, which will make a nice Sorbetto top . I also got a beautifully soft cotton pale blue striped cotton lawn, which I plan to make into a self-designed ruffled shirt.
The last shop I visited was just huge and I only made it through the ground floor! I bought some cotton to make a summer top from and also some crazy toucan and pineapple print cotton and matching pineapple print to make a circle skirt with contrast waistband – I am very excited to make this one as it will be perfect for the summer!
I was nearly very tempted by the gorgeous wools and cashmere but decided to let head rule over purse!
All of the details of the fabrics can be found on my Paris vlog!
As it was such lovely sunny day, I was very excited to debut my newly made Tilly and the Buttons Rosa shirtdress. I made it from a maroon spotty Robert Kaufman chambray that I bought from Sewn. I love that the reverse of the fabric can be used too so I made contrasting yokes, inner collar band and button plackets. I am so pleased with how it turned out and love the contrast detail. I decided against adding the patch pockets and opted for more practical side pockets, which I drafted myself. As with my previous Rosa shirt, I opted to omit the sleeves altogether and finish the armholes with satin bias binding.
My brother and his girlfriend arrived after lunch so we met up with them and caught up before heading out to dinner.
I am allergic to gluten, so eating in Paris was a bit of challenge for me. Thanks to google, I did track down some lovely places that were Celiac-friendly and on the Friday night, we went to a place called NoGlu, which was 100% gluten free. The food was incredible and I am so glad we found it. They also had a bakery where I could stock up for lunches and snacks!
Day Three:
I took my Sew Over It, Mollie dress out for a boat trip on the Seine!
We took a hop on hop off boat and visited lots of Paris’ main attractions. We stopped off at the Eiffel Tower and had a good look around. We decided not to go up it, as the queues were horrendous!
After that, we went to look at the Arc de Triumph and then took a stroll down the Champs Elysées.
As this was my Mum’s actual birthday, we got all dressed up and went out for dinner.
I wore my Vogue 8997 dress, which is part of the McCalls Pattern Company Cocktail Hour for the Eve Appeal. I am so pleased with the finished dress. I did have to make a few adjustments on the princess seams over the bust and also take out a good couple of inches from the back seam but it has turned out really well. I made it in a black stretch cotton sateen and navy lining, both from Minerva Crafts. I hemmed the lining with a silver bias trim for a cute little flash of colour when I sit down! I was planning on wearing it with strappy heels but the weather wasn’t quite warm enough so I had to stick with tights and boots.
After dinner, Alex and I took a trip down to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night – it was beautiful and the sky had put on a stunning display of pink and purple clouds for us!
Day Four:
We spent our last morning wondering around the area near to our hotel and going to see the Moulin Rouge. I wore my Breton Agnes top again, this time paired with my Sew Over It Erin skirt as I figured that would be a comfy outfit for travelling in.
The train ride to the airport and the flight home were pretty non-eventful and we had a lovely welcome home from the cat, who pretty much hasn’t left my side since I’ve been back!
You can hear more about my trip on my latest vlog.