I love the fact that my life in
France is constantly changing and I’m still discovering new and exciting
things, even after eleven and a half years. I mentioned before Christmas that I
had serious bag envy after spotting this gem, designed purely for the purpose
of transporting a quiche or a tarte to a picnic or shared meal. It is chic,
stylish and oh so French and in my opinion can only enhance the experience of
an outdoor social event.
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| Sac à tarte |
Some French friends overheard my
enthusiasm and the next thing I knew plans were afoot to start a small village
sewing group, with the sac à tarte as
our first project. We are all enthusiastic, we all have our own sewing machines
and I’m hoping they have enough knowledge (and patience) to guide me gently. I would love to be able to sew. As a
child I have fond memories of knitting, pom-pom making and cross stitch sewing,
all under the guidance of my Nan and I loved it. I also have memories of Mum
trying to teach me how to use her sewing machine, but alas we didn’t get very
far and I think tempers frayed quicker than the material. I foolishly thought
that as Ed got older I would have more time to take up sewing as a hobby, but
my village life is a busy life and Mum’s sewing machine has now been sat in our
dining room gathering dust for more years than I care to remember. I’m hoping
2016 is going to be my year of the needle.
What we all needed was some
pretty material for our bags, ideally in two contrasting colours. A date was
made for fabric shopping and this morning at 7.30am we set off on our adventure
to what I thought was going to be a fabric shop, but I was wrong. We were in
fact about to discover the weird and wonderful world of la friperie, a large warehouse stacked with second hand clothes and
materials, all sold very cheaply by the kilo.
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| My friperie summer dress |
Loosely sorted into areas of
trousers, tops, dresses, skirts and more, some of the piles of clothes were taller
than I am. We tip-toed daintily around the edge, lifting, looking and sorting, however
some bold ladies (obviously professional sorters) were clambering on the
clothing and digging deep for that something special they hoped was hiding at
the bottom. I was probably the least vigorous rummager, but I still found a
beautiful lined summer dress, that is the perfect fit on my short frame, not
something I find very often. At around 1€ it was a real bargain.
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| Friperie fabric for my sac à tarte |
In the fabric bin we all found
something that will make some of the prettiest sac à tartes in the area and my friends, more accomplished
seamstresses than I, also bought material and wool for their other projects.
Watch this space for more updates on how my sewing skills are coming along. I
promise to share the good and the bad of my journey, but I’m determined I will
be the proud owner of an original sac à
tarte in time for the summer. I'm also sure that won't be my last visit to la friperie.
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| Friperie fabric for my sac à tarte |
This post has been linked to the Lou Messugo #AllAboutFrance blog link up. Click here for more great posts about France.
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