For the third time this summer, I am packing to go away. This time, the destination is Paris. It has always been a love-hate relationship. Loving and fighting, singing and crying, we spent seven years together. I came to Paris from a foreign country, young and naive enough to still believe that all people are kind creatures.
I could easily write a book about my adventures and misadventures in Paris (just have to brush up my English or write it in French and translate).But if it weren't for the ups and downs I experienced in the French capital, I would have never become who I am today.
The aim of this post is not to tell you about my life, but what I'll be doing in Paris!
The main reason for my trip is a friend's wedding. In fact, the wedding will take place in Belgium. I am looking forward to the picturesque Flemish country-side! The dress which I am currently working on to wear to the wedding is almost finished!
But the wedding also gave me an excuse to stay in Paris more to learn tambour beading! Crochet embroidery has fascinated me for a while, but as with
bra-making , I was scared that I would not be good enough at something so technically precise. After a few weeks of contemplation, I have decided to go for it!
My first idea was to sign-up for a few master classes at
Lesage, the mecca of tambour embroidery. But it is, like most of the schools in France, closed for the summer holidays. Thank God for Google! The search pages introduced me to this amazing crafter,
Véronique Richard. From what I had read on her site and her
blog, she seemed a passionate artist and a lovely woman. So I emailed her and asked if she would be available for some intensive private lessons. And to my great surprise she answered positively! Can you believe, she's been kind enough to buy me all the equipment necessary for a beginner! Of course, I don't expect to become anywhere near as good as the great artists who create couture gowns for the catwalk défilés, but I would like to master some of the tambour beading techniques enough to incorporate them in my future garments. EXCITEDDDDDD!
I'll post more details about my lessons and share the results with you after my return in Tokyo, in the beginning of September.
I'm so excited for you! I don't embroider but I think it's so beautiful and would love to know how to do it. I can't wait to hear more about your experience!
ReplyDeleteI don't embroider but I admire those who do!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say I arrived here through Colette. Your Lily dress is wonderful, and I'm really glad to have found your blog.
Thanks for stopping by, Alice!
DeleteHow nice. I like Paris and lived in Belgium...so I actually prefer to go back to Brussels than to Paris ;o) Flanders is nice and certainly the wedding will have a great party
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it was raining cats and dogs :( But we had enough wine and beer to cheer us up! I love Belgium too!
DeleteThat course sounds fabulous - thanks for the links! Maybe one day when I'm in Paris... but until then, I look forward to hearing all about it!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to share with you about the tambour beading. It's absolutely fascinating!
DeleteThese private lessons sound amazing. I didn't know what this kind of embroidery was until I saw a documentary on fashion week in Paris and Karl Lagerfeld's designs being made by hand by amazing women.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you how fortunate I am to find Veronique as a teacher! She's amazing! Just looking at her hands running so quickly on fabric makes my head spin :)
DeleteThat does sound exciting! Bead embroidery looks incredible, even when (or especially when?) there's only a small section of it on a garment. Congrats on getting to learn it :)
ReplyDelete(I only learned about tambour embroidery after reading your post and links, but I know that bead and metal embroidery is pretty popular in South Asian clothing, too. They might have good ideas if you're looking for more beading inspiration down the road!)
In fact, many countries have strong beading traditions. For instance, in India you can find a similar embroidery method that tambour embroidery, although all the work is done exclusively by men. I'd love to go there for a one-week workshop too!
DeleteYou are so right: there's a lot of inspiration out there!
Not quite sure how I got here but am I ever glad I did! I've wanted to learn tambour beading ever since I saw a YouTube video of Karl Lagerfeld's designs for Chanel being beaded. Fascinating and incredibly beautiful. Please tell us if Veronique required a certain level of embroidery experience before she could teach you. I do wicked bullions (grub roses in Oz and NZ) but I'm certainly not more than intermediate level. Looking forward to more of your blog.
ReplyDeleteHello, stranger :) Thanks for stopping by! Veronique works with all levels of students: from the complete beginners (like me) to advanced embroiderers. I'll post more in details about my lessons this week, but wanted to tell that there are no words to describe how talented and generous teacher she is! I've learnt so much with her! Now I need to get my but on a chair and stitch stitch stitch
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What is that on your thumb? A thimble? Some type of thread cutter? This is so interesting and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThis is a thread cutter. Impressive, isn't it? The video is taken from a movie and the woman featured there is a professional embroiderer :)
ReplyDelete