L’inspiration Francaise, Part I – French Needlework

A trip to Paris always leaves me with notebooks filled with ideas, notes, and photos that eventually contribute to my designing. In fact, I find everything French incredibly inspiring. Here are a few of this trip’s inspirations – so far.

Let’s start with those French stitching magazines. Here are a few I picked up at the local newsstand.

I treat these magazines as reference books. The French are very skilled at incorporating cross stitch into their daily lives, something reflected in the magazines and the shop models. For example, Des Fils et Une Aiguille, one of my favorite Parisian needlework shops, had these two bags on display in its windows:

You can find here so many fine linen products like these bags to use for your stitching projects. We are in awe of the French ease for using stitched items for more than just pillows, stitching smalls and wall hangings. (Oh, but the pillows they do make!)

Theresa