{Paris sew social & a giveaway }

There are no words to truly capture the feeling I have about the trip I took to Paris 10 days ago.
It was just an amazing experience from beginning to end.
The whole idea of having a meeting of sewing bloggers was initiated by Sweet Annika and Gioia (Dotta) a few months ago. They organized it with patience and a lot of commitment! they were amazing.
When I finally took my seat on the train that would take me to Paris aftern months of emails, it was finally getting real!!
 

Paris in itself is amazing. I had never been there and I must say,  I fell in love at first sight. 

I adored Notre-Dame and its island. I fell in love with its small streets and gorgeous ancient monuments. I will never forget my walks along the Seine in the warmth of April's sun, and especially my first visit to Notre Rame with Annika. I was so lucky to be able to spend a lot of time alone with her on the first day!

 

Then we met Marta who is so lovely and fun. In the evening Victoria arrived from England. Oh , it was really getting real!

                              Darling Annika and I

 Marta and I!! This girl is so much fun!!

 

 lunch Place des Vôsges!!

And then: the next day all the other arrived! And here were we: 14 bloggers from all over Europe meeting for real for the first time! It was amazing!

 I was really scared at first they would not appreciate me, you know, the real un-edited me, slightly crazy and totally loud! But they did not seem to be put off ! strangely!!!
And I must say I left 13 friends behind, 13 ladies that I truly respect and appreciate. We had so much fun, we talked and laughed so much together I lost my voice and it took me a whole week to recover it. My kids say I left my voice in Paris, but I believe i left a piece of my heart too!

We stayed in a dormroom  in St Christopher's Inn, a great place, perfectly placed in Paris. They were so kind to offer to each of us a 50 % discount on our rooms! and the view from our roof top room was just AMAZING!! bonjour PARIS!!!!

Of course there was a LOT of sewing talk involved: I mean a LOT!! It was so cool to be able to be around ladies who would wonder at the fabric or the pattern you are wearing!! So relaxing let me tell you!! I felt like I could really be myself, especially with no children around!!
And of course , there was a lot of fabric shopping involved too!

My favorite spots were Petit Pan and Atelier Brunette.
Petit Pan has the most beautiful and colorful fabrics and notions. I adore the japanese feel of their patterns and we were just "ohs and ahs"!!

I snapped this photo of my dearest Annika from Naeh-connection: she is the most wonderful lady and she was such a great leader during our trip!

There was a wall covered with piping and bias tape.... swoon....

Atelier Brunette was also a fabulous moment in our trip: the adorable owner and designer of these  well known fabrics opened her shop just for us and it was so great to get to choose and to be the first to see her new collection of fabrics! Bernina offered to each of us 28 euros worth in fabric in that shop!!

Maria from La Inglesita and I wore some garments made with Atelier Brunette fabric that day. You know, just because we love to be the teacher's pets!!

On saturday we also went to Montmartre and I must say the Sacré Coeur moved me to tears. I was just so beautiful and surreal.

Victoria from As it Seams was my companion that day as we split in small groups to wonder around Montmartre. We walked the cobbled streets of that gorgeous area and had a coffe in a very french café! so cute! We had a very special afternoon together, I will never forget.

Walking back along the Seine, we found this giant blackboard and left an ephemeral mark of our passage there!!

 

  Olu from Needle & Ted: she is so witty!! 

Beautiful shy Nina! 

Laura  and Nienke and Maartje

  Maria, La Inglesita

 Marte from Compagnie M : she is such a clever and creative woman: she was always so well dressed!

Olu and An

                                                                             Darling Laura!!

                                               Gioia from Dotta. 

On saturday night we had dinner at Les Quilles, along the canal Saint Martin. The food was delicious and the owner was so very welcoming!

 I came back home exhausted but so happy. And my suitcase was full of marvelous fabrics and notions!!
Here is a part of what I took back home:

I am going to combine these three prints to make a dress using a pattern by Straightgrain patterns:

And this cute panda print was included in our sponsors bag of goodies: Alles für Selbermacher:

I will never forget these four days, and the special women I met. All so talented and creative, all so kind and generous.I miss them already and our wild sewing conversations!!

GIVEAWAY

Now onto the fun part! All of us, are having a giveaway for you!

We have 3 prizes to give because we love it when more than 1 gets to win!!

So here are the 3 prizes:

The first prize includes jerseys from Lillestoff (the rose print sponsored by Lillestoff, the ABC print sponsored by joy fits), a Andrea Lauren bag filled with goodies from Alles für Selbermacher, an Ottobre magazin, a 15$ voucher for Imagine Gnats Shop and a sewing magazine from Stoffe.de.

The second prize includes a jersey with roses from lillestoff, a fun dinosaur fabric sponsored by mon depot, some pink ribbing from Nosh, a lace zipper from Snaply, nice spools from Aurifil, a paper pattern by Compagnie M. and a sewing magazine from Stoffe.de.

The third prize includes a flowery popeline from Lillestoff, white jersey from Nosh, blue Lycra (?) with Cupcakes from mon depot, a paper pattern from Compagnie M., spools from Aurifil and a sewing magazine from stoffe.de.

In order to participate enter in the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Paris Sew Social and this giveaway were made possible by our amazing sponsors, so thank you Bernina, Lillestoff, Cousette, Nosh, FabFab, Telaria, Alles für Selbermacher, Supercut, Imagine Gnats, Nutta, Mon Depot, Tuttle, Aurifil, Snaply, Joyfits, Ottobre, Compagnie M., Do Guincho, Titchy Threads, Made It, Kid Approved, Schneidermeistern , Delia Creates, Willow&Co, Mouse House Creations, Sofilantjes, Sewpony, LBG Studio, Loubee Clothing, Straightgrain, Elegance&Elephants, Hey June, Paisley Roots, St. Christopher's Inns and Paris Office du Tourisme.