Paris: Sacre Coeur

One of the more touristy things we were sure to do while we were in Paris was climb to Sacre Coeur. I had heard the view of the city was worth the throngs of people. And, indeed, the view is spectacular. This area of the city wasn't particularly my favorite, since the surrounding blocks were brimming with souvenir shops and dense crowds, but it had its perks.   

A large number of fabric shops can be found surrounding the base of Sacre Coeur. A lot of these shops are coupon shops, meaning that the fabric is pre-cut into 3m pieces. This method of fabric sales was a totally new concept to us. I guess 3m is a fairly average length of fabric to purchase, overall. But, the entire practice seems very wasteful to me. For instance, if I need 2meters or 4meters, I'm stuck with and paying for fabric that won't be used. And, despite our American understanding of the word coupon, there is no discount for the pre-cut lengths. Also, a  lot of the shops in this area carried identical inventory, which made it seem like there was a lot more to choose from than there actually was. I did buy one wool coating coupon while we were there, but, overall, I wasn't a fan.  

We also, very briefly, stopped into a yarn store in this neighborhood. It's called Chatmaille, and it was the most bizarre yarn store I have EVER been to. There's a very strict NO TOUCHING policy. Seriously, there are signs in both French and English posted all over the place.  I felt like I was five walking through a China shop with my hands in my pockets. The space is small, and the yarn is tucked into cubbies on the wall. There are some knit samples that patrons are welcome to handle, but they don't appear to be knit from the same yarns displayed as inventory. It was strange. Really, strange. Do yourself a favor, if you're ever yarn shopping in Paris, and skip this shop. Or, go there just for the novelty, because it's truly an odd place.

My favorite shop from our visit to Sacre Coeur is Dam Bouton. It's a wonderland of buttons! All the walls are shelved full of color coordinated button varieties from the most basic shirt buttons to the most elaborate rhinestone buttons you can imagine. 

On this particular day, I was outfitted in another McCall's M6696 Shirtwaist dress. This version was sewn using an embroidered eyelet fabric I picked-up at Joann Fabrics. I underlined the dress in navy cotton. Based on the double layer of fabric, I had expected this version of the dress to be the most fitted version I made. Quite the opposite. I made the same changes to the bodice and used the same construction methods as I had on previous versions, yet this dress appears a size, maybe two bigger. I have no explanation why.