…the lowdown on the fabric and yarn shops I visited whilst in Italy and Paris.
First stop, Rome; and before we had headed off on our trip I had read about Fratelli Bassetti Tessuti in a really excellent review which is also on the store website, and from which I also borrowed the below photo of the store exterior since I neglected to take my own.
Fratelli Bassetti Tessuti
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, n. 73 00186 Roma
map
Well, well. Oh my. It’s rare for a fabric store to leave me speechless and incapable of waxing lyrical about the multitude of lusciousness contained within, but this one is pretty mind-blowing!
Just read Elaine’s review to which I have linked above instead. It’s a goodie.
Rather lamely, I ended up buying only one piece of fabric. Confronted with all that fabric; my brain started out exploding with possibilities and then went numb. In fact, it was not until a few days later than my brain managed to process, and then belatedly began to kick myself.
But: and there is a but. Along with all that fabric wonderfulness, went sky high price tags. So I am not beating myself up too badly over not having bought more.
My recommendation; if you are ever lucky enough to be in Rome and have time to visit this store; do. Despite the high prices, it is nice to get a little piece of fabric for a souvenir, just because.
I bought this citrus-y pinstriped linen. It wants to be a summer-y dress, when the time comes 🙂 Or something summer-y. I haven’t decided exactly. I was thinking of limoncello and lemon gelati when I bought it.
Now, to Milan.
I had googled fabric stores in Milan prior to getting here but came up with zilch. Then one afternoon, sitting in a cafe watching all the beautiful people strolling by, I happened to catch sight of a girl holding a carrybag printed with the unmistakeable motifs of a fabric store; roll of fabric, scissors, measure rule. Could barely contain my excitement. Fortunately could make out the name of the store, and immediately looked it up and headed out there… pronto
(this photo by me)
Tessuti Scampoli
Via Lario, 14 20159 Milan, Italy02 6886493
map
Another treasure trove. Not as large, therefore not as fabulously and overwhelmingly stocked as FBT, but still pretty fantastic. Here the fabrics were heaps more reasonably priced yet still very high quality; and plentiful enough while not so much as to overwhelm. There is the ground floor section which is not very prepossessing; but if you wander into the back corner of the store you find an unobtrusive staircase, leading one down to the basement which is where most of the action is. Here were leathers, pure Italian wool suitings, silk velvets, linens and shirting cottons, tonnes of other silks, metallics, cotton denims for jeans, some cashmere knits, a whole wall of jerseys, some synthetic offerings … lots of stuff.
I got more excited in this store, buying two pieces.
Pure Italian woven wool, for which I paid the paltry sum of E15.49/m (A$19.38/m) Only my fellow Australians will know what you would pay for this fabric over here in Australia. It’s OK, I will understand if you hate me. I would too 🙂
I also bought a piece of silk velvet. It is hard to see from the picture, but it is black pile, on an intensely neon orange background, giving it a sort of chocolate-y glow in the light. Pure gorgeousness, no?
The downsides to this store: they do not accept credit cards and are a cash-only business. Plus; the cashier, perhaps not realising that I could understand Italian since I had only spoken with a girl downstairs, made a vaguely rude remark about “Americans” on our way out. I couldn’t be bothered going back and sorting him out.
My recommendation: definitely still worth trekking out there.
Now, to Paris. Aah, Paris. The day I popped out to Montmartre to meet
Donna I allowed way too much time to get there and turned up at our rendezvous about three quarters of an hour too early, haha. Easy tourist mistake. So to kill a bit of time I wandered up and down the fabric store street and checked out this one, where I could not resist starting my fabric buying spree a little early. I knew Donna wouldn’t mind… 🙂
Sacre Coupons
4 bis, rue d’Orsel 75018 Paris
closest metro stop: Anvers
Doesn’t look very enticing from the outside, huh? Appearances can be deceiving; this is a small store it is true, but stuffed to the gills with gorgeous fabric. Prices, mediocre. Not as cheap as Milan, not as dear as Rome. I found here another piece of silk velvet; green pile on a pink background, giving it a mossy appearance. This is one of “my” colours, so I grabbed it, thank you.
Donna and I went into a neighbouring store, the name of which I cannot remember, which had a mind-boggling range of buttons, and I bought: some charmingly wonky pewter ones, and some delicately carved copper-y brown ones… (it’s OK, I did buy more than 3 each, this is just a representative sample)
I re-visited Sacre Coupons a few days later when Craig was at the conference, and bought a length of soft ivory, finely woven, pure wool; and which needs almost no input from me to make it into a perfectly gorgeous light and floaty scarf. Cassie really really really wanted this one, but… so do I! I might let her borrow it every once in a while. If she’s good 🙂
Finally, Donna took me to visit
L’Oisive The, a perfectly lovely tea-shop and knitting cafe.
L’Oisive The
10, rue de la Butte aux Cailles ou 1, rue Jean Marie Jego
75013 Paris
closest Metro stop; Place d’Italie
Here I bought 4 skeins of hand-dyed French wool, in a shade of French blue, no less!
I’m envisioning a little nipped-in waisted cardigan. One day. Soon. 🙂 I have a few other little things that really should be finished off first. But I will get ’round to it. All of it.
I will not suffer from thisfabricistoogoodtocutup-itis, I promise!
