…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.
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
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.
My recommendation: definitely still worth trekking out there.
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.
I will not suffer from thisfabricistoogoodtocutup-itis, I promise!
