French Color: Rouge

French Color: Chanvre

Charlotte and Tom

Years ago when JZ, Sofia and I first visited Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in France, we stayed in a 17th century townhouse called Le Sejour.  Tom, the Englishman and owner of Le Sejour, renovated the house from top to bottom leaving all of the charm.  Every year we returned to Tom's place and felt like it was our home away from home.  Then one year, Tom sold the place and moved to the Amazon - he wanted to explore the river and learn about indigenous cultures.  So...we had to find another place to rent, which was about the time we found the chateau where we now take groups of women every summer.  The second summer we rented the chateau, Lizzie, the owner of the chateau, introduced me to the hired chef, Charlotte.  Charlotte, who continues to cook for us every summer at the chateau is a beautiful Englishwoman who studied cooking in Paris, specializing in sauces - yes sauces!  Charlotte told me that on Wednesday her boyfriend would be coming over to do a barbecue and we would all eat outside under the stars.  On Wednesday evening I saw a crazy fast motorcycle pull up the long driveway of the chateau and I thought - must be the boyfriend, here to do the barbecue.  I eventually walked downstairs and in the lobby, to my surprise, was Tom - our old friend who we hadn't heard from or seen in years - we thought he was lost to a tribe never to be seen again!  I was so shocked I said "Tom - what are you doing here?" to which he replied, "I'm here to do the barbecue - I'm Charlotte's boyfriend!" I couldn't believe it - after all these years and we were back together again!  So now, Tom comes to the chateau every summer to help Charlotte, and just to say hello.  Last summer we had the chance to visit their bastide, just outside of St. Antonin, where Charlotte gives French lessons in between cooking for herself, her children and Tom.

And just a little peek at some of the wonderful food Charlotte cooks for us every summer.....

So Many Pretty Dresses!

I loved hearing about everyone's favorite dress memories - I see a whole book with drawings of each and every little dress - anyone out there want to do the sketches?? Thank you so much for digging deep and writing about such beautiful little details!
Our random winners are....
Stephanie - the purple dress
Rebecca - the peach dress with the white polka dots
Yann - the sailor collar dress in red, white and blue
Please send me an e-mail to notions@frenchgeneral.com with your address and we will get a box of Petite Odile fabric out to you - so you can sew up a little dress for someone special (or maybe yourself!) Merci!

Petite Odile Giveaway

Our new line with Moda, Petite Odile, has just arrived! I designed this line with a story in my head...the story of a French girl named Odile who had an armoire full of petite dresses. Each day Odile would choose her favorite dress and then match it up with her little socks, shoes and apron. The visual of an armoire filled with old dresses inspired me to design a handful of sweet little prints that would be perfect for children's clothing, quilts or room decoration.
 About a month ago I received an e-mail from a woman in Paris named Odile. She was over the moon that someone had used her name in a collection - an old French name - that many people had never even heard before.
 Odile wrote: I think I share with you, the love of old children designs. I have at home a very large collection of vintage newspaper , mainly as I am looking for old sewing machines information. And then Odile sent me a flicker link to her favorite children designs that she had scanned from old French newspapers.
To celebrate our new collection, and to inspire you to sew a dress for your favorite little girl,  please leave us a comment about a childhood dress memory and we will send out a box of fabric to a couple of lucky winners.  Bonne Chance!

People I Know Who Woad

Rachel woads

Cheryl woads

Joan woads

Cathy woads

Lisa woads

Sofia woads

Teree woads

Marcia woads

Wendy woads

Kick woads

Monica and Meleen woad

Danielle woads too!

Even Molly woads!

Wanna woad?  We are sold out of our Los Angeles Woad Workshop on Saturday May 5th, but there are two more workshops happening:

Seattle
May 12th and 13th

New York
May 19th

An Afternoon in Summerland

My favorite afternoon is usually an afternoon spent in Summerland, California at my friend Mogull's house. Mogull, as she is affectionally known to all of us, used to visit us at French General back in Hollywood and tell us all about her five kids - and to tell you the truth - I couldn't believe it - five kids! I am one of five and I know how crazy a house it can be with five kids. But somehow she managed to be so cool - which seemed like such an anomaly to me. Then, four years ago, Mogull joined us in France, on our very first Chateau Getaway. I think I must have recognized her ability to harness a group of 20 women very quickly and I remember thinking - she's a keeper! She has returned with us every summer and is usually the first one up, delivering Molly and me coffee in bed - something we desperately need most mornings! Mogull and her great friend Stacy are the women behind Summerland Mercantile - a wonderful workshop, creative garden and atelier just a couple of hours north of Los Angeles - on the outskirts of Santa Barbara. Every year I get to go up for a workshop or two and teach in this outdoor space - it's always a fun afternoon and it's filled with Mogull and Stacey's warm touches. I'm headed up again in a couple of weeks to teach a jewelry workshop - nothing fancy just a bunch of interesting types sitting around and sharing our creativity. If you need a day out or live in the area, sign up for a day to relax and create something beautiful - just in time for Mother's Day! Sign up here!

Lost at Sea

I've been in jury duty for the past two weeks and it is beginning to take its' toll. When I was first selected to sit on a jury panel I was at once shocked and excited. Shocked that I had actually been chosen (I am self-employed!) and excited to see, up-close, how our legal system works. When I heard what the criminal case was, I was sickened, but like the judge said to me, "Sometimes we have to do the hard work." So, I dug in and decided to give it my best shot. Yesterday, we started deliberations on all three counts. Our "team" of twelve agreed on count one and two and now we are stuck - muddled down in semantics and people's own personal emotions. I see no way out and I'm beginning to worry this could take more time than any of us bargained for. I feel a bit lost at sea, and hoping that we are able to wrap this up soon and go back to our regular, old, boring lives. More to come....

Jolee is in the House!

Today we received our line of paper arts from EK Success! When we started this project, over a year ago, I never imagined that we would be able to create a line of vintage inspired papers and embellishments that actually captured the French General look so well. I love the 12x12 papers - they are all prints from our antique collection of fabric - some making repeat performances from our quilting collection with Moda. There is even a pack of adhesive fabric sheets that can be cut and stuck down to projects - just be sure you use paper cutting scissors and cut before you peel! The embellishments have the look and feel of vintage pieces - but yet are very useable for paper and sewing projects. And the labels and tags all feel as if they were dug out of an old warehouse - almost as if they were original bits and pieces! We will carry the line in the shop and on line - but you will also be able to find it at your favorite craft and scrapbook shop and Michaels! Have fun creating and we would love to see photos of any projects you do - please post on our Art of Craft site. Merci!