LAF Favorite: Nouez Moi

One of my favourite lines in the store is a line I found in Paris—years ago.  Nouez-Moi, which has a beautiful store in the 8^th Arrondissement.  I don’t usually post about the 8^th Arrondissement, because I figure most Americans already know about it.  After all, it’s where Dior and La Chatelaine and so many other posh stores are, and it’s where people are still beautifully dressed in glamorous suits, etc., etc., etc.  But I do wander around there when I am in Paris, and it’s where I found Nouez-Moi.

NOUEZ-MOI

8 Rue Clement-Marot

Paris 75008

Nouez-Moi is listed by Travel & Leisure as one of the Best of Paris, and it is.  And that is why, after finding it, I knew I had to have it for my boutique.  I just love their things—their beautifully embroidered and edged sheets (of wonderful Egyptian cotton)

As you can see, you can have it in several colour combinations. Here is it is the always popular beige. 

With towels to match—again wonderful Egyptian cotton—in all kinds of wonderful colours and pattens

Coquillage is the best selling of all their designs, although people also go crazy for the hand-embroidered Fish

Which, because it is hand-embroidered, is very expensive, we usually sell in conjunction with a pattern from our beloved company, Baroni, in Florence

As with so many of our designs, we can make this in just about any colour combination, so for the fish design, we make this Baroni companion in the colours of the green and blue embroidery, and edge the cases in the same blue as the embroidered edge of the fish pattern.  The cherry and strawberry

pattern is another of their hand embroidered designs, and again, because of that,

it is expensive, so we can again pair it with the Baroni pattern—or another of their patterns—although this time we would either use a choice of two greens or maybe green edges with alternating green

and red dots.

So maybe now is a good time to explain about hand-embroidery.

Hand-embroidery is just what it says—embroidery by hand.  Because it is labour intensive, it is expensive.  It is usually done in the Far East, although, in order to be of fine quality, the fabrics MUST come from Europe (Egyptian cotton sheeting is grown and woven in Italy; linen flax is grown and woven in Belgium and Ireland).  The cotton and linen grown in the Far East—especially China—is short staple (referring to the length of the fibres spun), and thus, no matter the thread count, it fuzzes after much laundering.  But the embroidery workmanship can be exquisite.  Hand embroidery is also still done in Madeira, mainland Portugal, Italy, and France.  It is extremely fine and extremely expensive and worth every penny.  

Hand-guided machine embroidery is also just what it says—a person sits and guides the machines that do the embroidery. The best of this is usually done in Europe—especially in Italy and France. The picture of the red arabesques above is one of the beautiful hand-guided machine-embroidered patterns done by Nouez-Moi. It is equally beautiful all by itself, or used in conjunction with another pattern such as the cherry pattern (which can be made in all cherries or all strawberries, too), and can come in any colour desired—also white on white which is always beautiful and extremely luxurious.

Hope you enjoyed my little store blurb—Nouez-Moi is exquisite.

XOXOXO LETA