Hello!
I am traveling to Paris for 6 days at the end of March. We will be staying at the HOTEL du LOUVRE. I am very interested in finding fabric stores to visit. I've never been to Paris, so I'm not at all familiar with the city. I am, however, very good at navigating and finding my way around.
Thank you for any help you can provide.

The Marché Saint Pierre (www.marche-saint-pierre.fr) is considered to be the main place to look for fabrics in Paris.

Otherwise, there is Bouchara (www.bouchara.fr).

I do not know the name of the street, but the little street which seemed to connect Rue St. Jacob to Rue de Buci (I may not have this right) widened into a tiny plaza surrounded with shops that said Manuel Canovas, Nina Campbell, etc. Maybe a frequent visitor can shed more light here.

Rue de Seine connects Rue Jacob (no St.) to Rue de Buci. If you head west from St. Germain des Pres (the church) on Rue St. Germain, you will come to Rue de Seine. My wife and I have stayed in that area twice. There a lots of small quirky shops and, as I recall, a number of fabric shops. Happy hunting!

My recommendation would be to just head for Marche Saint Pierre. I've visited many of the others, including those in the 6th, but the Marche has anything and everything at better prices.

If you are planning to actually purchase fabrics, know how much you'll need, bring something that converts measurements, and a tape measure is a good idea (one of those tiny retractable ones). If you use patterns, photocopy the backs with the requirements and bring those with you (metric chart).

While shopping, if you see something you like, write down where it is. You think you'll be able to find your way back to it and remember where you saw it, but I'd bet you won't. Prices are competitive at the Marche, and you don't often see the exact same thing at more than one place (they are all so varied in their stock), so it's better to shop for what you want at a price you will pay, rather than shop prices.

sews4dogs - This post interested me as my family has the largest fabric store in our city and the only exclusive pattern shop(dress patterns etc.) in South Africa.

Many years ago we accidently stumbled upon Rue Steinkerque with its wall-to-wall fabric shops.
However, this extract from Thirza Vallois book on the 13th-20th Arr. says thus:

"To your right of Place Saint-Pierre
is the celebrated Marche` Saint-Pierre - a bedlam on a Saturday afternoon - offerring the largest and cheapest choice of fabrics in the capital. Black Africans and white French housewives rub shoulders with dressmakers and film or theatre dressers, while Arab men buy glittering fabrics for their women sequestered back home.
Pablo Picasso did the same in 1904, when he came here to glean cheap cloth for his attire."

Are you looking for fabrics for furniture, table linens, clothing or all three?

Thank you for this thread! (pun intended ) I love to purchase fabric when I travel, mostly for making pillows and table linens.

Is one of these stores better than another for table linens?

There's another section with fabrics. This is one of the small streets which head towards the Sacre Couer (sp?) from the Place Blanche. I think that this is the area where the Molin Rouge is located.

If you don't find the stores, check the next street which heads upwards.

It's an interesting area, so enjoy.

Blackduff

bookmarking

Hopingtotravel...This is my regular neighborhood and I think you might mean the rue de la Abbaye(sp?) area or the street that rue de la Furstemburg dumps into. Were the stores near Guenmai restaurant? I think I've seen them. And no I'm not part of the restaurant...just been eating there regularly for probably 25 or more years which is why I took the name a couple of decades ago. Smiles. Happy Travels!

I too enjoy the stores at the base of Sacre Coer - it's an easy stop over - be sure to go beyond the ground level. the upper floors have nice selections. Watch for the double wide bolts of fabric - great for making seamless bed covers.

Guenmai, it's been three years since I was there, but it was a street between Rue Jacob and I believe Rue Buci on the way to breakfast at Paul's. There were at least 5 or 6 shops with designer names on them.

Not just at the base of Sacre Couer. There are more shops in the other streets as you head down hill. Wander.

I, too, love the Marche Saint Pierre area. In addition to the fabric stores, there are shops on several streets that sell beautiful trims, tassels, fringes, etc. This stuff is hard to find even in in my home town -- San Francisco.

Some shops have needlepoint canvases with French iconic designs. These make great, easy-to-carry gifts for crafty friends, even if that is not a vice of yours.

I second the advice about bringing pattern info. Also, if you can, bring small swatches for color samples.

I make a point of looking at the remnants, also. You can make great placemats, etc.


Have fun. Sunny

BHV also has a decent selection of fabrics. I loved the lace curtain selection there, which had better quality than the shops at Marche Saint Pierre that I went to, until last year. They seem to have less selection than before, but BHV is still a great place to shop for fabrics.

Oh my god, another mention of Paul as a place to eat. The number of Paul locations at autoroute rest stops should tip you off.

Kerouac, I'll bite. What's a good place to have breakfast a short walk from D'Aubusson? (a sit-down). Besides grabbing one of those lovely little onion tarts from a shop window.

Oh, don't worry - Paul is fine for the basics. It just ends up annoying me that people keep mentioning it as though it is some unmissable gourmet location when it is just a completely ordinary chain bakery and sandwich shop.

Personally, I like the breakfast items offered by McDonald's when I am in the US, but it would never occur to me to gush over them.

And the two McDonalds we went into in France were actually cleaner, and the food tasted better than at the ones in the US!