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Palace of Versailles

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Versailles, Marie Antoinette and a Textiles Journal

Last Summer I went on a coachtrip weekend to Paris. It was Bastille Day weekend so on the Sunday we went to Versailles to get out of the busy city.

I really didn't want to look around Versailles, I wanted to stay in Paris!

All I knew about Versailles was that a group of politicians signed something there.

When I got there I was absolutely amazed by the place! You've never seen somewhere so huge and magnificient in your life. I don't think you can understand fully why those peasants were revolting until you get there!

I only got to stay there for three hours (and I queued for 1.5 hours) which is such a shame because you could spend a week there and not see everything.

Versailles, textiles, women of excess!

About this lens.

In between my photos of Versailles you'll find images of a textiles book I'm making about Versailles and Marie Antoinette.

This "book", which at the moment is just a collection of ideas and textiles pieces, was originally going to be a fabric travel journal about my trip to Paris. As I've had the front cover and a few pages hanging around for almost a year, I decided I had to use them for something soon. Versailles is the part of my trip that I enjoyed the most and I wanted to find out more about the place and celebrate it in my textiles work.

I'm using this lens to generate ideas and inspiration for making my textiles journal.

Palace of Versailles, Ile-De-France, France, Europe




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Find out more about Versailles
Wikipedia entry for Versailles.

7gypsies in Paris

I really wanted to get hold of this book before I went to Paris.

7 Gypsies in Paris (7 Gypsies)

7 Gypsies in Paris (7 Gypsies)

by: Sarah Smylie

Amazon Price: $22.00 (as of 02/16/2012)Buy Now

I'd seen a few images from the 7gypsies in Paris book and I wanted to do something similar with my visit- expect in cloth instead of paper. I started sewing some textiles pieces together that I could use as background "pages".

Broken Sewing Machine

My sewing machine broke before I went to Paris so I had to leave my unfinished "pages" behind. I had planned to sew into them by hand whilst I was sat on the coach.

Ideas for my Textiles Book

Versailles inspired textiles art.

The main textiles piece for the book cover is a red velvet which I then layered up with some other tiny pieces of fabric and covered with organza to keep it all in place. I might carefully melt some of the organza away to make this look like an old book cover and reveal the velvet's texture.

The main textiles piece for the book cover is a red velvet which I then layered up with some other tiny pieces of fabric and covered with organza to keep it all in place. I might carefully melt some of the organza away to make this look like an old book cover and reveal the velvet's texture.

The main textiles piece for the book cover is a red velvet which I then layered up with some other tiny pieces of fabric and covered with organza to keep it all in place. I might carefully melt some of the organza away to make this look like an old book cover and reveal the velvet's texture.
The textiles piece is supposed to be reminiscent of marbled paper. I made it to be the inside cover of my textiles journal. I may sew some swirly satin stitch lines into this.
A "plain page" ready for decoration or text.
This image shows one of the "plain pages" I made for my book. As I thought I'd take these textiles pieces with me on my travels and work onto them afterwards I needed to make some plain backgrounds. Now I think I might make some more worked-into textiles pages with images already on them.
Doodles for my Versailles textiles book.
Doodles for my Versailles textiles book.
A piece of fabric I might use in my book.

The Gardens

The magnificient gardens of Versailles.

The Gardens. The view from the palace.

The Gardens. The view from the palace.

The Gardens. The view from the palace.
The large fountain in front of the palace.
Look at all those golden frogs!
Looking out across the gardens.
These steps are made from the same marble as some of the palace interiors.
This way to Marie Antoinette's hamlet!
The day I visited Versailles was a really hot and sunny day. The white stones covering the ground outside the palace were blinding. I wonder if this was intentional as the King's bedroom is themed around the sun and Versailles was built in the line of the sun.
I love the swirly shapes in this garden. Perhaps I should use these shapes for my marbled "end papers". I certainly like the idea of making a textiles page that has hints of these grass shapes in the background.
I love this picture of the gardens and palace.
Part of the palace viewed from outside.

The Garden...

...and its problems.

Water has been a big problem at Versailles since the gardens were expanded way beyond what was originally built.
Read about the Machine de Marly below to discover one unsuccessful attempt to keep the fountains running.

Most of the decoration at Versailles is based on the celestial bodies.

Chateau de Versailles, France




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Find out more about the gardens
Wikipedia entry for the Gardens of Versailles.
Find out more about the Marly Machine
Wikipedia entry for the Marly Machine.

Marie Antoinette

Louis XVI's Queen.

Portrait of Marie-Antoinette de Habsbourg-Lorraine after the Painting by Joseph Ducreux 1770




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Versailles is so huge it has a hamlet inside the Palace grounds! This is Marie Antoinette's hamlet.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to walk around the gardens or see the Hamlet of Marie Antoinette. I'd love to go back again one day and walk around the grounds.

Quaint Hamlet of Marie Antoinette at the Palace of Versailles




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Find out more about Marie Antoinette
Wikipedia entry for Marie Antoinette.

Embroidered Gardens

It might be fun to sew a Versailles-inspired garden onto a page spread of my book.

Embroidered Knot Gardens: Using Three-Dimensional Stumpwork, Canvas Work & Ribbonwork

Embroidered Knot Gardens: Using Three-Dimensional Stumpwork, Canvas Work & Ribbonwork

by: Owen Davies, Gillian Holdworth

Amazon Price: $24.03 (as of 02/16/2012)Buy Now

Ever fancied beating the WI entries in your local village fete? Try using this book to inspire sewn mini gardens that will have you winning first prize!

Historical Women

Marie Antoinette-inspired textiles.

I'm working on making four textiles pieces based on female figures from four different eras. Below is the piece based on Marie Antoinette's era- I love the ridiculously tall wigs from that time- waiting to be sewn up.

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Marie Antoinette

Find out more about Marie Antoinette.

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Vogue Photo Shoot for Marie Antoinette

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette.

These gowns are just unbelievably gorgeous!
Marie Antoinette
by lizzandrea | video info

97 ratings | 34,815 views
curated content from YouTube

The Orange Trees of Versailles

A novel set at Versailles.

The Orange Trees of Versailles

The Orange Trees of Versailles

by: Annie Pietri

Amazon Price: $3.44 (as of 02/16/2012)Buy Now

A story about 13 year old Marion who blends perfumes that catch the attention of Louis XIV's mistress.

Versailles and Marie Antoinette Videos

Find out more!

Marie Antoinette trailer
by stateofmind3471 | video info

1,545 ratings | 1,039,033 views
curated content from YouTube

Textiles and Furnishings

Opulent fabrics of Versailles.

Imagine sleeping in this bed! There's so much gold everywhere- I think I'll have to focus on gold and the sun in my textiles book. Also check out the wall paper. It has red flocking on it which was protected with perspex- but I saw one naughty man reach up above the perspex and stroke it!

Imagine sleeping in this bed! There's so much gold everywhere- I think I'll have to focus on gold and the sun in my textiles book. Also check out the wall paper. It has red flocking on it which was protected with perspex- but I saw one naughty man reach up above the perspex and stroke it!

Imagine sleeping in this bed! There's so much gold everywhere- I think I'll have to focus on gold and the sun in my textiles book. Also check out the wall paper. It has red flocking on it which was protected with perspex- but I saw one naughty man reach up above the perspex and stroke it!
It might be interesting to make some tiny scraps of tapestry like this image. I saw some textiles work once where the artist had made pieces that looked similar to the patterns below but they'd distressed the work so it looked really antique.
A Screen.
A Screen.
Wall hanging.
I love the gold and blue fabric. I think I need to get my hands on some shiny gold lame to layer up in my textiles pages!

Versailles Books

Find out more about this enormous and luxurious place!

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Furniture and Decoration

The interior of the palace.

I could embroider some of the shapes and patterns from these photos onto my textiles pages with metallic gold embroidery thread. Maybe it would be possible to use fabric glue to stick and seal gold leaf onto textiles.

I could embroider some of the shapes and patterns from these photos onto my textiles pages with metallic gold embroidery thread. Maybe it would be possible to use fabric glue to stick and seal gold leaf onto textiles.

I could embroider some of the shapes and patterns from these photos onto my textiles pages with metallic gold embroidery thread. Maybe it would be possible to use fabric glue to stick and seal gold leaf onto textiles.
Bust on a marble stand.
Beautiful gold work.
Wall detail.
What an impressive painting this was! This is great for picking out costume detail. I don't know much about this piece but, from the looks of the clothing, it's from the early 1800s. This is later than Pompadour and Marie Antoinette but it's still useful for details and patterns.
Detail of an enormous painting covering one wall.
I adore this image. I think this would make a fabulous page spread. I could imagine using all sorts of gold fabric and thread and stuffing bits of the textiles to pad out certain elements like the bird and the pegasus.
One of the many painted ceilings.
The photo below was taken in the Hall of Mirrors. This is one of the most impressive rooms at Versailles. I wonder if I could find some crystal beads to decorate my pages and represent the chandeliers in this room?

Madame de Pompadour

Louis XV's Mistress.

I don't know much about Madame de Pompadour's life beyond that she was in an awesome episode of Dr Who! So her life's an area for me to look into further for my journal.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson Marquise de Pompadour




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Find out more about Madame de Pompadour
Wikipedia entry for Madame de Pompadour.

Madame de Pompadour...

...on Amazon.com.

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Index

Quick links.

  1. Versailles, textiles, women of excess!
  2. Ideas for my Textiles Book
  3. The Gardens
  4. Marie Antoinette
  5. Textiles and Furnishings
  6. Furniture and Decoration
  7. Madame de Pompadour

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About Melted Rachel

Rachel Cox- Textiles Artist.

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MeltedRachel

I'm Rachel, a textiles artist from the southwest of England.
I love using recycled materials to create one-of-a-kind:
textiles art pieces,
handbags,... more »

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