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)

Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2009)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 Gardens 

The magnificient gardens of Versailles.

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

Amazon Price: $17.96 (as of 12/04/2009)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.

Marie Antoinette 

Find out more about Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette

Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Marie Antoinette: The Journey

Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Marie Antoinette: A Film by David Grubin

Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Vogue Photo Shoot for Marie Antoinette 

Kirsten Dunst as Marie Antoinette.

These gowns are just unbelievably gorgeous!

Marie Antoinette

The making of the movie with Vogue magazine.

Runtime: 192
30407 views
41 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

The Orange Trees of Versailles 

A novel set at Versailles.

The Orange Trees of Versailles

Amazon Price: $5.99 (as of 12/04/2009)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!


The Palace of Versailles (Part1)

Runtime: 300
218435 views
316 Comments:


The Palace of Versailles (Part 2)

Runtime: 300
82542 views
48 Comments:


The Palace of Versailles (Part 3)

Runtime: 300
43346 views
20 Comments:


The Palace of Versailles (Part 4)

Runtime: 302
48150 views
34 Comments:


The Palace of Versailles (Part 5)

Runtime: 300
35322 views
45 Comments:


Marie Antoinette trailer

Runtime: 149
424329 views
908 Comments:


Behind The Scenes Of Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette part 1

Runtime: 377
5940 views
7 Comments:


France - Paris - Versailles: Palace and Park

Runtime: 126
6435 views
5 Comments:


Costumes of Marie Antoinette: Part 1

Runtime: 177
33463 views
54 Comments:

curated content from YouTube

Textiles and Furnishings 

Opulent fabrics of Versailles.

Versailles Books 

Find out more about this enormous and luxurious place!

Versailles: A Biography of a Palace

Amazon Price: $19.77 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Gardens of the World VERSAILLES Paris, France

Amazon Price: $19.99 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles

Amazon Price: $40.95 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Versailles

Amazon Price: $59.85 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Splendors of Versailles

Amazon Price: (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Furniture and Decoration 

The interior of the palace.

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.

Madame de Pompadour (New York Review Books Classics)

Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Madame de Pompadour: A Life

Amazon Price: $13.46 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Madame de Pompadour: Mistress of France

Amazon Price: $13.68 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

Madame de Pompadour Mouse Pad

Amazon Price: $6.95 (as of 12/04/2009) Buy Now

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About Melted Rachel 

Rachel Cox- Textiles Artist.

Lensmaster MeltedRachel has been a member since March 18 2009, has rated 809 lenses, favorited 461, and has created 118 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Online Craft Business Tips". See all my lenses

My Bio

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,
and figurines
which I embroider, layer, melt, and bead.

I also love felting, knitting, and spinning and I'm just getting into freeform crochet.

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