Ogling Toy Sewing Machines and Other Sewing Stuff at the Paris St. Ouen Flea Market

I am the world's luckiest person, and one reason is that my husband is a scientist, a profession that tends to hold meetings in big universities - which are usually located in big cities, with fabric stores and flea markets.

While he's in meetings, I can go places that wouldn't interest him. Last week, he had a meeting in Paris; I tagged along, and had most of a Monday to myself to enjoy the famed but confusing flea markets ("les puces") of St. Ouen.

St. Ouen is 15 different markets, each with its own personality. The markets teem on weekend, but fewer vendors are open Monday (It's closed the rest of the week). The first market I visited was Vernaisson, which had loads of things stitchers love! To conserve phone power, I didn't take pictures of the 

• Piles of red-and-white kitchen linens, often with initials hand-stitched into them,
• Vintage print fabrics, most in not great shape, 
• Costume jewelry galore.

But I did take pictures of:

• Beads - new and old, European and/or African,

•  Baubles and tchotchkes and toys, oh my!  Below, those are plastic skeletons in front, and I'm not sure what behind them - toy lanterns?) Crazy, interesting, old stuff!

•  Buttons and more buttons, often stitched to cards; vintage trim, often not in great shape:

• And, most astonishing to me, toy sewing machines, which I collect, and which are very rare in U.S. flea markets. One Vernaisson dealer had four stunners. First this toy Singer:
  Second, this cool artsy tin machine that I should have bought (only 30 Eros! The cheapest thing in the market!) But packing it up would have been challenging. The machine's body looks like worn soap.

Next, this gleaming antique...I happen to have two of these at home, but neither shines like this:

The fourth was plastic: 

It says "Ma Cousette," which I assume means, "My stitcher"?

I figured that was all I'd see - four hundred percent more than I usually see at US flea markets. But then, at a different booth I found these: 

The one on the left was very rusty, and I never saw anything quite like it. The one on the right was in lovely condition, and she wanted I think 180 Euros for it. She said it was Victorian era. 

Last, I saw this non-toy machine - it's an industrial  machine intended for shoemaking It looks like it weighs 300 lbs: 

Venaisson is small, so I did it all in about an hour. Down the street I found the Dauphine market whose slogan is "modern & classic."  It's housed in a building whose courtyard hosts this:

Yes, a giant UFO (or USO, Unidentified Sitting Object, I didn't see it fly.) Dauphine didn't have nearly as many goodies for sewists as Vernaisson, but I did find one shop with lots of cool buttons; 

 
...And a bin with fabric bolts (synthetics, which I didn't feel the urge to buy)...

Dauphin vendors also offer loads of vintage clothing; funky furniture; Rolling Stones/Mick Jagger items (books, posters, pinball machines); and, even less likely than the UFO, a famous, 10-foot-high American, Bob:

How'd he get to France? In the UFO? 
In a dark corner of Dauphine, there's a hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Gastropod; despite its humble appearance, the food was incroyably delicious. Here's my "Buddha bowl" (kidney beans, roasted sweet potatoes, pickled peppers, corn with dressing, a small tomato-y beef stew, fresh bread.) (Wasn't Buddha a vegetarian? I'm not going to nitpick with a lunch this delicious.)

I also walked through the Biron market - it was 2/3rds closed (because it was Monday), but that was just as well. Through windows and in the open shops, I saw stuff that doesn't interest me - stuff the peasants liberated from Versailles, elaborate, over-the-top antiquities for people with royal taste and treasure. The Malassis market was almost completely closed and those stalls didn't have clear windows to look through, so I can't characterize what's sold there in any way.

What did I buy? I was so restrained! Besides the memorable lunch, I bought a little 10 Euro bag at Vernaisson, containing these things:

There are charms, brooches, a buckle, a pin from Graceland (!), a thimble, a shoe decoration. Closeup of two of the charms: 

The thimble, beetle charm and rhinestone pin: 

The brooch below has a guitar handle on the left - but I can't figure out what the shape on the right end is - not quite France, not quite Texas - if you know, please tell me in the comments!

 (UPDATE: Mystery solved! It's Africa, sideways! See comments below - the pin was a commemoration of the Live Aid concert in 1985. I'm thrilled!)

If you want to visit Les Puces de St. Ouen, do a lot more advance homework than I did - study this website and google translate this one in French. Print out a map - the flea markets are not contiguous, you have to search for them! Wear sunscreen, bring walking shoes and a fanny pack (Pickpockets are an issue on crowded days - no one came near me on a scant Monday.) If you can possibly go on a weekend, do that, because so many of the shops are closed on Monday. Have a blast!

If you have visited the St. Ouen flea market, I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments. 

NEXT INSTALLMENT: Falling across fabric in Paris. 

UPDATE: I just found three of the six vintage toy sewing machines spotted in the flea market, on Etsy, for similar prices. Put "French toy sewing machine" in the Etsy search window, and you'll find them too! (Why bother travelling? Oh right, the food!)

UPDATE: The St. Ouen Flea Market has a colorful 100-year-old history, involving "rag and bone men"!  Read more about it here.