During my visit to Los Angeles attending the Design Bloggers Conference, I had the great honor of being invited to dinner by Fabricut along with their special guest, Kaari Meng of French General. I must admit that I was only vaguely familiar with French General. I can now say I am a huge fan of French General. Kaari Meng has spent a lifetime collecting treasures like French soap labels, mercury glass beads, and antique floral linens from estate sales and flea markets in the United States and France. In 1999, Kaari and her sister, Molly, opened French General in New York City chocked full of vintage notions to embellish the home and make it feel like it had been lived in forever. Every vintage notion had a story and Kaari and Molly would share them with their customers, along with a little bit of themselves and French General. Today, French General has switched coasts and set up shop in Los Angeles. In essence, French General is a general store for all things French.
During our lovely dinner, Kaari talked about her fascinating journey. I was totally enamored with her kind spirit. She shared stories of buying trips in France. Her words transported me to France with her. I could smell the French countryside and feel the nubs of the vintage linen. Kaari also shared her relentless mission to share her vintage fabrics. Not one to give up, Fabricut now carries a lovely collection of French General fabrics. The collection was created to give the feel of an old French home with natural textiles that have gently faded to blend in with the soft light unique to the French countryside.
Kaari gave each of us one of her beautiful books “The French Inspired Home.” What I love most about Kaari is that her passion for collecting vintage notions preserves history and allows us to create memories we can share with family and friends which will never be forgotten.