MPB Day WINTER FROLIC -- THE AWARD WINNERS!

Readers, yesterday we frolicked, we frolicked, oh, how we frolicked!

Summer MPB Days are great fun, of course, but there's something about a winter get-together that's cozier.  Especially since not every Garment District fabric store has air-conditioning but they all have heat!

Yesterday's Winter Frolic was truly a blast, and I don't mean an Arctic blast though that's arriving later this week.  Like every MPB Day, yesterday's event was a mix of old faces and new faces (not on the same people of course); we had visitors from as far away as the UK (Charlotte, aka English Girl at Home, below), California, and as close as 25th Street (that would be me).

Charlotte was in NYC all the way from Birmingham and not the one in Alabama either.

Even with a fair amount of snow in the forecast, we had an excellent turnout, and the day actually turned sunny by mid-afternoon.  I failed to do a head count but I think we were around 40 people. Miraculously nobody slipped in the slush and shoplifting was kept to a minimum.

The day started at the FIT Museum, where we caught two wonderful exhibits, Fabric in Fashion, and Exhibitionism.  Either the alarms are less sensitive than normal or we're better at self-policing, because they rang only a handful of times during the hour and a half we spent there and no one was forcibly removed by Security.  Thank you, people!

After the museum visit, we had lunch at nearby Panera Bread (Has their food improved over the years or am I just hungrier?), where we held our traditional pattern swap, which has started to include more sewing magazines, Japanese pattern books, and even fabric. I fear we're going to start getting sewing machine donations next.

Gloria, Kelli, Johanna, and Michael

Michelle, Cherice, Mimi, Susan, and Aimee

Jane and Carol (left) dig through the pattern swap treasures.  Julie approaches from the right.

I accepted the challenge of repurposing James' scarf into a 1940's turban, recorded for posterity!

One of the surprises about this year's pattern swap was that, despite the larger size, there were many fewer patterns left over at the end: maybe twenty-five instead of eighty.  I attribute this to better quality donations -- let's face it, nobody wants to sew those vintage clown costumes!

I wonder if "Holly" ever got her cheerleader outfit...

I'd have snatched this one if Jane hadn't gotten there first.

After lunch we headed uptown to the Garment District, about 7-8 blocks north.  As always, we split up into groups, some people heading directly to Mood Fabrics, others to Metro Textiles (and beyond), and my group heading to AKN Fabrics, which specializes in African wax prints.

Me corralling the group outside Panera Bread.  Please remind me not to get photographed again with my tote hanging from my wrist like it was a Kelly bag--not flattering.  (Photo courtesy of Kyle (Vacuuming the Lawn))

Christine nabbed a fabulous day-glo yellow African wax border print at AKN Fabrics.

Amanda, Julie, and Rhode at Chic Fabrics.

Kashi, Sasha, Tomasa, Charlotte,James, Liz, and Meta at Metro Textiles (photo courtesy of Kyle)

Around 4 pm, having largely emptied our wallets, we headed to nearby Essen Cafe on Eighth Avenue and 36th St for affordable snacks.  Many of you know we normally go to Bryant Park in the summer but it's too cold in March to sit outside.  Essen was the perfect place to hang out: lots of upstairs seating and a wide variety of food if you wanted to eat.  I ended up staying till 7 pm but they're open 24/7 so sleeping over is an option for you out-of-towners on a budget.

And now onto our AWARD WINNERS!

1) Most Over-The-Top Fabric Purchase:

So much beautiful fabric was purchased yesterday, but the hands-down winner of the most over-the-top fabric purchase is Julie, posing here with her precious yards of pink silk chiffon embellished with real bird feathers from B&J Fabrics.  This looks like the kind of thing Jean Louis would have used to make a peignor for Eva Gabor on Green Acres.  Can't wait to see what Julie makes with it! 

Have you ever in your life?

2) Best Men's Coat

I wore my faux gorilla with the Chinese brocade lining yesterday, so you might think I was a shoo-in for this award but NO -- Duane wore his gorgeous winter white wool Pierre Cardin Vogue Paris Original creation.  As beautiful as it appeared on his blog, it is even more beautiful in person and the craftsmanship is inspiring.  He even let me try it on and I'm not kidding when I say I was tempted to make a run for it with the coat still on my back.  Congratulations, Duane, you are our winner and I hate you just a little bit.

Please note Duane's Pierre Cardin accessories: brilliant!

3) Best Top-to-Bottom Me-Made Outfit

If you're like me, you probably associate Amanda (@sewinintherain on Instagram) with those cute little wrap dresses she's made over the years.  So I was blown away by what she wore yesterday: her hooded "Pepernoot" wool coat from Waffle Patterns (wool coating from Chic Fabrics), a lovely cardigan wool sweater she knitted herself, and a super-cute coordinating dress (the pattern escapes me at the moment but maybe Amanda can tell us in the comments).  Congratulations, Amanda!

Great style lines on this coat!

4) Biggest Fabric Haul

Readers, in these times of increasing environmental awareness, I am sensitive to our need to focus more on quality and less on quantity, but hey, this is MPB Day, and fabric scores are what it's all about.  So I must take my hat off to Susan (@byluciagrace on Instagram), whose fabric haul yesterday weighed about as much as a Bernina 930.  Check out Susan's Instagram stories for the gory details!  Kidding aside, she bought some great stuff.  Congratulations, Susan! 

5) Sexiest Fabric Purchase

Readers, there are some fabrics that you know will only work as a go-go dancer outfit or a "Sexy Tarzan" Halloween costume (not mutually exclusive).   Gloria purchased this buttery black lambskin, embellished with what look like silver nail heads, at Metro Textiles.  Gloria assures me it's for one of her clients.  I didn't probe but I was happy when she let me try it on for inspiration.  Congratulations, Gloria!

I would wear this but with different shoes.

Friends, in conclusion, our Winter Frolic was a delight.

I want to thank everyone who braved the weather and participated and also say how great it is to see how warmly people interact with each other; sewers are the best!

Our next summer MPB Day extravaganza is Saturday, August 10, barring climate catastrophe or worse.  Till then, keep sewing and see you soon!

Think Pink!