DC Area Sewing Meetup: Wish You Were Here!

It is so fun to talk about sewing in real life!

It had been a while since we last had a DC-area sewing meetup, so Nikki took the initiative to organize through the message board at Pattern Review (for some reason it literally did not occur to me to announce it on my blog until I left the house and was biking toward the restaurant).  We met at the Vapiano in Chinatown, which is convenient to all five metro lines.  It turned out to be a great place for a meetup.  Everyone orders their food separately at the counter, but the dining experience is not fast food.  We were able to take over a big corner of the restaurant with plenty of space to chat and to swap for a couple of hours.














People came from near and far--I think Baltimore was our furthest trekker. I think I was closest. The restaurant is only a little over a mile from my house (lucky me!).

Everyone was decked out in their fanciest sewn duds.














We circulated around getting to know one another and reconnecting, talking through sewing puzzles.
















DD brought a recent project, the Vogue 8881 high-low hem tee.  Everyone had fun admiring her excellent coverstitched hem, and we all agreed that we now want this pattern.














First things first, we had to eat.  You can see how much we enjoyed the food here.































Once we had our sustenance, it was time to get to swapping.  We collectively brought a truly huge volume of fabric and patterns.  Everyone went home happy (especially those of us who managed to get rid of slightly more than we took...very slightly).







In addition to fabric and patterns, a few people brought sewing books.  Sewandwrite graciously arranged to take our excess home to donate to an organization.  She braved the meetup despite a recent ankle injury.

I apologize, I don't know everyone's PR/Internet name.  Please let me know if you want to be tagged!

All photos are here.



Here's what followed me home.  The cotton knit is a Marcy Tilton, and it just happens to have "grayed jade," one of this year's Pantone colors, in it.  Next is a wonderfully soft cotton print in coral.  I am hoping to eke out Butterick 5490.  The wool herringbone was forced upon me by Nikki, who pointed out that I couldn't possibly resist a wonderful work-appropriate fabric for a skirt.  And finally, the rayon burnout was just too fun to leave behind.  Clio has recently been contemplating the possibilities of sheer, and, well, I'm copying her.