This post is about meeting 3 sewing ladies, 3 fabrics, and 3 patterns. Yes, I also met fabric and patterns. It’s the new thing!

In any case, a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to meet up with Meg the Grand, oonaballoona and Clio & Phineas in the Garment District! Meg announced on her blog that she would be visiting from Chicago so I was excited to finally meet her. I’ve been following her blog for a couple of years now after “meeting” her on the Sew Weekly Sewing Circle, which sadly seems to have slowed down of late. This was also my first time meeting oona (I respect her usage of all lowercase letters as I would for e.e. cummings) after a number of failed attempts, yay! And it was also nice to meet Clio and find a new blog to follow. How cute is this knit hippo?!

We visited a couple of new-to-me stores (I’m so unadventurous), including Spandex House at 263 West 38th Street. Yep, Spandex House! I’ve heard about it through Peter’s blog, but never went in since I had this idea in my head that the store only sold spandex for workout clothes or something. Silly me, t’would seem.

I came away with these three fabrics, though only after our little meetup had ended. Guess I got a little distracted and was just enjoying meeting fellow sewing ladies. :) Seeing Meg suddenly light up and dart around the aisle wheeling her luggage full of fabric behind her to pick up a rainbow-colored zipper was one of the highlights!

The navy/white inkblot knit (that’s what I’m calling it) and the polka-dot knit are both from Spandex House. I’d been on the lookout for polka dots to go with the orange wool I picked up from Mood a number of weeks ago, which means recreating this outfit moved one step closer to reality, folks.

I’m also very excited about the sheer floral fabric I picked up at Fabric for Less at 239 West 39th Street. Definitely love the bold punch of colors. I plan to turn it into the Nicola Dress by Victory Patterns. I love that name! I read in an interview with the designer Kristiann that she chose the name because it had an old-timey 1940s sound to it – I thought that myself before even reading the interview. Perfect too because someone commented that my fabric has a 1940s Hawaiian vibe to it, yes! Now I need a flower for my hair. ;) I’m hoping to have it finished for a work event in early May, which means it’s next in line.

Clio had mentioned she was working on the lingerie pattern above during our meetup and when I read her blog post about it I really loved the options provided. I went searching for it and found that the McCall’s website was having one of their mega sales.

I like the ease of sewing knits so I bought the pattern in the middle to help add to my knit pattern stash. The drape at the skirt can be easily removed from the pattern for a different look (it’s a separate pattern piece, so easy peasy for variations). Methinks the inkblot fabric above would pair nicely with this pattern!

The shirtdress is also cute and comes with a slip. I definitely have a thing for fitted bodices and full skirts, don’t I? It’s nice to have some waist definition, otherwise I feel like a rectangle. ;) One version of this pattern is recommended for sheer fabrics – will it look like you’re just wearing a slip underneath?? I think it should be fine, but you just never know…

So, anyway, it was great fun meeting up with these three ladies! I feel like there was a domino effect: Meg announced a meetup during which oona led us to fabric stores resulting in Clio’s blog convincing me to pick up a new pattern. And there you have it – it’s all connected in the great circle of sewing.