MPB Day 2016

The weather was hot and steamy, but as always it was a fantastic day.

Lisa, James, Peter, Anna and I met up at the Blue Dog on Saturday morning for coffee and flea-marketing. James brought his portable hula hoop, so Peter tried it out. He's a really good hooper!

We headed over to the flea market, where I gawked at wax-print fabric and antiques, and Peter yo'ed it up:

$45 for 2 pieces, bummer

can't go wrong with a Duncan Imperial

This mirror tho. I wanted to buy an extra bag and take it home

And also these candlesticks. Trippy modern! Come to mama!

James and Lisa; Lisa's wearing her me-made Sorbetto and white skirt

Afterward, we swung through the antiques market across the street (hooray for A/C! ...and also, I'm so going back on the next NY trip; there's an amazing vintage lingerie stall) and made our way to FIT to see the uniform exhibit. I liked the Sacai piece on the right.

Then it was off to Panera for lunch, where I pattern-swapped, met Trudi and her husband, and found out there's such a thing as sewing camp (!!!!!!!!) And then we went shopping.

I fell in love with Botani Trim, where you can order a custom zipper in any length, tape color, and teeth color, and with any pull you want (they have zillions), and they'll make them while you wait. I ordered three.

And if your'e in the market for really enormous zippers, you're in luck:

No no really:

they'll eat your head

And the machines there were amazing.

I don't even know what you're for, but I love you

We visited another trim store and met the official trim store kitties, named Rick and Rack. They were grumpy but cute.

I PROTECT ZIPPERS
U CANNOT HAZ

Lisa and I snuck in a trip to Muji because I was overloaded with stuff at that point and needed a cheap tote bag. Then we hit Paron's (and its free bin), Mood, a bead store, and then Kinokuniya before heading over to meet up with everyone in Bryant Park.

Afterward, I went back over to Kinokuniya and met up with two MPBers browsing through the Japanese pattern books. We all left with at least one. Here's mine:

Unisex patterns in interesting shapes -- lots of sweatshirts and t-shirt options. Most appear to be made from scraps and upcycled stuff. I'm looking forward to making some up.

My fabric haul:

L to R: Faux leather and quilted lining for V1517 from Mood, and a random piece of Dracula-themed silk jacquard from Paron's, which I picked up for a secret husband project.

This was by far my favorite find of the day, though:

Connect-the-dots silk jersey. I think I'm going to make a shell for the office with the raccoon front and center:

Also, the next day I went with James and Lisa down to Soho for a little retail therapy. We went to Oak + Fort, my source for affordable futureclothes, and Anna Sui, my source for not-so-affordable pretty purple things.

Side note: I wore the Kirsten Kimono tee in the morning and the Alabama Chanin dress in the afternoon. The AC dress was surprisingly comfortable in the heat; the left shoulder is a little loose and may need to be restitched. I'll do a longer post later this week on construction.

I had such a good time! Thanks again, Peter. (BTW, his recap is here, and photos are here.)

IMPORTANT KITTY UPDATE/ADDENDUM:

I stayed at the Carlton Arms again (I just love that place) and visited my favorite official hotel cat/welcoming committee again. Here s/he is, in my room, playing with my socks.

BEST TOY EVER

YAY YOUR SOCKS

After that, s/he decided to hang out on the bed with me while I tried to sleep (it was after midnight), and...you know how cats like to knead stuff with their paws?

...She kneaded my butt. For like half an hour. Free kitty butt massage! Thanks, Carlton Arms!

Also, I was going through old MPB posts and found a pic of kitty at the reception desk in 2014...