You got to hand it to gregarious Rachel of House of Pinheiro for organizing such an epic #NYlon2014 meet-up. She counted 71 attendees this year. Wow. There were colorful ladies not just from all over UK, but also honored guests from across the pond and the Continent as well. Colorful too were the Me-Mades on show (and Clio‘s famous purple wig!). Compared to the other crowd at the V&A – our meeting point – the NYlon2014 swarm definitely stood out. Passer-bys were quite bemused. I saw at least one sneaking a photo of the group as we lined up for the customary group shot in the courtyard. Sadly no crafty blokes showed up, just one lone boyfriend of a lady sewist. Maybe next year? Or do UK blokes not sew?

London weather put in a fine showing as well. Days ago it was still brrrrrr and BBC foretasted rain for the day. But in fact yesterday was all sun blazing mid 25C/70ish F. Fabulous weather, if a tad too warm for browsing air-conditionless Goldhawk Road fabric shops in the afternoon.  But that didn’t stop most ladies from acquiring a stash & going for second rounds. “Enablers” they called each other tongue-in-cheek British style. I joined in too with the egging on. When in London they say…  But I was good. I came away surprisingly empty handed. I  have a NYC trip planned & MR was already teasing me about going on a fabric fast. So of course I wasn’t going to lend him more ammunition. I’m happy enough to live variously through everyone else’s acquisitions.

The highlights for me of course was the camaraderie, and checking out the Me-Mades in walking 3D. Wouldn’t it have been fun to do a Name That Pattern Quiz, maybe in the tradition of British Pub Quiz? OK, maybe 71 would be too many people to fit in most pub function rooms. And you can’t really do anything too organized and prolonged in a public space. But when else would you get to check out the patterns on beautiful ladies of all shapes and sizes?

I would have failed any such quiz miserably though. There was a large contingent of Indie Pattern fans. All the “Annas” and whatnots flew straight over my Indie Virgin head. I found out one key attraction of the Indie Patterns which I hadn’t realized: The appeal of Sew-Alongs, especially for relative beginners & the social butterflies. It would be rare to find the same level of engagement from more establish brands. I wore my tried & tested old makes: V1159 Donna Karan Twist Front Dress and reversible Burdastyle 2013-11-117 Moto Jacket for the early start chill. Some ladies made their outfits just in time for the meet-up. There were some self-drafted lovelies too.

I’m hoping the official photos will be online soon and all the attendees will check them out, identify themselves and what they wore, and let us know their blog address. For I have a terrible memories for names and stuff. In the meanwhile here are some photos I took. Many ladies were much more organized with their proper camera in tow. I have to resort to Instagram trickery to make mine somewhat interesting looking (I hope).

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Thanks to North American contingent (Clio, Jennifer, Devra, & Vicki)  for suggesting the meet-up & pitching in to herd & direct the group to the various meeting & regrouping points. Hope you have a wonderful stay in London (& onward to the Continent Clio).

And thanks to those lovely ladies I did manage to chat to. I hope I’ll get to relearn all your names again soon, and see what you make with the stash you bought yesterday.

UPDATE: The official photos are up! Go check them out. And if you were there, please tag yourself and your Me-Made(s). Don’t forget to add your blog address/social tag! Rachel has also posted a list of attendees blogs for who’ve gave her that info in the guest book or via her survey.