Frocktails 2026 Recap
Frocktails is FABCYCLE’s sewing community party in Vancouver.
It is a night for sewists, makers, quilters, costumers, drag artists, fibre artists, textile people and anyone who loves making things with fabric to get out of the studio and be in a room together.
On August 14, 2026, we hosted our second Frocktails at the Sun Wah Centre in Chinatown, Vancouver. This year’s theme was Wear What You Love.
We made a little recap of the night because there is only so much you can explain with words.
Handmade, altered, upcycled, thrifted, costumed, dramatic, practical, sentimental, or something you just really love wearing. There was no perfect outfit required.
We took over the LG level for one night and filled it with an artist showcase, a maker runway, a heart-shaped photo booth, Gertie and the draping station, prizes, food, drinks and a whole lot of people who really understand why fabric is worth talking about for a very long time.
Now that we have the photos back, we finally get to look at the whole night again. And below, we are getting into all of it.
Walking into Frocktails
Before you even made it into the main party, the evening started with art
The hallway into Frocktails became part of our artist showcase, with work from Valérie d. Walker, Dae LeeGrind, Melanie Talkington, Ilona Verley, Peter Zuk and Erin Gravelle leading guests toward the main room.
Frocktails gave us a chance to show another side of our creative community, and to put this work in front of people who really understand what it takes to make it. It was beautiful to see people stop, look closely and feel inspired by it. We were very grateful to the artists for trusting us with their work.
Walking in
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The maker runway
And then came the runway
This is the part everybody waits for.
One by one, people stepped into the middle of the room wearing something they had made. And every single time, the room lit up.
There is nothing quite like hearing a whole room cheer when you say, I made this. Everyone there understands what can be hiding inside one garment: the hours, the mistakes, the unpicked seams and the last minute finish.
The runway is loud, supportive and a little emotional. It is the highlight of Frocktails, and it was so good this year.
A few of our favourite runway moments
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The Frocktails photo booth
We wanted everyone to have a proper photo of what they wore
So we built a heart shaped photo booth and wrapped it in our blue velour fabric.
We wanted something that would work with almost any outfit without competing with it, but still feel special enough that you would actually want the photo afterwards.
And people looked incredible in it.
This ended up becoming one of our favourite parts of the night. One little photo booth, completely different outfits, completely different personalities, and people really got into it.
The photo booth
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Around the room
Our community is pretty tightly knit
Pun absolutely intended.
There are probably not even seven degrees of separation in Vancouver's sewing community. We shop at the same places, follow each other online, take the same classes and often know somebody's work before we actually know them.
That is why being in the same room feels so different.
You see somebody you know, they introduce you to somebody you do not, and suddenly there is another connection. Then you bump into each other somewhere else a month later. That is how those connections keep growing.
And you get to appreciate what people make in person. Touch the fabric. Ask what pattern they used. Look at a detail up close. Hear the story behind it. Those are things we do not really get from a screen.
This is a huge part of why we love doing Frocktails.
People, outfits, conversations, all of it
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Meet Gertie
Gertie had some serious wardrobe changes
Gertie is our mannequin, and for Frocktails we turned Gertie into a draping station.
We brought fabrics from FABCYCLE, set them out with the mannequin and invited people to play. Pin something on. Change the shape. Add another fabric. Take something off. Try something completely different.
No pattern and no finished garment required.
Gertie went through some major wardrobe changes over the course of the evening, and it was really lovely seeing how differently people approached the exact same mannequin and the same pile of fabric. Different colour combinations, different shapes, different techniques, completely different ideas.
Gertie's many looks
Swipe for morePrizes, prizes, prizes
A lot of people went home with something extra
Every guest left with a goodie bag, and throughout the night we kept drawing winners for door prizes. There were gift cards, fabric, patterns, classes, sewing supplies, memberships, workshops and a lot more.
All of that came from a very generous group of fabric stores, pattern companies, sewing educators, studios and businesses that chose to support Frocktails. We are so grateful to every sponsor who contributed. It meant we could fill every goodie bag, give away a lot of door prizes and send a lot of people home with something extra.
You can meet every sponsor and see the full prize list in Meet the Frocktails 2026 Sponsors + Our Grand Prize.
And then there was the big one.
The grand prize
The Yetch Studio Spool Table
The giant spool shaped table from Yetch Studio had been sitting at FABCYCLE making everybody jealous before the event, and one Frocktails guest actually got to take it home at the end of the night.
Before Frocktails, we made a whole feature about the Spool Table and every business that contributed prizes and goodie bag items.
Before it found a new home
A closer look at the grand prize
Some of our lucky winners
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Later in the night
A little dancing before heading home
The music went on, a few people danced, and everyone else kept talking, taking photos and having one last look around.
It was a very Frocktails way to end the night.
One more round of applause
A little dancing before heading home
Closing time
And then the room had to become an empty room again
We packed the displays, folded the fabric, gathered the signs and carried everything back out.
These are the less glamorous photos, but they are part of the night too.
By the end of the night
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