I was happy enough when Mary Douglas Drysdale invited me to a small dinner party on Friday — just a few women eating by the fire, who could pass that up?
But it turned out that Mary used the evening to introduce us to Sandra Jordan, a textile designer with Peruvian roots whose alpaca fabrics are softer than cashmere.
Sandra Joran, sitting on Mary's Knoll sofa, which she covered in Jordan's alpaca. The pillows and window treatments are also Jordan's. And this setting is all in Mary's kitchen -- if only!
A closeup of this unbelievably delicious fabric
Sandra held forth on this history of Peru, and how the evolution of that country’s alpaca population is so intertwined with its politics. She had us hanging on every word. Her mellifluous Peruvian accent made the story that much more compelling.
But really? I just wanted to wrap myself up in these textiles and take a nap. (I’ll go off on a wee tangent here and say I first discovered the wonders of alpaca last year, when I used alpaca throw blankets from D. Bryant Archie in a photo shoot for the Washington Spaces gift guide. I did NOT want to send those puppies back, but at $600-plus per throw, I kinda had to. )
Sandra, whose collection is sold through the Holly Hunt showroom at the Washington Design Center, proceeded to wow us with a slide show of stunning photography of Peru. She took out her laptop to show us the pictures in front of the fireplace in Mary’s dramatic Dupont Circle brownstone living room.
Sandra and her Holly Hunt representative, Kate Lluberes, at Mary's antique table filled with food and drink.
Mary has a knack for bringing people together who don’t know each other at the start of the evening, but become fast friends by they time they leave. I was so pleased to meet Susan Dowell, a fellow refugee from closed-down shelter magazines — in her case, Southern Accents.
Susan Dowell, left, and Mary share stories from years of friendship that was first forged when Susan wrote about her for Southern Accents.
I was also beside myself to meet a fellow DC design blogger — Jeanette Stieringer of A Passion for Home. She had just commented on this blog the afternoon before we met, and how cool to meet her in person.
Jeanette sits in front of a giant antique wooden horse, which was once used to train soldiers how to put on saddles and bridles, and how to mount. It's one of Mary's favorite possessions (besides the ginormous multi-colored elephant in her entry foyer).
I realize now that I didn’t get a picture of Mary’s cousin, Maryanne Pollock, an artist whose vivid painting is above Mary’s mantel. Maryanne was too busy running around, serving food and drinks, so sit still for any extended period of time, bless her heart. We got to hear about her interesting career, and Mary hauled out another one of her canvases during the meal to show us more of her work.
Thanks, Mary, for a fabulous dinner party with wonderful women who I won’t soon forget!
Jennifer Sergent. Native Washingtonian. Former editor at Washington Spaces magazine and HGTV. Currently searching for – and writing about – DC’s design voices. Write to me @
It was such an honor to be a part of this dinner party. I enjoyed every moment of it. Learning about Sandra’s textiles and having a new-found appreciation for Alpaca fabric, being surrounded by Mary’s wonderful collection of antiques and hearing the stories behind them, taking-in the great talents of Maryanne and her artwork and dialoguing with everyone including yourself, Susan and Katie.
The evening was fun and I’m very grateful to Mary for this opportunity.
Thank you for the mention Jennifer! I wish I could have been there to meet Sandra. I’ll have to thank Mary again for the invite. And such a wonderful group of women. Sorry to miss..
D, I was sorry to miss you too! One of these days we must meet up…
Sounds like a wonderful evening, I am jealous. Thanks for sharing. The fabrics look incredible.
What a fun filled special evening it looked to be. The fabrics look amazing! I can’t wait to for the 1st opportunity I get to touch them and see them in person. I have a feeling I will be in love, I love yummy scrumptious fabrics. You can see the warmth and softness just looking at them in a photo. Thank you as always for sharing the best stuff
. xo
What a small world?!?! Maryanne has shown her work twice here at Vastu! As soon as I saw the painting on the mantel I thought “That looks familiar…” Looks like you ladies had a great evening with a great textile designer.
Janelle, I thought that was the same person! Yes, definitely a small world. Loved lunch today! Thanks for commenting. See you soon.
What a great time we all had! It wasn’t the food, it was the company and the creativity of the group which made it so much fun. Sandra Jordan textiles are just beautiful. I hope that she will start a clothing line soon. So soft and what color! And my cousin Maryanne Pollock is the best….a wonderful painter and a fantastic friend.
Jennifer,
What a great and fun opportunity for all. Mary is truly a generous connector and supporter of many talented people — a benevolent benefactor and mentor.
The fabrics look plush. I love the colors and they look great in the kitchen. Thanks for sharing.
Today at the design center I discovered Sandra Jordan, what a beautiful
Fabric line she has. I’m thinking of using it on my dinning room chairs, style 8150 color sand. I’m absolutely in love with it and just wondering the durability? Any comments?