4-H announces Stitch This! wedding dress design challenge for 50 youths; ISU sponsors top prizes
Competition, style show debut at the State Fair, winners highlighted on IPTV
New in 2009, Stitch This! is a 16-hour design competition for 4-H youth, where they must reconstruct a wedding dress into a new wearable garment.
By
Laura Dillavou
If a stitch in time saves nine, exactly how long will it take 13 teams of 4-Hers to reconstruct a wedding dress?
For their sake, they had better sew quickly. As part of the Stitch This! design challenge, sponsored by Iowa State University Extension 4-H Youth Development and the Iowa State University College of Human Sciences, 50 youths will deconstruct wedding dresses and design them into new wearable garments, culminating in a runway-style fashion show on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the 4-H building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
The two-day competition kicks off at 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 21. Teams of four will work until 9 p.m. to strategize, design, and create their new threads – with a little help from Iowa State apparel merchandising, design, and production (AMDP) students. Kate Howe, a junior in AMDP from Johnston, has been assisting with the event’s planning and will also serve as a volunteer during the competition.
“Stitch This! is an awesome opportunity for high school students to get a taste of the industry,” Howe said. “It’s going to be really interesting to see their creativity at work; reconstructing a wedding dress into something other than a [wedding dress] will take innovation and skill.”
The second day of competition begins at 9 a.m. Teams will put in a full days’ work of sewing and fitting, with the last stitch in place by 4 p.m. After judges evaluate the teams on the concept and creativity of their garment, workmanship, and knowledge of the design process, one individual from each team will model the refurbished dress in the runway show.
Organizers of Stitch This! see it as more than a two-day competition. The winning team of teens will be invited to share their talents with Michele Beschen, host and creator of the “B. Organic” IPTV show. The youth and their project will be featured in a segment during the B. Organic, "Get Your Wedding On, Naturally" episode, scheduled to shoot late fall with a tentative airdate in early 2010. Members of the winning team will each receive a $500 scholarship toward their education once they enroll at Iowa State in a College of Human Sciences program.
Youth were selected for the competition based on video applications describing their personal style and sewing skills. Wedding dresses were leftover from a 2008 Extension eBay Auction. For future competitions, Stitch This! coordinators plan to use bridesmaid and prom dresses.
For more information on the Stitch This! design challenge, contact Shelly Greving, 4-H Youth Development marketing coordinator, at 515 294-1607 or shellyg@iastate.edu.
Contacts:
Shelly Greving, Iowa State University Extension 4-H Youth Development, (515) 294-1607, shellyg@iastate.edu;DeEtta Bohling, Iowa 4-H Foundation Events and Social Networking, (515) 250-8392; dbohling@iastate.eduLaura Dillavou, Iowa State University College of Human Sciences communications, (515) 294-3689, laurad@Iastate.edu
4-H goes fashion forward
The Stitch This! design competition will pit 4-Her against 4-Her as they compete for top scholarship prizes and an appearance on the IPTV show, "B.Organic," with host Michele Beschan.
In just 16 hours, teams of four must reconstruct a wedding dress into a new wearable item. The refurbished garment will be modeled in a runway show on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the 4-H buildings at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
For more information and to check out applicant videos, visit
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4H/StateFair/stitchthis.htm
