Contest Ideas for Neighborhood Groups

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Generated with AI ∙ November 9, 2023 at 12:18 PM

One of the ways to engage sewing groups is to create a challenge! Sewing challenges spur risk-taking because it's a low-risk exercise with the potential for a fantastic payoff! After all, these are learning opportunities. 

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Use the same pattern selected by the challenger to create a project. Marvel at the different variations sewists can create! An alternative to this is to use the same fabric. 
• Everyone writes down a project (aka UFO) that is lingering in their time-out bin or stash. A deadline is agreed upon and everyone reports the status at the end of the challenge period. This written commitment provides accountability that can move a project forward.
• Issue a "zero-waste" challenge and review the final projects
• Upcycle or alter a garment you never wear but don't want to discard. Make it better, however you define "better."
• Quilters must use a garment technique and garment sewists must use a quilting technique in a challenge.
• Propose a technique challenge. Sewing books that demonstrate couture techniques, sashiko, quilting, and embroidery lend themselves well to this challenge. Sewists may also find inspiration from YouTube videos, Instagram, and blog posts. 
• Identify the oldest pattern, notion, or fabric in your stash and make something with it.
• White Elephant Challenge: Everyone brings a predetermined amount of fabric in a bag and bags are exchanged. (No peeking!) This could extend to trims, buttons, notions---the possibilities are endless!
• Identify a "Christmas in August" recipient (could be an individual or a facility). Everyone is challenged to create a sewing donation for the recipient. This could be hats, adult bibs, walker/wheelchair totes, scarves, etc.

What ideas have you used for sewing challenges? What was your favorite challenge?

Swagger and Inspiration From Clothing in "The Gentlemen"

If you're a fan of British bespoke tailoring and appreciate exaggeration of traditional English clothing as well as the social class it might represent, you'll definitely want to put "The Gentlemen" on your "Movies to See" list. You'll see clothing styles adopted by wealthy drug-lords, nouveau riche mafia bosses, street gangs, and council estate boys. The ladies? They don't really figure here, except for Michelle Dockery's character, Rosalind Pearson, who exudes her own power and charm from atop Christian Louboutin 5-inch black stilettos while running a women-only auto garage.

In fact, near the beginning of the movie, there is a discussion between Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) and Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong) where they discuss their suits at a dinner party. “Oh, I like to make a splash whenever possible,” says Matthew Berger. It would be so easy to say that the clothing stands as shorthand for each character, but that is wrong. Rather, the clothing become tribal threads and second skins.

But the real style that is exuded is Colin Farrell and his team of "good lads." Every time they entered a scene, I could not take my eyes off them! Custom suiting, check! Matched plaids, check! Exquisite tailoring, check!

It is over-the-top street style, and in interviews with the costumer, Michael Wilkinson, you see how exaggerating a traditional fabric and design can really create a bold style statement. Wilkinson explained that they used designs based on classic English suiting fabrics, which we enlarged, brightened and printed onto a modern quilted technical fabric.

Incidentally, if you're looking for more costuming by Wilkinson, check out "Seberg," starring Kristin Stewart.

If Colin Farrell and his "Toddlers" have you aching to pull out that bright plaid in your stash, you can check this blog post by McCall's for ideas and links to fancy zippers and rib knit to match or contrast that can add incredible flair to your project!

Upcoming Sewing Events in NoVA!

 SPRING FLING. Save the date Saturday, April 13.
 This event will be held mid-day at the Springfield Golf and Country Club.  More details will be shared in a flyer soon.   

• FIFTH SATURDAY. Saturday, March 30. Couture Embroidered Buttons.
  Adrienne Bennett will share ideas for making couture embroidered buttons using hand embroidery with a covered button kit. This is a follow-up from the annual meeting last fall.
  Time and Location: 2-4 pm, Montclair Library 5049 Waterway Drive, Dumfries.  More details in the upcoming NOVA ASG newsletter. 

• GROUPWORKS/MYGROVE.
  
  If you are not receiving emails from GroupWorks, it may be because your preferences are set to receive notifications on M, W, F only. Currently, there are programming issues with this setting, so change your preferences to Daily or Weekly.