Be a winner with wool – enter the annual Make It With Wool contest. Sponsored by the American Sheep Industry Association, the competition is intended to promote the beauty and versatility of wool fabrics and yarns. Anyone can enter to win awards and prizes on both the state and national level, including fabrics, equipment, sewing books, notions, cash prizes and scholarships.
Categories include one-piece garment, two-piece garment, ensemble (3 or more garments worn together at one time), and wearable accessory. Garments must be constructed from 100% wool or a wool blend. The entire garment body must be wool, however linings, interfacings, and trims may be fabrics other than wool.
Entries will be judged based on appropriateness to the contestant’s lifestyle, coordination of fabric/yarn with garment style and design, contestant’s presentation, construction quality, and creativity. Garments must have been completed after January 1, 2009, and entries must be received by November 1, 2009.
For information on how to enter your state’s competition, visit the American Sheep Industry website, or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: National Make It With Wool Competition, Marie Lehfeldt, Box 175, Lavina, MT 59046.
Keep An Eye on Your Competition Online for Free
Would you like to see how your website traffic compares with your competitors? You can get that information for free from Compete.com! You can compare numbers for your site and any two other sites without even signing in. Signup for a free account and Compete.com will report and analyze the traffic for up to five websites. You can even signup for daily digest emails if you’d like.
Compete.com boasts the largest pool of online consumer behavior data in the analytics industry, and they provide their basic services for free. Upgraded services for large businesses start at $199/month and give much greater detail. Take advantage of their generosity and use this outstanding tool so that you can keep track of how others in your industry are faring online and be better prepared to face your competition
You can setup a portfolio to track five sites – typically your own and your closest competitors, but you could also choose to compare your site to that of a large presence in the industry (think localquiltshop.com vs. joann.com) so that you can see if variations in traffic appear to be occuring industry-wide. We have several proprietary websites in addition to our blog, so I’ve setup my portfolio to track the traffic patterns for a handful of our own sites so that I can monitor their progress individually and easily compare them to each other.
Although the data isn’t 100% accurate, it does describe your competitor’s users and their behavior, which gives you the tools you need to get ahead!
Hancock Fabrics Sponsors “The Ultimate Prom 2009” Competition
“The Ultimate Prom 2009” competition will see three students from the High School of Fashion Industries in New York City competing to design a prom dress that will impress a panel of fashion industry experts. The competition will be aired via online “webisodes” at YouTube and at teen magazine sites like Cosmogirl.com and Seventeen.com.
Hancock Fabrics will provide the budding fashion designers with all the notions, fabric, and embellishments their designs require. The winning design will be worn by Kat de Luna, a Universal Motown artist, to the Ultimate Prom in Manhattan this June. Additionally, Simplicity Pattern Company will produce a pattern based on the winning design. Look for the pattern in 2010 at Hancock Fabrics stores.
The competition runs from mid-March through June. Visit HancockFabrics.com for more information or to view the webisodes starring the competing designers Larissa, Havanna and Laquasia.
Announcing the Sew Jo-Ann 2009 Prom Contest
Students from ages 14-19 can enter to win cash and prizes in the Sew Jo-Ann 2009 Prom Contest! Sew your own prom gown with fabric from Jo-Ann’s and you can win up to $1,000 in cash plus some other great prizes:
The student must be the primary sewer and may only submit one entry. Entrants must be photographed wearing their Prom garment, made with fabric purchased at a Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store. Submit two color photographs, front and back views, along with the completed entry form and a photocopy of the fabric receipt from Jo-Ann’s. Entries must be postmarked by June 30, 2009. Click here to view the contest details and last year’s winners.