m.i.w.w. - inspiration comes full circle

i’ve participated in the arizona “make it with wool” (m.i.w.w.) regional competition for two years in a row, now.

category winners receive cash prizes and all participants take home wonderful gift bags that include large cuts of gorgeous pendleton wool!

several contest categories require wool testing fees to be included with entry fees. m.i.w.w. encourages contestants to enter garments for judging made for themselves to be created from a minimum of 60% wool cloth or fiber, with first place awards (in certain categories) allowing further competition for prizes and recognition at the national level.

in 2021, i placed third in the adult level, only to learn afterward, i’d technically been disqualified [from placing higher] because one of my three wools used in my garment didn’t meet the content entry criteria. the wool in question (the solid brown) was inherited from my grandmother’s fabric stash, which goes to show, you never truly know the fiber content of woolens found grouped together in discovered sewing room boxes!

despite the findings, i still believe it all created a lovely combination.

learning from 2021, i determined that everything i submitted for the 2022 year contest would be 100% wool. high quality wool fabrics are more expensive, yet often produced in limited in colors and patterns. i also wanted to create something fun while thinking “outside of the box!”

which somehow led me to wool scarves, which were gently-used and/or secondhand, to be precise.

i realized that making my garment utilizing wool scarves would be a great way to showcase sustainability, upcycling and also, provide me with a more varied selection of woolen fabric colors and patterns.

my ensemble for the adult category would be pants, a blouse and a jacket that all coordinated together. i’d self-draft the blouse and jacket and use a pant pattern i’d owned for a decade but never made: vogue 8944 from marcy tilton. these paneled, balloon-style pants hit above the ankle and are super cute with front leg panels that make deep pockets.

i decided on mixing prints to show off the pant panels and found three different 100% wool j.crew scarves on poshmark, an online social marketplace. each scarf averaged between $10-$20.

using canva, i mocked up a couple representations of what i hoped to achieve with the end result before making my purchases.

yep, winners!

two of the three scarves were about 30 x 80 inches and gave me ample fabric to work with. the ikat was a narrower scarf but readily available on poshmark from different sellers and for $10 each (or less). i ended up using two ikat scarves so i could have enough fabric to create the interior pant panels at the front and back (back v.1).

next, i got busy making a muslin, a fabric “pattern” to perfect the fit of the end garment to the body. i actually made up two muslins as i tweaked my fit, just to make sure the size and fit were right before i cut out the pattern pieces in my wool scarves. mr. dearie helped out tremendously by photographing my backside as i stood and moved around in one of my muslin versions so i could further evaluate any adjustments i might need.

with my pattern fine-tuned, i started cutting out my scarf fabrics, paying close attention to grainlines and “right” side of the fabric when it came to the red ikat.

something i hadn’t realized initially was that while the scarves were 100% wool, they all turned out to be very thin, almost semi-sheer, once i had them in hand. sewing these wools on my sewing machine felt like sewing slippery chiffon most of the time while the fabric quickly frayed if handled too much.

it also pulled and puckered easily so i took to sewing without jewelry on, slathered hand lotion regularly, and kept a nail file close by.

however they were the perfect candidate for my favorite seam finish, French seams, which also had the added benefit of reinforcing the delicate seams for added strength.

there is a lot of top-stitching in this pattern so i used a decorative stitch along the top leg pocket edges for fun. little did i know the loop-de-loop design would be echoed in my jacket design.

once my pants were done it was time to work on the blouse.

i’d purchased an ann taylor scarf via poshmark that was 100% wool, best described as crinkled wool gauze, and a delightful polka-dotted print.

then i self-drafted a flowy blouse with full, gathered sleeves, and a high-low hemline to not obscure the attractive flat front of the pants highlighting the three fabrics pieced together.

i absolutely adored the polka-dot scarf, but when i couldn’t locate a second one, i opted for an animal print, also by ann taylor. it too was a 100% wool crinkled gauze, so i now had additional fabric to create with. (the animal print scarf came from poshmark, too, for much less than the original price shown!)

if i had thought the pant scarves were tricky to sew, i had no idea the “fun” in store making this blouse.

i made multiple muslins to test my design, then a test blouse using retired cloth napkins.

i preferred the high/low hemline and also, for the final blouse muslin, opted to lower the front and back of the blouse yoke so it ended below my bustline.

gah! the wool gauze was even more persnickety to sew on with a sewing machine than my pant fabrics, so i ended up spending a lot of time doing mostly hand sewing with needle and thread to complete the blouse.

meanwhile, in the middle of everything, i had sewn up a pair of retro shorty pajamas using two j.crew scarves for my youngest daughter. these pajamas would be entered in the “made for others” category, with her as the model. as i mentioned earlier, there is prize money up for grabs in all the entry categories and a few categories, believe it or not, only have one or two entries.

for the pajamas, i used a vintage pattern that had belonged to my grandmother for the top and i used a different pattern from my pattern stash to create longer pj shorts. the short ruffled pj panties on the vintage pattern just felt a little too short for my 13 year old to be wearing, modeling and photographing in a public venue.

vintage pale yellow lace, also once belonging to my grandma found in her stash of lace trims, perfectly matched the scarf colors and adorned the neckline and sleeves, as per the pattern instructions.

yes, the new pj shorts are a much more appropriate length!

lucky me, i even had enough of the wool leftover to make some matching slippers complete with green and gold retro inspired pompoms!

finally ready to start my jacket, i rediscovered an exquisite item in a saved inspiration folder and sketched out how i thought i could recreate it in my leftover cerise boiled wool darling dearie logo crown fabric.

just like with my pants and blouse, i made several muslins, getting creative with an old duvet cover and even using some of the suspect wool left over from my 2021 entry. while perfecting the jacket fit, i ordered a sample color card off etsy so i could order the correct color of wool balls to make my pompom trim. i also picked up several specialty threads locally to consider for attaching the wool balls.

because i inevitably like to make things more complicated for myself then they need to be, i determined i would make my own jumbo rickrack trim for the jacket edges to mimic the scalloped lace edge of the original inspiration bolero.

this turned out to be harder than i initially realized because i had to make several patterns in which to cut the wool to so i could accommodate the various curves within the jacket. i then labored to join the rickrack pieces together by hand so they appeared to be one continuous piece.

i played around with various ideas for decorative jacket closures, including making narrow tubing by sewing up scraps of my blouse and pant fabrics. this quickly led to the discovery that what i needed was to make something i could consistently duplicate six times.

below, hand crafted “snail pinwheels” using sewn and coiled boiled wool strips and the same metallic embroidery thread i had used to hand sew all 51 wool balls to the jacket sleeves and bottom. (i actually remade two pinwheels when i realized, after stitching them up, i had sewn up the wool strip with the wrong side facing outward. an excellent lesson and reminder that even boiled wool has a “right” side to be respected throughout the construction process!)

i used the narrow fabric tubing to create a coiled “floral” brooch that nicely pulled all three pieces of clothing together. and i loved how the metallic embroidery thread for my jacket closures and the pompom trim glinted in the light!

(it was at this point, when i asked mr. dearie to snap a photo of me in the entire outfit for a final lookover, in which he quipped, “wow, that’s a bold outfit for a confident woman…” to which i replied, “well, good thing I AM that confident woman!”)

the arizona “make it with wool” competition is traditionally held the saturday prior to thanksgiving. however, entry forms with fabric samples and entry fees, need to be received no later than october 1st. entries are sent to both the state and national chairs. for the national entry, fabric samples must be 3x3 inches in size. for the state level, they need to be 5x5 inches in size so there is enough fabric to do the required wool testing prior to the competition to make sure entries satisfy the 60%+ wool requirement.

finished garments are due a week before the event. after participating two years in a row, i’ve decided this works in my favor because otherwise, i would be tinkering non-stop with the finished garments up until the eleventh hour in my never-ending quest for perfectionism.

on the day of the event we are asked to arrive at the event venue at a specific time for our category so we can change into our outfits for judging. the judges, meanwhile, spend the same morning before our arrival, inspecting the garments both inside and out. after we change into our outfits we are lined up in a specific order and walk single file into the judging room. we stand in a line facing the judges, turning at their request, so they can see how our garments look being on us instead of on a hanger. then after a polite yet general q&a, we file back out of the room and wait our turn to be called in, one-by-one, to answer questions related to our garment. questions may include how we constructed our garment, why we chose the garment pattern we did, what equipment we used or what we learned during the construction process. once everyone has had their one-on-one, we file back in together, stand, turn, then file back out, giving the judges a final look at the garments together as a group.

if you are entered in another category, like i was with my daughter in the “made for others,” you do the same process but with your model whom you made the garment for. we filed in together, stood, answered a few general questions, then filed back out to wait our turn to go back in individually for questions. once more all together at the end. after that we were free to pose and pay for professional photos to be taken of us in our garments (below) while we waited for the judging results to conclude.

in the case of the “made for others” category, my daughter and i had to unexpectedly go back in for a second round of judging with different judges. it turns out the initial judges had a tough time making their decision and needed to call in back-up! there were only two of us competing within this category, but we were told this was the first time for arizona that they had to do an additional round of judging in any of the categories.

while the judges deliberate and determine the winners, you wait.

and then, about an hour or so later, you get ready to walk the “catwalk” and learn if you placed in your category in front of gathered friends and family.

when walking the catwalk, all the contestants walk in together, single file, down the aisle, loop around and then back out into the hallway. we then come back in again, one-at-a-time, when our name is called, while the arizona miww coordinator shares with the audience who we are and a little bit about our outfit. it’s your time to shine as you pose right when you enter by the podium, walk halfway down the runway where you stop and pose again, then you continue on, posing at the end of the aisle, turn, walk back towards the podium, stopping to pose halfway up once again.

if you’ve made an outfit that involves a coat or jacket, you take two passes on the catwalk so you can show off the entire outfit as a whole, and then show the audience your pieces without the jacket/coat on over them.

below, my youngest who is very shy yet happy kid. to my surprise she suddenly morphed into a typical sullen teenager at this point in the event, who skulked down the catwalk as if she was hoping she’d suddenly become invisible.

after everyone has had their solo time, we all file back in again in a line and take our seats at the back of the room for the awards to be announced.

if you win a category you’ve entered, you’ll be announced and go up to receive your winning certificate and prize check.

when we were announced as the first place winners for the “made for others” category, we went up together but before we walked back down to our seats, i turned to my daughter while i smiled, and prompted her with a reminder to smile herself, which she did. it resulted in probably my two favorite candid snaps from the event.

(in the picture directly below, you can see mr. dearie snapping a photo of us with his cell phone!)

look at her gorgeous smile - it lights up her face!

all participants are given gift bags that include a generous cut of pendleton wool fabric that could be used for a future m.i.w.w. contest along with other smaller sewing related gift items.

when the event is officially over, you make sure to grab one of the cute sheep cookies they always have for guests and participants and then you go home to start making your plans for the next years contest, if so inclined.

after the event, i had several women come up to tell me how much they liked my outfit and how inspired they were now about using scarves as fabric options for future garments.

so, yay (!) for my original goal becoming a reality not only for myself but others as well.

inspiration comes full circle!

april 2023

february 2023

m.i.w.w. - inspiration comes full circle