2018 Upcycling Challenge WINNERS!

HI guys, I know you’re all super excited to see who the winners are for this year’s #CAUpcyclingChallenge, but first I just want to say  TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS YEAR’S CHALLENGE,  YOU ARE EXCEPTIONAL! I commend your courage and effort in submitting  your project and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing it with us. I cannot adequately express how thankful and inspired I am by each and every one of you. You went outside your comfort zone, tried something new and shared it with us, motivated and inspired us and that is definitely something to be celebrated and acknowledge!

And secondly, a very big THANK YOU, to Michael Miller Fabrics and Baby Lock for being our main sponsors and to a few of the Business Members of Sewing Portfolios.com for being community prize sponsors!

I must admit, this was such a difficult decision to make because there were so many incredible projects submitted. I believe I speak for all the judges when I say, we were so blown away by the finished projects and exceptional talents discovered. From the 80 qualified projects we had 10 finalists! These 10 people demonstrated  exceptional skill and ingenuity through their projects, but sadly we could only pick 3 winners. Judging was based on Overall Look, Craftsmanship, Creativity and Wearability because it was such a hard decision collectively, in addition to the aspects listed we decide to pick from those 10 the projects that were most surprising, intriguing and out-of- the- box.  (See Official Rules HERE) So without further ado here are the First, Second and Third place winners for this year’s Upcycling Challenge!

First Place goes to: Wendy Jacobs

Here’s what our Sew-lebrity guest judge Denise Wild had to say about Wendy’s project:

“Great construction (I’m admiring the perfect topstitching and edge-stitching!), and wonderful creativity. I love that two very different garments came together to form a multi-piece outfit that’s completely different from the original pieces. The finished items are beautiful and very unexpected.”

Wendy used a pair of her husband’s stained pants, a thrifted lace back shirt and some fabric to create a reversible hat, a dress and shorts. To see more detailed pictures of her project and to read more about how her look came together you can visit her project page HERE.

Second Place goes to: Lorna & Thomas Parker

For her men’s twill shirt turned fisherman’s vest adorned with free hand embroidery. To see her before and after and Thomas modeling his new vest you can visit Lorna’s project page HERE.

Here’s what Kait from Michael Miller Fabrics had to say about Lorna’s project:

“Really loved that she stuck to her vision, incorporated more fabric and went further and added  free hand embroidery as a bonus touch. We loved it hook, line and sinker too! “

Third Place goes to: Laurel Richmond

Laurel took her daughter’s swaddle blanket and turned it into a paper pieced rose and shorts!

We all agreed that the paper piecing was exceptionally well done and incorporated so neatly and beautifully into the entire outfit. The patterns chosen were perfect for her vision. To see more pictures of Laurel’s project you can go HERE.

Because it was such a difficult task picking just 3 people from our 10 finalists we want to acknowledge their skill, talents and hard work so we’ll be sending the 7 remaining finalist a sweet bundle of newly released Michael Miller Fabric. Below are the 7 finalists:

Miranda Bodo

Abbey Button

Marci Debetaz

Chelise Patterson

Rachel Ring

Vicky Myers

Rachel Vandermeulen

To the winners and finalists please look out for an email from me within the next 48 hours with instructions and info on how to claim your prizes! (I’ll be using the email addresses you used to submit your project!)

Again, I want to thank everyone for making the first Candice Ayala’s Upcycling Challenge so fun and successful! STAY CREATIVE!

If you’d like to get updates on next year’s challenge click HERE!

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