Threads - for people who love to sew

Novi Report Part 2: Fashion Challenge at the American Sewing Expo

The three winning designers and their models are shown in this ASE photo: Left to right, second-place-winning designer Erin Miller and model Nicole Smith (Threads associate editor and SewStylish special issues editor); first-place winner Raminta Vilkeine and model Hayley Jensen; and third-place winner Jennifer Simmons and Andrea Hughes.

Photo: American Sewing Expo

In my last post, I wrote a about what a wonderful time Associate Editor Nicole Smith and I had attending the American Sewing Expo in Novi. I ran out of room to finish with some of the most exciting information about the whole experience at Novi - the Passion for Fashion competition, in which Nicole modeled a garment by one of the three finalists.

If you're not familiar with Passion for Fashion, it's a highlight of the annual expo since 2007. The concept is similar to that of "Project Runway": competing designers are paired with a model/muse, presented with a challenge - and they're off, with a limited time to conceive and sew their designs.

Janet Pray, ASE owner and founder, asked Nicole to model when it looked as if there wouldn't be enough models to match up with the 12 competing designers. So Nicole got to participate in the whole process - from being selected by a designer (Erin Miller of Toledo, Ohio), hearing about the challenge, and walking the runway in the final fashion show, where the designs were judged by Threads Contributing Editor Kenneth D. King; Joi Mahon, the 2009 Passion for Fashion winner, owner of Dress Forms Design Studio and a spokeswoman/educator for Baby Lock; and Annie Diaz, the fashion designer for Haberman Fabrics, the store in Royal Oaks, Michigan.

The theme this year was certainly appropriate for a site so close to Detroit - 12 iconic cars. Each designer was able to select one of the unique vehicles (represented by toy versions they could display at their sewing stations in the middle of the vendor floor), then design a fashion-forward garment for the woman who would drive it.