The national Make It With Wool competition (MIWW) promotes wool’s beauty and versatility and recognizes excellence and creativity in garment sewing and knitting. Garments must be made from fashion fabrics and yarns that are at least 60 percent wool-including specialty fibers, such as mohair, alpaca, camel, and llama. Contestants compete in skill categories and age groups: 13- to 16-year-olds compete as juniors; those 17 to 24 compete as seniors; and 25 and over compete as adults. State winners advance to the national judging round, which is in January. The Adult and Fashion/Apparel Design winners are preselected and receive all-expenses-paid trips to the national competition to model their creations. Here, Threads highlights seven individuals who won awards in the January 2016 national judging round.

National Senior Ambassador and Senior Exemplary Construction Winner

Amelia Weight
Salem, Utah

Amelia says that participating in MIWW for the past five years has taught her to always strive for perfection. Her winning dress this year was inspired by a garment worn by the fashionable Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton. Based on photos of the inspiration dress, Amelia drafted a pattern for a lined dress with a square neck, cap sleeves, and diagonal skirt draping. She made the dress from a coral-and-white, double-faced wool-blend suiting. She made the trench coat using Vogue 8884. Its clean lines and double-topstitched finish appealed to Amelia’s desire for a sophistication. She made the coat from heavy black wool coating she won five years ago at MIWW and lined it with a black-and-cream polka dot silk charmeuse. She added tonal machine embroidery to the coat’s sleeve bands and back yoke.
-Jessica Petersen

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