SWAP Rules 2011 (Stitchers Guild)

SWAP Rules 2011 (Stitchers Guild)

The SWAP contest is a yearly challenge to sew 11 garments that will all work together. Some years,

every top has to match every bottom; other years, the 11 pieces simply have to work together as a collection.

No purchase necessary anywhere; this contest is open to anyone with a needle and thread, regardless of budget or availability of items. Just jump in and join the fun.

Please keep a copy of all images you upload on your hard drive in case SG's server fails or something is accidentally deleted.

I loved the way everyone took last year's rules and ran with them. We had, in my opinion, the most successful SWAP ever in terms of the variety of garments made, the incredible talent and skills demonstrated, the fashion sense displayed, and the happiness on the wearer's faces when the photos were taken.

So, let's keep the same formats for the garment options this year:

They are:

Option #1:

6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles

4 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.

1 your choice (not an accessory)

 

Option #2:

2 dresses -single pieces consisting of top and bottom that can be worn alone.

6 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles

2 bottoms - jeans, pants, shorts, skirts or kilts.

1 your choice (not an accessory)

 

Option #3:

5 dresses -single pieces consisting of top and bottom that can be worn alone.

4 tops - t-shirts, shirts, blouses, or camisoles

1 bottom - jeans, pants, shorts, skirt or kilt.

1 your choice (not an accessory)

 

3 garments may be purchased or previously sewn.

1 may be knitted or crocheted.

Now here's your twist:

Every garment should be made with a technique or feature that you haven't tried, or haven't mastered. My personal Waterloo is zippers -hate 'em, because I have to take them out and redo them at least once, every time. And there are several things I've sampled, but have never used on a garment -slotted seams, for one.

That doesn't mean every garment should have a zipper, if that's what you have trouble with. But at least one should. And if you never mastered buttonholes, at least one garment should have one. If you've never made a flat-felled seam, now's the time.

Because this will be more challenging, I'm allowing one more garment to be purchased so that everyone can be pretty sure to finish in time. I know last year was more fussy, but this year will be more apt to have pieces that need to be redone, or may even cause a wadder or two. So to offset that, the total number of garments to be made is one less.

You should show how you plan to combine tops and bottoms, and together should show everything.

You’ll probably need to photograph some bottoms more than once.

Composites will be allowed, but only if they show details of the same outfit, e.g. a back view, a close up or the “before” photo if you are recycling. You may not show two different outfits on the same photo; such photos won’t be posted!

Please number your photos and then add a brief note to describe each one and when you plan to wear it, e.g. 1) Pink cotton Jalie top with khaki poly/cotton BWOF pants; weekend shopping.

Details about where the photos will be sent or uploaded will be forthcoming.

Finally, this year, the individual threads are optional. I originally required them, because I thought it would be easier on everyone to keep their own plans and ideas in a separate place, but it's proven too unwieldy in too many ways. So start one if you wish, but if you don't need it or prefer to keep everything together in one place, that's fine.

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