Spring Top Sewalong 2012!

Ladies and Gentlemen, start your sewing machines! It's time for a Spring Top Sewalong!Every time I type those words, I get really excited. And this year I'm thrilled to be able to announce yet another fun-filled Spring Top Sewalong!Have you been wanting to sew for yourself but haven't found the time? Are you looking at your spring wardrobe and inwardly groaning? You need some new clothes! Yes I am talking to YOU! This sewalong is for YOU!!!The Spring Top Sewalong will begin this week with a few kickoff fabric giveaways (you need to have fabric to sew a top, right??). The sewalong photo pool will open next week Monday, March 19, so you can enter your photos as early as next week.Here's how it works:

  • SEW ALONG: Sew a top/tunic/shirt/blouse for yourself. See this post for more specific top guidelines/FAQ.
  • PUT IT IN THE POOL: Take a picture of your top on your fantastic self, crop it to a SQUARE (see this post for more specific photo guidelines/FAQ), and put it into our Spring Top Sewalong 2012 Pool starting next Monday, March 19, 2012.
  • FILL OUT THE ENTRY FORM: After you've added your photo to the pool, complete my very short, very quick, very easy Spring Top Contest Entry Form for each top you want to enter. This will add your top to my Master Spreadsheet of Tops for judges to score, which is how we choose our "Top Tops". Note: If you decide you would like to put your top in the pool just for fun and not be entered in the competition, put your photo in the sewalong pool but don't fill out the entry form and add the words "just for fun!" to your photo description.
  • Sit back and watch the fun unfold!

There's fun, you say? Four times throughout the sewalong, I'll post a group of the best tops ("Top of the Tops," these are selected by judges scores) here on this site so you can ooh and ahh and vote for your favorite. The plan is to have two winners each week, one selected by the reader vote, and one selected by the judges' scores, and we'll have prizes for the winners: gift certificates from Made By Rae sponsors...yay!! You know, so you can buy more fabric and make more tops!!! Hee.Of course, I'm thrilled to be able to offer prizes (thank you so much, Made by Rae sponsors!) but I hope you'll join us for the sewalong for another reason -- to create something beautiful for yourself and enjoy seeing the creations of others! It's been so rewarding in the past to see you guys sewing something for yourself, so many of you for the very first time.DatesThe Spring Top Sewalong will accept entries from Monday March 19, 2012 until Sunday April 22, 2012 at 8 pm eastern. (After that time, you may continue to enter your tops in the pool so we can enjoy them and others can comment on them, but the contest will be closed)Since we'll be doing four rounds of scoring/prizes throughout the sewalong, I'd encourage you to enter your tops as early as possible, since most of the tops tend to come in at the last minute (and will therefore have more competition the later you enter). If a top is featured in a "Top of the Tops" post, it will no longer be eligible for subsequent rounds, even if it doesn't win that round. We want as many people to have their tops featured as possible, and as many winners as possible!ButtonsPlease help me promote Spring Top Sewalong 2012 by taking a button and slapping it up on your blog. Even if you don't end up entering a top in the sewalong, it really helps me get the word out. The more the merrier!To get the button above, copy and paste the text in the box below into a widget/gadget/post HTML area:To get the button above, copy and paste the text in the box below into a widget/gadget/post HTML area:Happy Sewing everyone!!!