Please review our Spring Top Sewalong 2012 Guidelines before you enter a top!

TO ENTER

Upload your photo to the Spring Top Sewalong 2012 Pool (http://flickr.com/groups/springtops2012).

Fill in our very easy, very quick Spring Top Contest Entry Form. *you may skip this step if you want to sew along just for fun, please add the words “just for fun!” to your photo description so we know you don’t want to be entered*

PLEASE WAIT UNTIL MONDAY 3/19/12 TO BEGIN ENTERING YOUR TOPS. THANKS!

YOUR TOP(S)*

• Selfish sewing only: Your top must be sewed FOR you and BY you.
• A top and not a dress meaning it covers the majority of your top half but not the majority of your bottom half.
• Sewn this spring: no hauling out something you finished last summer; to qualify for the contest your top must have been completed after March 1, 2012.
• Photographed on a person: preferably on you, but I know that can be difficult so do your best here.
• Is entirely made by you: embellished tops are wonderful, but we’re not including them in this year’s sewalong because it’s too difficult for our judges to see how much of the top was made by you and how much was pre-made (like if you purchased a shirt from a store and added ruffles for example). You may upcycle an old or thrifted garment as long as you harvest the fabric from the shirt (i.e. cut the old garment apart) and then construct the shirt so that it the majority of the new seams/elements are sewn by you. See FAQ below.

• One photo per top: Pick just ONE photo of your top to enter in the contest. If you have other pictures of the top that you’d like the judges to see, please feel free to add a link to the rest of your photostream in the description.
• Is a square image: crop it to a square before uploading it to Flickr
• Is mostly of the top: your top should fill the majority of the picture so the judges can see it clearly; this means full-body shots of you wearing the top are probably not the best.
• Should be text and AD-FREE: We understand that you want to protect your work; however, if you become a finalist we will be posting your picture here on the blog and cannot have any text on that image. If you decide to use a watermark, it must be extremely subtle (clear and small) or digital/invisible.
• Must be named and described: Please include the following in your photo title or description 1) Your first name, 2) The pattern you used, 3) Type or name of fabric, 4) Any other info you want to provide or a link to your blog or Flickr set where we can see more photos/read more about it! 5)
• Must be stamped “ENTERED” by a moderator if you want it to be judged: Our photo moderators check to make sure that everyone who wants to be entered in the sewalong contest has also filled out the entry form (link above). Once they’ve checked that, they will leave a comment on your photo that says “ENTERED.” If you do NOT get this comment on your photo within 48 hours of entering your top, please email me so we can figure out what happened.

FAQ

May I use a top I started last summer but never finished?
Yes. All tops must be completed sometime after March 1, 2012. If you started something last year and then set it aside and want to finish it this year for the contest, that’s perfectly fine, I just want to avoid “old” entries, if that makes sense.

May I embellish a pre-made or purchased top?
No, unlike in previous years we are not going to accept tops that are embellished versions of a purchased or pre-made top, since it is too difficult for our judges to distinguish how much of the top was made by you and how much was made by someone else. Your top should be made entirely by you (see exception in the next line)

May I upcycle another top into a new one?
You are welcome to recycle fabric from another garment to make your top, but please make sure that any details retained from the original top are minimal. For instance, you might decide you want to keep the hem from the old shirt or the button placket. The rule of thumb is that you should be sewing the majority of the seams and other elements of your new shirt. Also: you MUST divulge all elements that you did not design or sew yourself in your photo description when you enter it in the pool.

May I design my own pattern?
You may use or adapt any sewing pattern or design your own. If you use a pattern, you must provide the pattern information in your photo description when you enter it in the pool.

Ready to enter?

Put your top in the pool
Fill out our easy entry form