How does one begin to write about an ugly fabric contest? That was my challenge for a March 2002 assignment.

Photographer T.J. Salsman and I headed to the contest site, unsure what we’d find. The result was a light feature for the next day’s newspaper.

Sew what? / Guild challenge makes fashion sense of ugly fabric
Thursday, March 28, 2002

It comes with the territory.

People who love to sew eventually find themselves with yards and yards of ugly fabric – cuts of material that seemed like a good idea at the time but lost their luster through the years. (Some might consider paisley a good example.)

When those unsightly textiles pile up, an “ugly fabric contest” can be a seamstress’ best friend.

Twenty-two women from the Lincolnland chapter of the American Sewing Guild rose to the challenge of turning a scrap of ugly fabric into something wearable or usable. Their creations were modeled at the chapter’s annual meeting and style show Wednesday night.

“We all have stashes, and we all have fabric in our stashes that we think, ‘Why did we buy that? ‘” said Nancy Ward.

The contest started in December, when members of the chapter were asked to bring a piece of what they considered ugly fabric that was at least one yard and seal it in a brown paper bag. The members selected a bag and were challenged to create something from the surprise fabric inside.

Frances Metcalf, who taught home economics in Riverton for 10 years, was surprised when she opened her paper bag and found 51/2 yards of a blue polyknit fabric bearing a tropical print. She gleefully decided to share it with unsuspecting friend and seamstress Bev Clark of Sherman.

Because of the fabric’s lightweight nature, Metcalf lined the back with a fleece fabric and turned it into a lap robe, which she likely will donate to a nursing home.

“I won’t repeat the suggestion my sons, both engineers, had to say about it,” she joked.

Clark had a different vision for the fabric. With a few snips and the addition of some pretty ruffles, she turned it into a swimsuit cover-up.

“I looked at it and thought, ‘Oh dear. What am I going to do with this? ‘” she said. “I thought a swimsuit cover-up was something that would be easy to dry and would pack easily.”

And did Clark think hers was the ugliest fabric in the contest?

“I would have to say, I think it is,” she said and laughed.

Other clever ugly fabric creations included book bags, children’s clothes, stuffed animals, pajamas, table cloths, a clothing dust cover, a laundry bag and a smock-and-bonnet outfit for a concrete goose.

The Lincolnland chapter is looking for new members, and it is open to anyone who likes to sew. The chapter has several groups that meet at various times during the month. For more information, call chapter president Sarah Brogdon at 675-2060.