IPM2016 – Announcing Contest One, June 1-7

We’re starting Indie Pattern Month 2016 with a nice easy challenge that should be familiar to everyone.

You told us New to Me was your favourite category last year and that you loved trying out new Indie Pattern designers, so we brought it back!

Contest one, June 1-7 – New to Me

How does this all work?

Each contest runs over the course of one week during June. During that week, anyone who wants to enter can by writing a post about their entry on The Monthly Stitch and selecting the contest category for that week.

Your post must follow the General and Contest Specific Rules set out below.

At the end of the week for each contest, the judges (Kat and Mel) will choose 14 entries to go into the final. Finalists will be chosen based on four key factors:

• garment quality
• creativity
• blog post quality, and
• photography

The 14 finalists will be posted on the Monthly Stitch three days after the contest closes. The winners will be chosen through a community vote.

Voting will begin for each category once the finalists are announced. Voting is open for 3 days and you can vote for up to four entries per contest.

Want to join in with Indie Pattern Month but not enter any of the contests? Indie Patterns are still the overall challenge theme for June so you can also just sew along with any indie pattern but not enter any of the above competitions. Categorise your post “Indie Pattern Month 2016”.

Submit any questions regarding the rules in the comments of this post or by emailing themonthlystitch[at]gmail.com

General Rules:

Like any good contest, there are a few rules for these ones as well.

• Any Indie pattern brand is eligible. You can find a list of eligible brands here. If a brand isn’t on the list please use the form at the bottom of that page to suggest an edit. If you aren’t sure if something is indie just ask!
• Patterns must be pdf or envelope patterns. Sewing books and magazines are not eligible.
• You can enter each contest as many times as you like as long as each entry follows all general and contest specific rules set out here.
• Each individual make can only be entered into one category – there is one exception to this rule and we will update you after all contests have been announced.
• Items must be new and sewn specifically for Indie Pattern Month 2016. No makes started prior to the contest announcements are to be submitted.
• Items must not have been blogged about, either on The Monthly Stitch or on another blog, prior to the week the contest they are being entered into is running. You may blog your entries elsewhere after posting on The Monthly Stitch.
• Your post must go up on The Monthly Stitch blog during the week of the contest category and must be correctly categorised and follow ALL the usual posting rules.
• We need your entry post to be of a good quality. The more photos and details you include, the more people will learn about what you’ve made, and the better chance you have of being a finalist and, ultimately, a winner! Posts must include the following:
  • A minimum of three photos (that have been inserted using URLs, not uploaded to the blog directly please – we’ve got a tutorial here for how to do that)
  • A feature image (here’s a tutorial for how to add a feature image)
  • The contest category selected (so that we know it’s a competition entry post!) We’ll tell you the categories at the start of each contest week so you know which one to use.
  • Information about the pattern/s you used: the brand, the name/number of the pattern (you might also like to include a description, image, and link to the pattern page)
  • What fabric and notions you used
  • Any pattern alterations/design changes you made, and what (if any) you’d make next time
  • How you found the instructions. Were they easy to follow?
  • Why did you choose the pattern and fabric you used?
  • You might find is useful to read Kat’s post about Creating a Great Monthly Stitch Post.
• All competition deadlines run on UTC time – you can check the current UTC time here.
• Posts that do not meet these rules will not be eligible. Your post will be placed in the ‘drafts’ folder and you will receive an email. You may edit and repost within the competition time frames to re-enter the competition. For this reason we suggest you do not post at the last minute – give yourself time to check your post and then to correct it and repost if needed.

New to Me Contest Specific Rules:

• The “New to Me” competition runs from June 1st (00:00 UTC) until June 7th (24:00 UTC)
• Sew an item from an Indie pattern brand that you have never sewn from before. This includes muslining prior to the competition announcements or any fails/UFOs (UnFinished Objects)
• The post category is New-to-Me (June 1st – 7th) 2016

The Sponsors:

A huge thank you to the sponsors of New to Me, they have all contributed to the prize list below – why don’t you take a look at their websites to see what you might choose! 😉

                                                                          

The Prizes:

We like to have as many winners as possible, and we know that you like it that way too! So there are multiple prizes in each category. So many pretty sewing goodies to be won, all donated by our amazing sponsors!

There will be a total of 8 winners for the New to Me contest and they will randomly be assigned a prize from the following list:

Prize one:

• Minerva – A 10m mystery fabric bundle

Prize two:

• Jamie Christina – three PDF patterns of the winners choice
• By Hand London – one PDF pattern of the winners choice

Prize three:

• Itch to Stitch – one PDF pattern of the winners choice
• Waffle Patterns – one PDF pattern of the winners choice
• Maison Fleur Patterns – two PDF patterns

Prize four:

• Republique du Chiffon – voucher for one paper pattern of the winners choice
• Oki Patterns – two PDF patterns of the winners choice

Prize Five:

• Hot Patterns – one PDF pattern of the winners choice
• Islander Sewing Systems – Easy Zippers DVD
• Cashmerette – a PDF copy of the Washington Dress pattern

Prize six:

• Greenstyle Creations – three PDF patterns of the winners choice
• Ralph Pink – one PDF pattern of the winners choice

Prize seven:

• Christine Haynes – Sylvie dress sewing class including a PDF copy of the Sylvie dress
• Jennifer Lauren Handmade – one PDF pattern of the winners choice
• Muse – one PDF pattern of the winners choice

Prize eight:

• Sew House Seven – two patterns of the winners choice (PDF or paper)
• Muse – one PDF pattern of the winners choice

How do I sign up?

If you’ve previously posted on The Monthly Stitch blog then you are good to go!

Otherwise you must apply and be approved, please use the sign up for at the bottom of this page.

Please keep in mind that we get really busy working on Indie Pattern Month and we often get a lot of sign up requests in June at the last minute. We must approve sign-ups manually and it can take up to 72 hours for us to complete the process. You also need time for the sign up email to arrive and if you do not yet have a WordPress account you will need to set this up. So, please don’t wait until the day your contest is closing!

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What do you guys think of the first competition? Are you going to enter? What Indie Pattern Brand/s have you never sewn with before?