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BurdaStyle 1st Design and Pattern Competition

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UPDATE: Due to shipping issues, the deadline is extended to 15 JULY 2007 Items should be at our office either before or on that date.

Dearest BurdaStyle members,

We are thrilled to announce our first BurdaStyle Design Competition. As an open source website, we are hoping to facilitate more creative opportunities for the sewing community all over the world. Now we’ve come up with the perfect way for you to contribute to the site as well as to your own trophy case, or in this case, pattern library. Send us your designs and we will choose two winners to have their patterns professionally created, shot in a photo shoot, featured on BurdaStyle.com, and downloaded by other BurdaStyle users! Also, did we mention that this competition can make a contribution to your wallet!?!

There are two categories to which you can submit. If you are great at designing, but not patternmaking, submit an illustration and tech drawing along with specifications, and we’ll do all of the pattern work. If you feel confident in your patternmaking skills, show them off! Send us a pattern you made along with a muslin of the design and technical drawing.

Design-based competition PRIZE $300 Design a garment or outfit (if you choose to illustrate an outfit, make clear which piece you are submitting as we will only choose 1 garment to produce) Submit an illustration of your design (front and back), a technical drawing (front and back) and specifications. Also send a document telling a little bit about yourself, the inspiration for your design, and a description of the fabrics you envision your design in. Send everything as low-res jpeg [indicate size] and contact information including a picture of yourself in an e-mail to answers@burdastyle.com. All contestants must have a filled-out user profile on BurdaStyle.com, which will be used to introduce you as a participant.

Pattern-based competition PRIZE $500 Design a garment. Submit a self-made paper pattern, muslin, and technical drawing. Also send a document telling a little bit about yourself, the inspiration for your design, and a description of the fabrics you envision your design in. All contestants must have a filled-out user profile on BurdaStyle.com, which will be used to introduce you as a participant.

Send through the good old Postal Service to

BurdaStyle Attn: Benedikta Karaisl, 325 Gold Street, 6th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA

All submissions are due in our inbox (e-mail and post) by July 15 (formerly June), 2007. We will choose one winner from each category and notify him/her by the end of June. Please note, by entering and winning this competition you are giving us the permission to make your design and pattern open-source, and for the pattern produced from your design to be posted on our website. Please note: Some people where confused if they were allowed to enter altough they didn't live in the US, yes, they are! For more information check the official rules!

By the way: Interesting and creative submissions that didn't win will still be featured on the site!

COMPETITION

Posted by nora

15 May 2007 03:30 PM

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Comments (30)

COMMENTS (30)

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red_swirl Ï Posted 17 May 2007 at 3:17 AM

Dear BurdaStyle,

I think a competition is a great way to encourage reader participation, and I love the whole open source sewing idea.

I might have entered, but I read the official rules ... I'm not a USA resident. Burda (parent of BurdaStyle?) is a very international organisation, originating in Germany ... is the USA-only rule strictly necessary? The people who have introduced themselves so far in the forum also seem to come from many countries, not just USA.

Thanks for thinking this over!
Benedikta Ï Posted 17 May 2007 at 9:50 AM
LOVES maryys navy blue creation!!

Hi Red Swirl,

Thanks so much for your message, we are looking into making the contest accessible to anyone. Unfortunately there are so many rules and regulations that it sometimes isn't as easy as one hopes. However we would love to have you be part of the competition and we will do anything possible. We will keep you posted!
Lauriana Ï Posted 20 May 2007 at 3:18 PM
Benedikta Ï Posted 21 May 2007 at 10:43 AM
LOVES maryys navy blue creation!!

Hi Lauriana,

The official rules do allow you to participate in the contest. Feel free to get back to us with anymore questions or concerns you may have. We are very much looking forward to your entry.

Good Luck
Mirela Ï Posted 23 May 2007 at 3:00 PM

I have a some questions, here they are:

Can I participate in both contests?

Can the illustrations be drawn freehanded and then scanned or photographed to an electronic format?

How low should the resolution of the electronic files be?

For the pattern competition, do we need to submit by mail both the paper pattern and the muslin?

Does the muslin need to be assembled or flat?

Should the instructions contain also illustrations of the important construction steps?

Looking forward to seeing everyone's creativity!

Thanks, Mirela
nora Ï Posted 23 May 2007 at 5:32 PM
needs to get back to sewing
Here are the answers:
1. Yes, you can participate in both contests
2. Yes, you can hand in anything, freehand, in any design program, you can scan it, photograph the illustration etc.
3. The electronic files should be no larger than 2 - 3 Megabytes
4. The muslin should be assembled, the pattern should be send along with it
5. You only need to give instructions, if something needs further explanation. We don't need instructions.
We are excited to see what you come up with!
squirrellypoo Ï Posted 24 May 2007 at 5:47 AM
feisty

For the pattern competition, are you able to return muslins sent to you if we include a checque or Paypal for return postage (being international, I can't just include a SASE since I can't get US stamps)? Obviously the pattern pieces I can just trace off and keep a copy here, but the muslin I'm making I'd like to wear this summer if it's possible to get it back. ;)
nora Ï Posted 24 May 2007 at 12:11 PM
needs to get back to sewing

Yes, we can send things back to you, we can FedEx i to you. You can pay with your credit card or a check.
Mirela Ï Posted 25 May 2007 at 12:38 PM

Oh, can the pattern be created for one size only?
nora Ï Posted 26 May 2007 at 1:11 AM
needs to get back to sewing

Yes! Actually we didn't expect people to grade the pattern.