Cherlyn

There was something in all three tht I fell in love with: Austin's white gown was stunning, I loved Mondo's red evening dress, and Michae's white gown with the vest was interesting.

I was routing for Austin, but I figured Mondo would get it.

I loved Austin's design as well! Mondo's dress was too boxy, but he is so good with matching patterns. I thought the dress needed a belt. Micheal's dress has been o the runway way too many times----boring. Kenley's dress was just ugly. I don't know what she uses for brains sometimes.

I loved the challenge as well, but when you learned what is actually spent on fabric and the rest is labor and money for the fund raiser---that was an eye opener. But the average shopper cannot afford those designer looks---only if they find them at a place like TJMaxx:)

When my children were young, this has been over 20 years ago, I purchased patterns to make my son a spider costume and my daughter a butterfly. I had difficulty locating some of the items listed on both so I had to improvise using things I could find locally. My son needed a web, so I had to create this using yarn instead of a fabric that was listed on the pattern. My daughter's wings were made from a multi-color scale design metallic fabric that was made to fit bent clothing hangers. She received several compliments on her wings during the evening.

Aftr reading through some of the comments, I have to agree with PollyEaster's comment about black! I like black but not alone, only with another bright bold color so the color pops! I didn't care for Victoria's dress, it had tiny wings for sleeves. There was really nothing to it! It was black and boring! Casanova should have been kicked off the show. We are experiencing the same thing we experienced last year. A designer that wants to show loads of skin in all the wrong places! I wasn't a hugh fan of McKell's dress but it showed more taste than Casanova's! Don't even get me started on Jason's outfit---he has zero imagination! I couldn't believe they kept Ivy after all the discussion over the pants that remained pants! I didn't think her top looked that bad---same thing I see in some of the stores and pattern books. She stayed safe!

I did see some talent on the runway and am interested in seeing what each creates over the next few weeks.

I agreed with the judges that Jay should win this challenge. He put so much thought into his design and came up with something unexpected. I didn't care for the metals at all. Those had to be uncomfortable! I also liked Maya's outfit; although, I have seen similar ideas before so I didn't think this was very orginal. Her necklace is pretty much what is being seen in the find women's fashion stores. Jonathon and Amy appeared to be thinking in similar ways. I think I liked Amy's dress a little better than Johnathon's. I cannot figure out this facination with Mila! That dress is just another black and white! Can she not do something with touches of hues of color and get off these monotones? I thought the outfit was her worst, but then I think about that design of hers that actually won! I didn't like it either. Emilo's suit didn't look any different than what people actually wear. I never understood why they kept saying it didn't cover enough. Look on the beaches and see what people wear---they cover up more in a doctor's office for a physical that they do on the beach!

I was in 4-H, so my first project was an apron with two pockets. I never wore it and thought it was ugly. But it taught me some basics: straight stitching, turning a corner, attaching ties, and gathering. I learned more about making garments from my mother. From there, I began to branch out; eventually challenging myself with designer Vogue patterns which led me into patterns with little or no directions. Everything has a logic order to it when you sew. I knew more about sewing than most of the girls in the freshman home ec class.

I regret not having my grandmother teach me about hand quilting. I have a quilt made by Grandmother Bee from scraps of my dresses that my mother made for me for school (back in the day when all girls could only wear dresses to school).

I learned that there is a wrong way and at right way to use a seam ripper once when I was trying to open the temporary stitches on a welted pocket on an expensive wool. Yes, I ripped my way into about 2 inches of the jacket. I was not happy, not to mention, asking myself, "Now how am I going to make this mistake not so noticable?" I don't remember what I came up with, but I do know that I wore the jacket. No one ever noticed. I'm very careful with a seam ripper these days. I've taught many students how important it is to be very careful and make sure you're only removing what you intend.