Though she can’t feel a sewing needle and struggles to see at night,
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TORRINGTON – Though she can’t feel a sewing needle and struggles to see at night, Jamie Wilkinson will defend her state Make It With Wool Contest title. That’s because she advanced to the state competition Friday afternoon at the Platte Valley Bank Community Room in Torrington. Wilkinson won the District 8 competition after being the only contestant.
That doesn’t mean Wilkinson’s coat, top and pants were not impressive. Wilkinson, of Huntley, made the coat out of hand-woven Peruvian alpaca fur.
“I do try to be challenging to myself,” Wilkinson said.
You might say so, given Wilkinson’s finger and eye condition. Wilkinson has glaucoma, meaning it is hard for her to see at night.
Before modeling her creations, Wilkinson said, “You sew your brains out for three months saying ‘Why am I doing this?’”
It’s for opportunities like the one Wilkinson has to defend her title at the state championship Dec. 8-9, Make It With Wool’s Jodee Weimer said. Wilkinson has been to state 12 to 15 times after competing in the contest at least 28 times, taking second “half a dozen times,” Wilkinson said.
That was before she broke throughand won.
“It totally flabbergasted me,” Wilkinson said. The state competition is intense. Judges go through your outfit with a magnifying glass and withhold points if the outfit a person makes isn’t something they would wear.
Wilkinson got to reading about alpaca fur. She was impressed.
“I’d rather do cashmere, but it’s like $200 a yard,” she said.
That isn’t to say that alpaca fur doesn’t produce premium products. A “really nice” alpaca sweater can run $300, Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson’s creation is in demand. Her sister and husband both want an alpaca coat.
“I’ll probably end up making one for Christmas,” she said. “I told (my husband) if I got him one, he would have to model it.”
He didn’t like that idea.
One innovative thing Wilkinson did with the coat was use the tops of socks at the ends of the sleeves, since tops of socks don’t wear out.
At the state competition, Wilkinson will model for around 400 judges.
The Make It With Wool Contest is held in all 50 states.
