Youth show off their talents at 4-H Home and Family Show

[August 07, 2021]   The Logan County 4-H Home and Family Show was held Saturday morning in the brown door exhibit barn at the Logan County Fairgrounds. Under the new scheduling rules for this year, the show exhibitors arrived at specific times throughout the day with exhibits in sewing/clothing, home interior, and communications.

Those participating early in the day brought in some very impressive exhibits.

At the sewing and clothing judging, local resident Tonita Reifsteck was the judge. First at her table was Ellie Wrage, who had her first year sewing project with her, a pair of lightweight summer slacks. Reifsteck was very impressed with Ellie’s entry saying that making a pair of slacks was a very ambitious project. Reifsteck recalled that her first sewing project for 4-H years ago was a very simple little dress made from a feed sack.

Ellie talked about what she had learned while doing the project and noted that the patterned material had been a challenge because she wanted the print to be properly aligned and with everything going the correct direction.

Reifsteck asked her if she had washed the garment. Ellie said that when she bought her material she brought it home and washed it before she started laying out her pattern. She had not washed it after the garment was completed. Reifsteck said that Ellie had made a very smart move and that every piece of cloth should be washed before it is sewn.



Ellie was also asked to model her slacks. She went and changed into the slacks and came back for Reifsteck to complete her judging. Reifsteck said that the pants looked really good on their model. She asked Ellie if they were comfortable. The girl answered that indeed they were so comfortable, she would like to just continue wearing them for the rest of the day. However, that was not to be. The garment received a blue ribbon and was brought back to be displayed in the textiles barn for fair week.
 

Ellie was chosen along with Daniel Crider to be State Fair delegates in sewing, Ellie in Clothing I and Daniel in Clothing III.



Rose Catterson also appeared before Judge Reifsteck with her entry in “Shopping with Style.” In this category, the goal is to select and purchase clothing that is coordinated for a complete outfit from shirt to shoes. The items should speak to the current style as well as personal style, and when modeled they need to fit appropriately.

Rose had chosen a dressier outfit consisting of a tan pair of slacks with a jacket a shade lighter. She coordinated her outfit with a black top and black shoes.



The judging began with Rose presenting her story board about her purchase. The board included a photo of her modeling the outfit and then details about the fabrics, care of the fabrics, where she bought the pieces and the total cost of the outfit.

Talking about her selections, Rose shared that one big issue she had was in the differences in actual size versus the size on the tag of the clothing. She noted that name brands vary widely in their interpretation of size. A numerical size that fits well from Brand A may be way too big or too small in the same numerical size from Brand B. Reifsteck said that was a common problem that every person faces, especially when shopping remotely from the internet or a catalog where clothing cannot be tried on before the purchase.

In spite of the challenges she had with selecting sizes, when Rose modeled her outfit for Reifsteck, the judge was impressed with how nicely everything fit and went together.

Rose earned a blue award for her choices. She also won the Purchased Garment Award and was chosen as the State Fair delegate.

One table over, Ellie Wrage had changed out of her comfortable pants and was at the judging table of Sherry Fulton.

The judging was in Home Interior Beginning Design Decisions. Ellie was presenting a restored vanity seat that she and her mom had found in a second hand store.



She had “before” photos of the little chair that showed it was in disrepair and needed some love and attention to become something nice.

Ellie went through the steps that had been involved in fixing the chair. She said that she had gone to numerous fabric retailers to find the appropriate fabric type in a print she liked and felt would complete the chair.
 

Ellie chose the chair because she loved the metal work. She explained that she had a vanity in her bedroom but that the seat she had for it was too low. This chair was perfect and when the fair was over, the chair would become part of her bedroom furniture.

Fulton asked about challenges with the project and Ellie said one big one had been the feet of the chair. When she and her mom got it home, they noticed that there was one foot missing, so they had to address all four feet so that the chair would match all the way around and be stable.

The chair had previously been a dark color. Ellie said she chose to paint the chair gold to give it a brighter look and to complement the fabric of the seat. She said that her dad supervised the paint job.



Ellie won a blue award for her chair and is also a state fair delegate.

Throughout the day, more entries arrived and kids did their best to present their projects well and earn those blue awards.



At a third table, Deanna Mott was the judge for communications that included several categories.
 

Rose Catterson went before Judge Mott in two categories, Communication and Creative Award.

As the day went on, several 4-H members were judged in the communication category with Cavit Schempp and Kristina Morrow being named as the State Fair Delegates. Catterson and Faith Sanders are the State Fair Alternates.

[Nila Smith]