Use your creativity and skills to upcycle your style by adding decorative touches to your clothes with dye, paint, beads, embroidery, and more!
Download the Spark Sheet
EnglishShow Your Skills
- Exhibit at your local 4-H Show or county fair with an embellished outfit appropriate for your experience level
- Demonstrate an embellishment technique
- Show the basics of color theory and combining colors in pleasing ways
Service and Leadership
- Embellish fabric items, like pillowcases or blankets, to donate to hospitals or nursing homes.
- Organize a community clothing drive
- Organize a community craft supply or fabric exchange
- Organize a fashion show for a local senior center
- Assist in organizing a 4-H Clothing Embellishment SPIN Club
Entrepreneurship
- Produce custom embellished clothing / items
- Teach others embellishment techniques through classes
Technology Connection
- National Institute of Fashion Technology
- LEDs or microcontrollers in clothing
- 4-H WearTec project
Connecting with a Mentor
- 4-H club leader or U of I Extension volunteers
- Local sewing group such as a chapter of the American Sewing Guild or Association of Sewing and Design Professionals
- Local college fashion departments or clubs
- Local fabric store
- High school Family & Consumer Science teachers
Events
- Exhibit at your local 4-H Show or county fair
- Technique classes at your local fabric or craft stores
Project Manuals & Exhibit Requirements
View exhibit requirements and scoresheets on the Illinois State Fair page.
Related Projects
Authored by Amy Henschen, 4-H Senior Program Lead
Resources consulted include Nebraska Extension Beyond the Needle and Ohio Extension Embellish: A 4-H Guide to Wearable Art