Contests on PatternReview is where the magic happens. If you have not experienced a PatternReview contest yet, this is what you missed. Every month, PatternReview has a themed contest to test our members sewing skills. The beauty of our contests is, everyone wins in terms of experience and knowledge gained.  All abilities are welcome to join from your first contest entry to your 101st.  As much as we prepare for it, we are completely astonished by the entries that makes it so hard to vote!!  It's not just our contestants, but everyone and all that goes on behind the scenes to make the contests run smoothly. And for those of you that don't want the competition and just like to sew-along, we started our themed Monthly Sew-Alongs. Let's take a look at the Year in Review 2023 Contests and Sew-Alongs.

How does PatternReview Contests Work?

Toward the end of every year we compile contest ideas from our contest forum. These ideas are made into a survey list and we ask our members to vote for the contests they’d like to participate in.  After the results come in, the contest committee reviews this list and uses it as the basis of the final list. Once the list gets finalized we find sponsors and send out requests for volunteer contest managers. Contest managers always begin each contest by starting the discussion on the forums, answering any and all questions from participants, and supporting them throughout the contest. Once a contest ends, voting (in most cases) begins and winners are announced based on member votes. Here are the contests we ran this year. 

PatternReview held 16 contests this year (including the 4 rounds of the Sewing Bee). Thank you to ALL the members that participated.  Below is all the contests that took place in the year 2023 along with the Contest Winners and their prize winning pieces.

1st row: Contest - Print Mixing with Winner - nancynrice, Contest - Sewing Bee Round 1 with Winner - jamSews

2nd row: Contest - Sewing Bee Round 2 with Winner - Cupid Dog, Contest - Sewing Bee Round 3 with Winner - Cupid Dog

3rd row: Contest - Handbags & Wallets with Winner - Annette Wright, Contest - Sewing Bee Round 4 with Winner - ClaudC

4th row: Contest - Sewing Bee Grand Prize with Winner - Cupid Dog, Contest - Outerwear with Winner - ChicagoCalCal

5th row: Contest - Wardrobe Sudoku with Winner - Seamingly Simple, Contest - Swimwear with Winner - AshwiniJ

6th row: Contest - Review a Past Project with Winner - Rita61, Contest - One Pattern, Many Looks with Winner - ThoughtSew

7th row: Contest - Costume with Winner - denipratte, Contest - Warm and Cozy with Winner - indigo_sue

8th row: Contest - The LBD (Little Basic Dress) with Winner - HRigg, Contest - Jumpsuit with Winner - chrizzie21

Contest Managers

Our volunteer contest managers contribute their own time to make PatternReview contests fun, engaging, and running seamlessly. They always seem to go far and beyond what is expected in the rules.  The Forum discussion boards are the best part of being in the contests, the support and exicitement from the manager and other sewist, there is no other place like it!  Meet the 13 amazing contest managers of 2023

1st Row: Sew Confused, acmena, mudcat, MsIngie, Flabeth

2nd Row: SheBear0320, Litapita, Moxie Carol, ClaudC

3rd Row: ciaraxyerra, sewnitup, BriarRose, fkettman

THANKS! Contest Committee

Let's not forgot our devoted members of PatternReview's Contest Committee.  There would be no contests without these six phenomenal woman:

Top Row:  AnneM, Bonnie O, Mvi14 

Bottom Row:  ConnieBJ, SandraB., Deepika

THANKS!  Forum Moderators

Then there are our Forum Moderators, the "behind the scenes" security guards.  Without the amazing help of these extraordinary women our site would be in total chaos!

Pyrose  | Lynnelle | EleanorSews | arianamaniacs | Jacqui315 | Sharon1952

THANKS!  Sponsors

We would also like to say a HUGE thank you to our sponsorships for their tremendous generosity this year.  These company donated all prizes awarded to the winners of each contest.

Top Row:  Emma One Sock, Nature's Fabric, Pacific Trimming

Second Row: Style Arc, Fabric Mart, Fancy Frock Fabrics 

Third Row: Kai Scissors, Jalie, Oliso

Fourth Row: Discovery Fabrics, Thanks! I made Them, True Bias

Fifth Row: Emmaline Bags, Sew House Seven, Clover

For more in-depth contest news you can always check out the category Currently Running Contests on our homepage.  The Contests for 2024 have just been announced!!!  Check out the 2024 Contest Forum to find out.

Monthly Popup Sew-alongs

Is camaraderie what you are looking for, but not neccessarily competition?  Well, just last year a group of members got together on our forums and started a monthly Popup Sew-along which has been running ever since. The beauty of it all, it's member driven! Each Month has it's own topic with a volunteer host. Looking for motivation to finish those unfinished projects, join in!

List of Popup Sew-alongs that were hosted this Year.  

Top Row:  January - Color Blocking, February - UFO, March - Embellishments, April - Sleeves

Second Row: May - Presser Foot Frenzy, June - RTW Knock-off, July - Fun With Flags, August -Head to Toe Accessories

Third Row: September - Scraps & Remnants, October - Transitions, November - Holiday Sewing, December - Sew Festive

*Click on name of Month to see each FORUM

Are you convinced to join a contest or join a Sew-along this coming year?  See you there 

Read: 

Part 1 - Members  

Part 3 - Classes & Trends

Part 4 - Patterns