Montana MIWW representatives compete at nationals

Press release

Montana Make It With Wool representatives showed off their talents during the 70th annual National Make It With Wool competition as part of the 2018 American Sheep Industry Convention held Feb. 1-3 at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, Texas.

Morgan Brooks of Ronan participated in the Junior Category, while Jasmine Powell of Havre participated in the Senior Category.

Montana's adult winner, Jennifer Beardsley of Miles City, competed in the national contest by mailing in her garment along with a video and photos.

This year, Morgan Brooks challenged herself by making an Australian patterned biker-styled jacket from a blue tweed wool and a black wool pencil skirt. The Australian pattern was challenging as Morgan had to research some of the steps to complete her jacket. The jacket features zippers on the sleeves for an edgy look. Morgan's pencil skirt is a great addition to her wardrobe that will be worn a lot. Morgan is a senior at Ronan High School and enjoys tennis, hunting, sewing, and cheer.

Jasmine Powell stepped out in style in her three-piece 100 percent Pendleton wool ensemble this year. Her Simplicity kimono-styled unlined jacket is color-blocked with a tri-color herringbone, peacock blue flounce and salmon sleeve bands. Jasmine's second piece is a lined flowy sleeveless tunic top in the salmon wool. Machine embroidery on the jacket sleeve bands and top's neck band compliment with a variegated thread in the three colors that make up the ensemble. The final piece is a New Look patterned peacock blue-lined pants. Jasmine is a senior at Montana State University-Northern in Havre, taking business classes and an online student at Dawson Community College in Glendive, taking early childhood courses. When Jasmine is not studying or working at a local daycare, she enjoys her pets, which consist of six bunnies and seven cats.

Jennifer Beardsley's dress began with the cable. Stitches were then picked up around the edge of the cable to complete the top and again to complete the bottom. The sleeves were knit separately and set in. The waist is accented by raised slip-stitch vertical stripes which narrow at the waist and flair out at the bust and hemline. Jennifer's dress also features a scooped neck, ¾ length sleeves and rolled reverse stockinette stitch bands for the edge details. Jennifer and her husband, Arny, have five children and four grandchildren who keep them on the go. They ranch south of Miles City on the Tongue River.

The National MIWW contest saw 26 junior contestants, 23 senior contestants and 20 adult contestants representing 27 states. Currently, there are 30 states with active Make It With Wool programs. The National MIWW Director is Mary Roediger from Albany, Ohio.

The contestants did a lot of site seeing while in San Antonio, visiting the Alamo, the Tower of Americas, and Market Street. They also took in workshops where they studied their personality colors, learned about angora goats, and played with circuits while creating a bracelet with LED lights.

When the awards were handed out, Morgan Brooks was placed as a "Top 7 Finalist" in the junior category. Holley Schwartz of Wisconsin won the Junior Division, Claire Lee of Indiana won the Senior Division, and Rachel Siegel of Pennsylvania won the Adult Division. Jennifer Beardsley placed seventh in the adult category.

Some interesting statistics collected from the 2017 MIWW year are there was a total of 95 Adult contestants, 58 Seniors, 146 Juniors, 180 PreTeens, and 32 Made for Others throughout the 30 states. There was a total of 1,537 yards of wool fabric and 243 skeins of wool yarn used to construct the MIWW garment entries this year.

For more information on the Make It With Wool program, please visit and like our Montana Make It With Wool facebook page, National Make It With Wool facebook page, Montana Wool Growers Assocation facebook page, or email Montana MIWW Director Amanda Powell at [email protected].