Embroidery Olympics Competition

Enter your own team in the Embroidery Olympics, a live embroidery competition held at the Embroidery Mart EAST once every four years. Teams will compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze awards in 4 events. Each team consists of three members. Each team must be able to design, digitize and embroider designs as specified for each event. The events for this year are designed to reflect the real lives of embroiderers, focusing on overall quality and speed. Each team is responsible for providing (or having provided) all of their own embroidery equipment, supplies, computers, software, threads, stabilizers, etc. The Mart will provide one 10' x 15' competition space per team, electricity for the embroidery and computer equipment, 3 chairs and one 8' worktable.

Entry Fee $150 per team.

Teams are made up of three members, ideally a digitizer, a machine operator and a machine tech. Teams will compete in four events, Left Chest, Low Profile Cap, Make it Right (fixing a badly done design), and Jacket Back. Events will be judged based on speed, quality, and overall performance during the event (thread breaks are scored, as an example!). Event winners will be awarded cash prizes as well as earn bragging rights for the next 4 years!

Winners will be recognized at approximately 12N on Saturday, August 5. The team earning the Gold Medal over all wins $1000, Silver - $750, Bronze - $500, other teams $250. Mart buyers will be invited to vote for their favorite jacket back on Saturday morning, and that will also to be announced at 12 N Saturday. The winner of the Peopleās Choice vote will not affect scores from competition.

After the Mart is over, the winning design in each category will be posted on www.NNEP.net and on www.EmbroideryNetworkFoundation.org to be downloaded by anyone. To download the left chest, cap or Make It Right (corrected) design, a $10 contribution must be made to the Embroidery Network Foundation, a 501(c)(3) foundation, which supports Women's Shelters and Disaster Relief. To download the jacket back design, a $25 contribution must be made to the ENF.

For additional details, contact Jennifer Cox at the NNEP, 330-678-4887.

Proposed events:
Left Chest event (90 minutes) same design/art file, including small lettering provided to all teams. Same shirt provided for all teams. Event is won based on time to complete design digitize, sew, trim, present to judges. Criteria design must fall within defined size and stitch count. Points awarded for speed total digitizing time including edits, total sewing time of final version. Points awarded for least number of thread breaks while running final version. Overall quality points are also awarded.

Low Profile Cap event (90 minutes) - same design/art file, including defined design size, provided to all teams. Same cap provided for all teams. Event is won based on time to complete design digitize, sew, trim, present to judges. Criteria design must fall within defined size and stitch count. Points awarded for speed total digitizing time including edits, total sewing time of final version . Points awarded for least number of thread breaks while running final version. Overall quality points are also awarded.

Make It Right event (90 minutes) - same design and sewout, which is really poorly digitized, provided to all teams. Same shirt provided for all teams. Event is won based on time to fix design edit/digitize, sew, trim, present to judges. Criteria design must fall within defined size and stitch count. Points awarded for speed total editing/digitizing time, total sewing time of final version. Points awarded for least number of thread breaks while running final version. Overall quality points are also awarded.

Jacket Back event (3 hours)- unique design, including applique to be created by all teams. Each team will be provided with a selection of art files. They must include at least 2 of these files, and incorporate an applique into the final design. Same jacket provided for all teams. Event is won based on time to create and complete design digitize, sew, trim, present to judges. Criteria design must fall within defined size and stitch count. Points awarded for speed total digitizing time including edits, total sewing time of final version. Points awarded for least number of thread breaks while running final version. Overall quality points are also awarded.

Embroidery Olympics Event sponsorships will be available, $1000. Sponsorship benefits include a banner to be hung across back of one of the competitive areas, 3' wide x 5' long, hung from the top bar of the booth across the back, company name listed in Mart Book as event sponsor, company name included in all signage where appropriate, access to images of the event for future publication, website use.

Teams can solicit assistance on their own. Assisting a team is NOT the same as event sponsorship, and does it include event sponsor benefits. Team are allowed max. of 15 square feet on their side walls for any team sponsors they are able to secure. They must provide their own signage.