Taylor Mills walked across the stage at the Indiana State Fair in a full-length red velvet dress and a pair of shoes 1.5 sizes too small.
Eighteen-year-old Mills spent about a week sewing the dress for the 4-H fashion revue — a competition where students model clothes for judges and supporters. Gathered in a hall Thursday, students from across Indiana showed off formal dresses, jumpsuits and jackets they had sewn themselves.
The crushed velvet dress was a challenge, Mills said, because she needed to arrange the grain of the material and fit an invisible zipper. “I made it mostly for fashion revue, but I intend on using it for a lot of formal events and weddings — and just probably around the house if I’m bored,” she said.
The dress was a quick project compared to another she had on display at the fair: A bubblegum pink wool coat with a pastel dinosaur print lining. She made her coat over several months alongside her grandmother — an exacting seamstress.
“I live on a farm, so there’s a lot of farm work to do,” Mills said. “I kind of just fit it wherever I could.”
After 10 years in 4-H, last week was Mills’ final competition. That may be welcome news for her feet. Mills wears size 12.5 shoes, so it’s hard to find shoes, and she often ends up competing in pairs that are slightly too small, she said.
The youngest of four, Mills described 4-H as “generational” for her family. Her relatives had participated going back at least to her great-grandmother, she said.
Mills said in Cass County, where she’s from, sewing has a different vibe than the 4-H animal competitions. “When I did swine, it was very competitive. Everyone’s out to get you, it feels like,” Mills said. “With fashion revue, it’s more just kind of — we all help each other out.”
The sense of camaraderie with other contestants was also one of eighteen-year-old Avery Fowler’s favorite parts of fashion revue.
Fowler, from Warren County, competed in the dress-up category in a white seersucker dress she made for her high school graduation from a pattern she adapted from a 1980s bridesmaid dress.
Ahead of the performance, Fowler showed off her favorite detail: A matching bow that she moved from her shoulder to the back of her waist. It was attached with tiny magnets that Fowler fitted into the bow and the dress.
“It was really hard to do because I had to make sure they were all facing the right way, and they would try to turn and rotate,” Fowler said. “I had to very carefully hand stitch them, and it tried to get stuck to the pin too.”
Fowler learned to sew from her mother, who learned from Fowler’s great-grandmother — both former 4-H competitors who came to the fair to watch Fowler compete in fashion revue.
Fowler spent a couple of weeks sewing the dress — sometimes for eight hours a day. She admits she “didn’t sleep much, but it worked out.”
Fowler placed in the top 10 of her category.
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FPI News reporter Dylan Peers McCoy covers pressing issues throughout the state and how local communities are tackling those challenges. Reach her at 508-259-4809 or dylan.mccoy@fpinews.org.
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