Lancaster County seamstresses earn trip to State fashion Revue
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
LANCASTER A coveted trip
to State 4-H Fashion Revue has
become a reality for four girls
from Lancaster County, half the
total number of winners from the
Capitol region. The winning
tradition for Lancaster County has
long been a reality in 4-H sewing,
but three of the four are
newcomers to the winner’s circle.
Cindy Harnish, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Clayton Harnish, Rl,
Willow Street, was among the top
ten in the state last year, and
relishes the opportunity to try
again for the top prize for 4-H
seamstresses.
For Cindy Trimble, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Trimble, Rl,
Peach Bottom, it took ten years to
earn an invitation to state Fashion
Revue, and Cindy considers it a
great way to finish out her 4-H
career.
Alison Bradley, 16, is in her third
year of sewing, and was “sur
prised” to be named one of the top
eight winners at the regional
event. Nevertheless, the prospect
of attending the state show is
exciting to Alison, the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. David Bradley, Sixth
Avenue, Lititz.
Andrea Ebersole, 14, is in her
first year of senior competition and
was named an alternate at the
county show. Because one of the
eight gold ribbon winners couldn’t
attend, Andrea drew the lucky
number and went on to be declared
a gold winner at the regional
contest. For Andrea, the selection
was especially sweet, because last
year she went to regional com
petition as an alternate junior
winner and was named an alter
nate there. She is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. John Ebersole, W.
Newport Road, Lititz.
As each of the girls reflected
their upcoming trip to 4-H state
days held at Penn State in August,
they recognized that the biggest
Looking through a pattern catalog, Andrea Ebersole gets
ideas for appropriate garments for 4-H projects and for her
other activities.
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Cindy Harnish
challenge is going through county
4-H Fashion Revue, in a county
which is known for its excellent
seamstresses.
“Our county competition is
definitely harder and we have a lot
more girls in the fashion show,”
Cindy Hamish says.
CINDY HARNISH
Sixteen-year-old Cindy has been
a winner in county fashion revue
each of the four years she has been
able to participate. Three of those
four years she also won at
regional, something that really
puts the pressure on. However,
Cindy notes that each year 4-H’ers
must start again and go through
the same process to be eligible for
state competition.
In choosing her project, Cindy
says, “I look at ready made
clothing and catalogs to find ideas.
This year I chose the fabric first.”
Always searching for something
different, Cindy and her mother
visited the enormous “G Street”
fabric store in Rockville, MD, and
it was there that Cindy found the
fuchsia and black plaid fabric that
would become her winning blouse
and skirt. “As soon as I saw it I
knew it was what I wanted.” This
was the year that Cindy was
required to sew with plaid as part
of her project.
After consulting someone at the
store, Cindy chose to design her
own skirt. Cindy acknowledges, “I
am the kind of person who jumps in
head first. It took me two weeks to
figure it out.” Once she decided
how she wanted the skirt to look,
she says, “I just took two pieces of
fabric and started pleating.”
Even expert seamstresses have
their problems and Cindy said the
skirt was too full the first time she
tried, so she decided to have pleats
in the front and back and none on
the sides. The skirt, not sur
prisingly, proved to be the hardest
part of her project, and she says,
“It was hard to get the waistband
on.”
, “vSi
After finishing with the skirt,
Cindy decided to use a pattern for
the blouse, changing just the
sleeves.
Cindy says, “When I sew for 4-H,
I sew from 8 in the morning until 8
at night.” She said she is always
very careful when sewing on a 4-H
project. “Every time I cut a thread
I make sure I don’t have the
fabric.”
One advantage of sewing your
own clothing, according to Cindy,
is to save money. She adds, “You
can make something and not see 10
other people wearing it. You can
also make clothes you see in really
,
Cindy Trimble
(Turn to Page B 4)
Alison Bradley
Cindy Harnish likes to sew for herself between 4-H projects
because it is cheaper and gives her the opportunity to select
exactly what she wants. She said she gets her ideas from
ready-mad'" 'lothin'' id fr italo^
Part of Cindy Triml
the milking on the
prepares the milking
Andrea Ebersoie
ible's daily routine includes helping with
family's Brown Swiss farm. Here she
machine.