AMES, Iowa – Fifty Iowa teens can’t wait to rip apart nine wedding dresses and use the finery to design their own creations for Iowa 4-H’s Stitch This! fashion design competition at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 21-22. Now the question is: Who will be selected to “stitch this”?

According to Shelly Greving, marketing coordinator for the Iowa 4-H Foundation, “Ten teams of four teens, one team of three, one team of two and five individuals have applied, either in writing or video. Their applications highlight their interests, personalities and skills, and are quite entertaining as well.”

The video applications can be viewed on the Iowa 4-H YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/iowa4h.

Nine teams will be selected by July 1 and will be announced at the State 4-H Youth Conference.

“We can select only nine teams because we have only nine dresses,” Greving said. “We’d love for all the teams to participate in the competition if we had more wedding dresses.”

Here’s how Stitch This! works: At the Iowa State Fair, each team will be assigned a donated wedding dress. Over the course of two days, each team will take the dress apart and will use their creativity to design and construct a wearable garment from the pieces. Each team will be paired with an Iowa State University Textiles and Clothing student who will provide direction and overall expertise on patternmaking and construction.

It’s a high stakes competition, Greving said. The grand prize winning team of teens will have the opportunity to share their talents with Michele Beschen, host and creator of “Courage to Create,” “B.Original” and “B.Organic” TV shows. Beschen recently was featured on “Rachel Ray.” The winning team and project will be featured in a segment on “B.Organic” during the fall/winter 2009.

For more information on Stitch This!, contact Shelly Greving at (515) 294-1607.

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ABOUT THE IOWA 4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM -- 4-H is the nation’s largest youth development organization, serving more than 6 million young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship, communication and life skills. One quarter of Iowa’s young people are involved in 4-H. In Iowa, 4-H Youth Development is headquartered at the Iowa State University campus in Ames. For more information about joining 4-H, contact your Iowa State University Extension county office at www.extension.iastate.edu/ouroffices.htm or visit www.extension.iastate.edu/4H.