This past summer, Etsy and Instructables held the Sew Useful Contest.  It was a pretty intensive process to enter: contestants had to list a useful handmade item on Etsy and create an accompanying how-to on Instructables. The main thrust of the contest was to put your creativity and know-how forward for the greater good.

Etsy and Instructables also worked with OLPC (One Laptop per Child) to donate proceeds and how-tos.  OLPC gives $100 laptops to children in developing countries and we had the chance to interview Lauren Klein who works for OLPC to collect education content for the machines. (Burdastyle is in the interview too, talking about an open-source sewing pattern for laptop cases!)

Following the Sew Useful Contest, Alison and I got in touch with the winners and interviewed them over the phone.  What follows here are the stories behind their entries.

Turns out John, aka BlondietheBlond, entered the contest to impress a girl. Unfortunately it didn't work, but his Rain or Shine Solar Charger sure does! Listen:

La, aka caballera speaks about her motivation for sharing creative process behind the Fire skirt: bringing a little beauty into the world "Everyone should have a glow outfit." She actually got a marriage proposal from all the exposure she got  from the contest.  She politely declined. Listen:

Kerri, aka kerri9494, talks about her drive to make everyday, useful objects for her son. The Hearing aid drying pouch came out of his needs at summer swim camp. Listen:

donovanbeeson explains her compulsive paper-hoarding and her inspiration for the Envelope book. Listen:

Elli, abitabite links her motivation for making the Plushie Personal Boom-box / Goodnight Pillow back to when she was a kid. Her mother had to separate abitabite and the many foster kids they had growing up into two rooms: one for those who liked music while they fell asleep, and one for those who needed quiet. Listen:

Julia of  pauljuliadesigns speaks about her drive to help elderly and share her Walker Bag designs with the world. Listen:

We also interviewed Darren of djlz about his Emergency Recordable Bag, which he decided to make after watching the  confusion after Katrina. Many people lost their prescriptions, important phone numbers, etc, and the recording device would allow people (especially people who cannot write) to audio record a few quick messages as they weather a storm or disaster. The design ranked high in the voting. Listen:

We were also big fans of rabbitears27's Print Faux-co, her take on the Gocco printer, and wanted to find out how she figured out her design. Listen:

Big congrats again to the winners!  We hope you are enjoying your sewing machines. 

And congrats to my sister-in-law Kim, aka vanfan, whose entry ranked up at the top but was removed from the running for being a relation.  She sold one of her Insulin Pump Garter Belts which are sew useful for diabetics! Oh, and she had a healthy baby girl, my new niece Ramona!

See the original announcement of the Sew Useful Contest winners.  You can see all the entries still listed by searching with the tag sewuseful.