Two Swift Current residents hope their DIY crafting skills will help them win a major prize and a two-page spread in Make magazine.

DYI Hero is a competition sponsored by Barnwood Living in partnership with the American Lung Association and Make magazine to promote DIY and creative makers.

Jessica Adam has entered with her dragon bag creations as she explains.

"I had taken up the hobby of doing purses, I call them dragon bags, and what they are is custom-made purses. You pick your fabric, pick your pattern and I make the purse for it. They are not like a grocery bag, they are an actual high-end purse with the hardware and I am having a lot of fun making them."

Similarly, local resident Cindy Redekop provides details on the bags and other items she creates. 

"I upcycle and croche together aluminum can tabs to make my bags. With the tabs I also make a variety of clothing, hats, I made my daughter's graduation dress out of 7122 can tabs this year."

The grand prize winner will receive $25,000 along with a feature article in the magazine. Adam says that should she win the money she plans on tracking down a sewing machine repair training class and taking it. She says that both herself and Swift Current need one. In addition, she would also purchase a high-end professional heavy-duty sewing machine. 

Adam reflects on what it means for her to have entered the competition.

"I think entering was just acknowledging that this is something that I am somewhat decent at doing, there's always that self-confidence factor. And taking that step and saying ya I'm decent at that and I'm willing to put myself up against other people who do it."

In addition, Adam says that winning would be a huge acknowledgment of the time and energy that goes into doing that sort of crafting as she says it takes 10-12 hours to complete each bag. 

Should Redekop win the competition she would like to use the money to go back to school. She reflects on what winning would mean to her and her craft. 

"It would just be a major advertising boost for one but winning would be great. It would like I said give me the money to go towards pursuing my other life dreams."

Redekop says that she enjoys the crafting she does because she likes to challenge herself to find different designs and she loves upcycling and the idea of reusing things. For the liners in her bags, she also uses upcycled fabric and adds that she enjoys the concept of making new things out of old and keeping things that would otherwise be tossed or forgotten in an attic. 

In order to advance to the next stage of the competition, both Adam and Redekop will require the public's votes. Residents can vote for free once a day or if so inclined they can also purchase votes. The cut-off for voting for the first round is coming up on March 24th.  The links to vote for both ladies can be found below. 

Jessica Adam

Cindy Redekop

 Dragon Bag creation by Jessica Adam