Ugly Holiday Sweater Crawl Dec. 9

Dallas Betz, who calls himself the jack-of-all-trades at Ragfinery, wants people to know about what he says is “the most ridiculously fun event” this holiday season, to be held in conjunction with The Foundry, its neighbor down the street.

Ragfinery opened in 2014 with the mission to divert unwanted textiles and to upcycle them in a training business that provides transitional jobs for low-income clients of local social service agencies and schools.

Here’s what Betz says about the inaugural event: “Do you think you have what it takes to win The Ugly Holiday Sweater Crawl? Do people often describe you as tasteless, absurd, and tacky? OK, then, you’ve got a chance.”

Registration for the sweater crawl is open, but is limited to 15 participants who must be at least 18 years old.

The first step is to go to Ragfinery and pick out an ugly sweater. Ragfinery will hold the chosen sweaters until the event begins Wednesday, Dec. 9, to ensure no advance work on the sweaters is done.

Participants will meet with competitors at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, get a tour of The Foundry, reunite with their sweaters, then, at 6:15 p.m., decorate them using a grab bag of fabric and electronic embellishments from Ragfinery and The Foundry in the allotted time. No outside materials can be used to decorate the sweaters.

When the buzzer sounds at 8:20 p.m., participants will head up the street to Aslan Brewing for a “People’s Choice Showdown,” where the completed sweaters will be modeled by participants and voted on by Aslan patrons. The showdown is a free event open to all.

The People’s Choice winner will receive gift certificates to Ragfinery and The Foundry, and “an appropriately tasteless commemorative award,” says Betz.

All participants will receive coupons for half-off a first month’s membership at The Foundry, and discount coupons at Ragfinery.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 3:22 AM with the headline "Ugly Holiday Sweater Crawl Dec. 9."