Marilyn Donoho of Paw Paw, top center, is featured in the August/September issue of Vogue Patterns Magazine. She modeled her 1988 wool suit for the Make It With Wool Fashion Show in San Antonio, Texas in February.

MENDOTA – Marilyn Donoho of Paw Paw proved that an outfit from the 1980s can still be in vogue. She modeled her 1988 plaid wool pant suit at a fashion show during the Make It With Wool competition finals in San Antonio, Texas this past January.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Make It With Wool competition. Make It With Wool is an annual sewing competition that promotes the beauty and versatility of wool fabrics, yarns, and fibers. It encourages personal creativity in sewing, knitting, crocheting, spinning, weaving, and other needlework arts. The competition is sponsored by the American Wool Council, the American Sheep Industry, and American Sheep Industry Women. It is also the oldest sewing competition in the world, noted Donoho.

Donoho began sewing as a young girl, learning from her mother and grandmother. By age 10 she was entering the Sandwich Fair. She holds the record with 64 consecutive years of entering. She has been entering in the professional category for 56 years and has won Champion every year since 1976 with her wedding dresses, prom dresses, tailored dresses, and pant suits.

She has been entering the Tri-County Fair in Mendota for numerous years, as well. But she is not allowed to enter the Illinois State Fair anymore. "I have won too many times," she admitted.

"I had to make my own clothes because I was tall. The sleeves and pants were never long enough," she said.

Marilyn Donoho wins first place in the professional division at the 2017 Tri-County Fair in Mendota.

What started as necessity, has become her profession.

Donoho studied clothing and textiles at the University of Illinois. It was there that she first learned of the Make It With Wool competition. She became the first state winner in 1961 and placed third at Nationals held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

She continued entering the contest for many more years. For the past 11 years, she has been the Illinois director for Make It With Wool.

Her daughter also competed, winning at the state level and going to nationals seven times.

Today, there are 33 states and the New England Region that hold competitions. The six major categories of competition include: Preteen, Junior, Senior, Adult, Made for Others, and College Fashion/Apparel Design.

To celebrate the competition's 70th anniversary, a fashion show, "Decades of Wool Style," was held during the event. Donoho was asked to model a pant suit from 1988. "I got a call asking if I still had my wool outfit from the 80s," she said.

Not only did Donoho have the outfit, but she still wears it. "I wear it to church all of the time," she exclaimed.

Donoho was thrilled to be published in the Vogue Patterns Magazine. "Can you believe at my age to be in a magazine," she asked.

Donoho is not only recognized for her Make It With Wool and fair entries. She has clients across the country asking her to make garments for them. "I have someone who asks me to make her a new kilt for running every year. She says it is the most comfortable thing to run in," she laughed.

She has also traveled across the country to complete orders, and a bride-to-be even traveled from Germany to have Donoho make a dress for her. She does not know how many garments she has made already this year -- too many to count, she stated.

She has passed down her passion of sewing, too. Her 13-year old granddaughter and 10-year old grandson are already sewing, both winning at area fairs.

Now Donoho is busy preparing for this year's fair entries. "I'm still at it," she said.