St John’s College year 11 student Jacquie Waddell recently won one of five Country Womens’ Association (CWA) scholarships for her handiwork.

The talented 16-year-old competed against secondary and tertiary students from across NSW to win the scholarship.

Two years of hard work, went into making the winning pieces, much of which was done in her own time.

These included an in-class teddy bear project, an embroidered towel, a coloured quilt featuring ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ and a detailed handmade dress.

Each year the scholarships assist students who want to work in fashion, textiles or design.

Jacquie said she hoped to put the prize money towards future projects at school.

She enjoyed the design part of textiles because it gave her an opportunity to experiment and try new things.

Jacquie said she was lucky enough to share a love of creativity with her grandmother who is also an avid seamstress and inspired her to complete some challenging projects.

Her teacher Cecilia O’Donnell, said she was extremely proud of Jacquie’s achievement because “she was very self-motivated.”

Of all her works, the cream lace dress was her favourite because she created it from scratch and even the pattern was her own design.

Jacquie said she was keen to continue studying design and to further explore the creative world of textiles.