We're passionate about sewing and dressmaking at Sew Me Sunshine, and we love watching the Great British Sewing Bee every year. Every week we will break down the episode and sign post you to some sewing patterns and fabric.
The Great British Sewing Bee is back for 2024 and this year marks it's 10th season! We wish all the contestants the best of luck and know they will make some incredible garments.
This week we are looking at episode 1 where the bee's had to make A-Line skirts, transform a basic t-shirt and sew a day dress.
Pattern Challenge: Denim A-line skirt
The first challenge was to make a denim A-line midi-skirt that had several panels and buttons down the front. The contestants had to use contrasting topstitch for their makes - at Sew Me Sunshine we stock recycled polyester topstitching thread by Gutermann which we have in a variety of colours.
If you fancy trying out making your own denim A-line skirt then you could use the Reed Skirt by Grainline Studio. It is an A-line skirt with multiple pocket and closure options, and you can choose to make it above the knee or midi-length. It requires medium-weight woven fabric, such as twill and denim.
We have lots of different denim fabrics available at Sew Me Sunshine.
L-R: Denim 7.7oz Yarn Dyed Stripe Green; Denim 11oz Reversible Light Blue; Bull Denim Ecru Fleck
L-R: Denim 7.7oz Yarn Dyed Stripe Pink, Denim 8oz Light Blue Washed; Denim 11oz Non Stretch Black
L-R: Tencel™ Denim 10oz Stretch Moss Green; Modal Denim 9oz Stretch Dark Indigo; Tencel™ Denim 10oz Stretch Berry Red
You can find all of our denim fabrics here.
If you want to learn more about denim, then check out our denim fabric guide.
Transformation Challenge: T-Shirt
In the up-cycling challenge the contestants had to transform a basic t-shirt from 3 t-shirts into a new garment. The contestants were very creative and created lots of different garments from hats to dresses, and they even used the t-shirt material to make fastenings for their garment. If you wanted to recreate some of these looks and don't have any spare t-shirts to hand we have a great range of cotton jerseys and bamboo jerseys available that are the ideal t-shirt fabric.
If you want to learn more about jersey and read some top tips for sewing with it, then check out our jersey fabric guide.
Made To Measure Challenge: Day Dress
In the made to measure challenge the contestants had to sew a casual day dress of their choice and fit it to their model. The contestants used all types of fabric - viscose, cotton, chiffon, linen and more. Here are some day dress patterns, some of which were used by the contestants. If you want to see all of the dress paper sewing patterns we have in stock you can see them all by clicking here.
L-R: Merchant & Mills Ellis + Hattie, Tilly and the Buttons Mabel, Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges, Emporia Patterns Zoe, Friday Pattern Company Saltwater Slip, Merchant & Mills Etta.