We're going green this week with the Great British Sewing Bee! Using the theme of reduce, reuse, recycle; the contestants were asked to use re-purposed garments and fabrics for this weeks challenges. Reducing our waste when sewing is an important part of what we do. So much fabric ends up in landfills every year and we can all do our part to reduce our footprint on the Earth. Some great ways to help reduce waste is to donate scraps to schools and youth groups for craft projects..even the tiniest pieces can make something spectacular. Repair garments instead of buying new; here at Calico Laine we offer a huge variety of haberdashery items to help with this. From taking up/down hems, repairing holes and replacing buttons; the possibilities are really endless.

Pussybow Blouse Pattern Challenge

The pattern challenge this week was to use fabric from pre-loved shirts to create a new pussybow blouse. This is great if you have a few old garments that don't fit anymore, or are just in need of a revamp. Many of the sewers struggled with this complex design, but Janet was on hand to save the day! Each sewer made their own array of mistakes on this one! Juliet's garment was pretty much faultless, earning her top spot. A pussybow blouse is a brilliant garment to create for yourself. Timeless and chic, it looks great on anyone and is a glamorous way of re-purposing old garments.

Scraps Transformations - Great British Sewing Bee

Each contestant was presented with a metal bin full of all the scraps they had left over the past 5 weeks at the Sewing Bee. The challenge; to create a wearable garment. All the sewers decided to throw everything into a pile and share all their bold fabric choices. This was a fun and colourful challenge! Riccardo's patchworked fitted dress was a personal favourite, along with Juliet's ruffled number. Janet's reversible waterproof gilet caught the judges' eye in this weeks transformation challenge. Why not challenge yourself to use your scraps? Create stunning patchwork quilts and cushions from even the tiniest scraps instead of buying new. We love!

Curtain Dresses

In a challenge fit for Maria Von Trapp, each sewer was to create a stunning day dress from an old pair of curtains. From Mercedes' Sputnik-inspired bubble dress to Riccardo's chic vintage dress, each was truly a masterpiece. Juliet's incredible modern net curtain dress was a complete showstopper; even using curtain tiebacks for a fab back feature. We sadly said goodbye to the lovely Mercedes this week, the Great British Sewing Bee will be a much quieter place without her. Although, we are already on to week 6! The competition will only get harder from here and I cannot wait to see what happens next!