Great British Sewing Bee 2025 - Episode 2 - Pattern Suggestions

Week two of the Great British Sewing Bee 2025 didn’t disappoint!  As we found out last week, two people were guaranteed to leave in the second week, so the stakes were high! Here follows a bit about the pattern and made to measure challenges but no spoilers about who left, so no need to cover your eyes if you haven't watched it yet!

The theme of active wear did make me reflect on the fact that I have never really sewn those types of garments before (apart from a couple of hoodies!).  So maybe it’s time to start, as athleisure wear is certainly popular at the moment. 

Great British Sewing Bee 2025 – Week Two Pattern Challenge – Pattern Suggestions

The pattern challenge this time was  a seven panelled baseball cap.  I was sympathising with the contestants on this one as there would be lots of tricky sewing involved.  Sewing with mesh fabric, working with really small pattern pieces and sewing lots of curved seams can’t have been easy!

If you fancy giving that a go, I have found three baseball cap patterns that you could use:

• Style Arc - Baseball Cap: https://www.stylearc.com/shop/pdf-sewing-patterns/baseball-cap-p

  
  

• FibreMood - The Minu Cap Sewing Pattern: https://www.fibremood.com/en/product/1201-24979-minu-cap-pod?SubmitCurrency=1&id_currency=3&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=EN_Pmax_Promo&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22156653100&gbraid=0AAAAAp7uyzMkU7Dy3RPaDKHFUFzZP8ZIi&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi_Ok2KHRjgMVx5xQBh2BAhlvEAQYAyABEgKw1PD_BwE

  
  

• Laroze Pattern on Etsy - The Citrus Cap Docker: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1508833645/baseball-cap-docker-pdf-sewing-pattern

Great British Sewing Bee 2025 – Week Two Made To Measure Challenge – Athleisure outfit

For the made to measure challenge the contestants were asked to create an athleisure wear outfit.  This challenge is notoriously such a lot of work to do in a really short period of time, so I always admire what they manage to achieve.  Here are some pattern suggestions for athleisure wear pieces in case you want to create your own but hopefully with a bit more time to enjoy the process…!

• McCalls 8365 - a really stylish sportswear jacket: https://www.minerva.com/mp/GBP/1/McCalls-8365-M/McCalls-8365-AX5?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15840842084&gbraid=0AAAAADuPPIX-2n5-49K7hpyBWoGg4Nx2I&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItvPz6ajRjgMVJZpQBh3OxQ2HEAQYCyABEgJXc_D_BwE

  
  

• Style Arc - The Ernie Knit Pants (plus Columbus knit top and Bert Top) - https://www.stylearc.com/shop/pdf-sewing-patterns/ernie-knit-pant-multi-size-pdf/?aer=eu&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17745345317&gbraid=0AAAAADx9iyLlupEE1uyf1USwxbDw7D1DO&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItvPz6ajRjgMVJZpQBh3OxQ2HEAQYEyABEgLyMfD_BwE

  
  

• Sew Over It – Drew Hoodie: This is an online class which walks you through making your own hoodie. You can also buy the standalone pattern: https://sewoverit.com/products/make-a-hoodie-drew-hoodie?_pos=1&_sid=f9ff14cac&_ss=r&variant=44639292293294·

  
  

•       Tilly and the Buttons – Stella Hoodie and trousers: This is a pattern within Tilly's book 'Stretch'. I have made the hoodie a couple of times and its a good pattern https://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/products/stretch

  
  

• Sew Over It - Huby Leggings and Kingsley top - Again this is an online class but you can also buy the patterns separately: https://sewoverit.com/products/make-activewear-kingsly-top-and-huby-leggings?_pos=2&_sid=2a5c2f17a&_ss=r

  
  

• Tilly and the buttons – Cece joggers and drew sweatshirt. You can buy this as a pattern bundle for both patterns or separately: https://shop.tillyandthebuttons.com/products/drew-cece-bundle?_pos=2&_sid=15f0cc83e&_ss=r

  
  

Athleisure wear - Book Recommendation

Finally a quick book recommendation!  I have a vast array of sewing books and one of them is ‘Sewing Activewear’ by Johanna Lundstrom.  It covers fabrics to consider, stitches to use both on the sewing machine and overlocker, tools and notions for this type of clothing and lots more.  Plus step by step guides on things like neckline ribbing, elastic openings, inserting eyelets on knit fabrics and creating a sleeve with a thumb opening. I am sad to say that it’s one of those books that I bought with good intentions but have never actually sewn anything up from it.  Although maybe last night’s episode will give me the inspiration I need to get started!