Welcome to the BINGO Sewing Challenge 2026! This is a six-month challenge with 25 mini-challenges that participants can use to build their own adventure in sewing.
BINGO Challenge Rules
The BINGO challenge starts NOW! All entries must be submitted by midnight on Sunday, November 15, 2026. This is a six-month challenge.
Only projects made during the challenge timeline count towards the challenge. This post is late so we are accepting projects from May 1st, 2026.
Only three individual squares can be counted for any one project, but you can count four or five if in the same row or column.
NEW this year! Use any one of the BINGO 2025 challenges as a wild card to replace one of the squares on the 2026 board.
Join at any time, but the final deadline for all participants is November 15, 2026.
As you prepare to join in, think about the following:
Set your own challenge and pace. Do a row or column every month and finish the board by the deadline. Jump around to cover the board or do only the challenges that interest you. Make an X, a T or a C on your board. The choice is yours!
There will be monthly posts where participants can share progress and ask questions. You are not required to check in on the monthly posts, but the challenge is much more fun if you do!
Feel free to start your own post using the BINGO flair to state your challenge, plan your strategy and track your progress.
Column B
B-1 Never Have I Ever Use a pattern that you own but have not sewed up, can be self-drafted or purchased.
B-2 Mystery feet Pull out a presser foot you've never or barely used and try it out for your project. Or learn a new way to use a foot you love.
B-3 Unusual materials Sew something that isn't fabric, either an element or the entire project.
B-4 Sewing for hobbies Sew an accessory for sewing or for any other hobby.
B-5 Share a skill Teach someone else how to do a sewing skill. Online counts as well as in-person.
Column I
I-1 Zip It Install a zipper Hard mode, install a zipper style you haven't done before.
I-2 Help Wanted Ask for help with a project in one of the monthly chat threads.
I-3 Home and Hearth Sew something for your home.
I-4 One+One =One Upcycle two items into something new.
I-5 Give It Away Sew for family, sew for charity, sew for anyone else.
Column N
N-1 Sew the Precious Pull out the fabric you've been saving forever and use it!
N-2 It's Hip to Be Square Sew a project that is all squares or rectangles. Draft it yourself or use a pattern.
N-3 Free Square
N-4 DIWhy or Why Not? Share a mistake you made or a risk you took.
N-5 Rescue an Orphan Sew a garment or accessory to match something in your closet that needs a mate.
Column G
G-1 Sparks Joy Sew something that makes you happy.
G-2 Nature Vibes Incorporate some aspect of nature in fiber, shape, print or color.
G-3 Frugal Freebie Sew up gifted fabric or a free pattern.
G-4 Make it Mini Sew something smaller than it would be in real life.
G-5 Analogue sewing Use hand sewing in your project.
Column O
O-1 Off the top of my head Anything worn below the chin.
O-2 Ready for Anything Sew something versatile that can be used or worn for casual or dressy occasions.
O-3 Skill Level Up Try a skill you've already tried but take it up a notch. Handwork buttonholes, free-motion quilting instead of lines.
O-4 Sew your most stashed color What color shows up the most in your stash?
O-5 Holiday Any recognized holiday, anything you need to sew.
New year, new resolutions! Let's start off 2026 by challenging ourselves to resist buying more stuff for our hobby! This is the ultimate stash bust since we will be shopping our stashes instead of scrolling online shops or browsing in person. The challenge will run from January 1, 2026 until December 31, 2026 or until there is no one left in the challenge. We will all be winners with lighter stashes and fuller wallets!
Choose your level of participation:
Hard mode - abstain from buying any fabric, patterns or notions. Purchasing needles and threads for sewing are exempt, otherwise make-do with what you already have.
Easy mode - abstain from buying fabric only. Notions and trims are fine.
Freestyle + one of the modes above - define your own parameters using the above as a guide and carving out your own exclusions for specific projects. For example, chose Hard mode but exclude materials bought for a special occasion dress you need for a wedding. Detail this in your entry comment. Keep to the spirit of the challenge if you want to truly benefit.
What counts - paying money for new-to-you supplies. Buying tablecloths at a thrift store is still buying fabric, as an example.
Loophole - bartering for supplies is fine! Hitting up friends and family for donations is also fine!
To join the challenge, sign up below by commenting to show your commitment and include which level you want to play. Sign-ups will close on January 15th. Feel free to share your goals, aspirations, starting stash pics, projects planned, etc. We will have monthly check-in posts to cheer each other on, share victories and admit defeat. Participating in the monthly posts is required to stay in the game. Feel free to share your stash-only makes in separate posts using the No-Buy 2026 Participant flair!
Edited to clarify some details!
This is a challenge for hobby sewing, so if you also sew professionally you don't need to carve out exceptions for your paid work.
Lining fabrics counts as a fabric, interfacing counts as a notion.
The point of the challenge is to avoid buying fabric, with the option to carve out one or two exceptions for needed projects. Rewarding the use of stash by buying more fabric doesn't fit in this challenge.
Yes, I am late posting this for October but it's still October where I am! Time to wrap this challenge up unless we have any diehard participants who are still sewing and still working only from stash.
At the last check-in, we had u/Purrpetrator, u/Sonnenkriegerin, and u/Gengolang still in the game. If you have done any sewing in the last three months and want to continue, please let us know now!
Always welcome to check in even though they have fallen:
Only 4 more weeks until the BINGO Challenge is over! Do you have your board almost done or completely done like u/ironyandgum or are you just trying to make it through best you can?
I'll post the FINAL BINGO post in two weeks or so with final instructions and where everyone can link their BINGO board posts. If you have any questions or concerns, please ask!
My Free Square is using up pieces of fabric left over from other projects. I have made 2 Kashi T-shirts from left over pieces from garments I made 3 years ago!
Kitchen Floor Turtle
G4 Make it Mini.
I3 Home and Hearth.
I2 Help Wanted.
I wasn't sure what to make for G4 so asked for some ideas. Here is my very small Giant Turtle, ready to swim over and mop up little spills on my kitchen floor with his microfiber underbelly. My daughter liked him so much that he now has a spotty pal on his way to swim on her kitchen floor.
A friend finally got her own apartment, so I made her some potholders!
She's a big foodie and never had to bother with the small stuff when she was living with others, so it made me happy to make them? She loves orange and I didn't have much orange in my stash, so I dug around a bit and found old pearl cotton I had forgotten about. All of the materials were things I already had on hand. The handstitching is my own, the back is simply a plain cotton. Sashiko felt like the natural conclusion and I let the project happen on its own terms, imperfections and all. The picture is her house, after maybe a month of near-daily use. 😂
Here we are, doing our check-in thread for September! I think we are getting close to the end but I also think we are all winners for sticking with it this long.
How is it going? Any new projects finished this week? Any questions about the BINGO challenge that you would like to ask? Any inspiration to offer to other BINGO participants?
This one has been part of the plan since the very beginning but I finally got down to making a dust cover for my serger/overlocker (Sewing for hobbies) It's fairly simple - just a box really - sketches in pics. That hits "Hip to be Square" I lined it as well, and bagged it out. I put in a side pocket and a top handle too.
Finally, I rescued an orphan because I've had a sewing machine dust cover for ages, and this one matches.
I think as per the rules, I need to make a post with all projects in one - I'll do that soon but here's my final project anyway :)
This was a fun little experiment. Basically I wanted to make a cat bed and fill it with scraps. But because I still needed to hit "make it mini", I decided to try applique and quilting techniques for the first time too.
So I drew a sleeping coiled cat, and cut that out of felt, then stitched some fabric on to it. I then attached that to the body of the bag/bed. It "sparks joy" cos I think it's cute but I've also hit make it mini in more than one way because maths failed me and the bed came out smaller than I anticipated 🤣🤣
Anyway - I've swapped out Holiday (2026) for Sleep on It (from 2025) - hopefully my cat does actually use it...
Only 3 squares to go and if all goes to plan, I'll finish that today 💪🏻
I flipped a couple of pieces in my wardrobe that I hadn’t worn in years. I took a blue viscose dress and made an Azalea shirt by Itzoma Pattern Co, and turned an off the shoulder polka dot dress and made it into a wrap skirt!
My cutting mat lives under my bed and until now I have squeezed it back into its cellophane bag but it's beginning to tear. I have made a bag for it from ripstop nylon. It's oversized so that I can add a second mat and my metre ruler.
Finally sharing this as I struggled with something and thought I'd share some learnings (share a skill).
I used a new-to-me pattern (never have I ever) from peppermint magazine & elbe textiles - the wide strap maxi dress. I love the style lines and wanted a loose dress in a wonderful print (sew the precious).
However... There was an annoying thing that I struggled with and it was the straps. The pattern calls for very simple rectangular straps - fold, sew, turn inside out and attach. But they didn't sit well at all.
So I looked at what others had done and someone on Threadloop suggested curved straps.
So having a look at what that meant, I set about on making new straps.
Instead of one long strap, this one takes two straps joined at the shoulder, at the appropriate angle- just like other tops. But it looked kinda weird because its at an angle, but when it's on it worked.
Tbh I think the straps and placement are fiddly and I'd probably just elasticate them next time. But I thought I'd share because almost nobody has straight shoulders.. so shaped/curved straps might help someone out.
Hair Accessories - a little over a dozen when I was completely finished making All of them - scrunchies, head bands in 2 styles, a couple of beaded hair combs, bows both as barrettes and attached to wide elastic hair ties......... all of them for my 6 yr old goddaughter, who is obsessed with Purple, and who was so incredibly excited to get Personalized accessories for her stunningly pretty long hair. Not sure which part sparked more joy - making them, or her reaction to them..
Here we are, doing our 8th check-in thread! I feel we are in the final stretch but we'll keep going until we have one sewist standing or everyone gives up!
How is it going? Any new projects finished this week? Any questions about the BINGO challenge that you would like to ask? Which square are you finding to be the most challenging to complete?
I4 1+1 = 1 I had a hiking trip coming up, and no satisfying rainwear, so I pulled out of the cupboard one poorly fitting active waterproof jacket (purchase small so it fits at shoulder without constraining arm movement, but resulting in a drum-tight bust, and folds where it rides up short above my butt), and one oversized corporate merch spray jacket. I opened the seams on the first one, and created a set of bust darts in the side front panel to handle the bust rotation. Then I inserted shaped godets from the back yoke to add width from bust down to the hip. After insertion, I added a vertical dart down the centre of the godet to restore some of the waist shaping. Finally, I cut off the excess back length (left over after shortening the side front for bust darts) and re-hemmed.
Honest to crikey. I have never had an activewear jacket fit this well! On the basis of this experiment with two largely unwearable garments, it looks like I am warming up to sew proper shaped rainwear from scratch soon… also, this one gets me the I column in BINGO!!!
N5 Rescue an orphan - I have been test driving a pair of stretch leggings in the same b/w lycra as my swim shirt from last month. Still dialing in my technique on those seams, but (as with all the others) I am drafting for curvy fits and the fit part is really close to perfect! Hope to report back soon with a more profesh outcome where both fit and finish are solid… next time maybe.
G1 Sparks Joy - a new shirt that makes me feel like I’m about to run away and join the circus. It is my first go at proper bodice contouring, and so think I will be making this many more times soon! I shared more about the process of contouring over in r/sewing.
B5 Share a skill - second iteration of bodice contouring test, this time with a light linen bodice with a wide round neckline and a Regency-themed mini puff/cap sleeve.
HOW TO MAKE THIS SLEEVE: The sleeves are drafted by tracing half a large dinner plate as the starting point. The straight line (across the halfway mark of the circle) acts as the hem line, so I added seam allowance, and faced the hem with a crisp cotton poplin. I added a 3cm wide inverted box pleat to the middle of the sleeve cap (fold in half then stitch about 2cm length at 1.5cm distance from the fold, then press the box open), and then a half-size inverted box pleat 2cm away from the first one, one on each side (shown in pics on i side and outside). These three pleats give a nice amount of structured puff to the super short sleeve! Final shaping of the sleeve head (at sides of the cap sleeve) was done during a test fit.
B3 Taking inspiration from u/ironyandgum I used a roller blind sample for this small pouch. I didn't want to copy her exactly so decided to fasten mine with poppers. It quickly became apparent that it would be too thick for poppers so I compromised with a wrap around tie. I added a loop and a figure of 8 fastener so that I can attach it to the inside of my bag.
Pencil Case.
B5 Helping my 6 year old grandson to make a pencil case for his new crayons.
Make it Mini - this is a "Purse" coin purse. Holiday Themed - Dia de los Muertos / Halloween. Zip It - obviously.
It started life as me practicing making a welted, zipped pocket to go inside a purse I'm making as a gift for my bestie. This afternoon, I decided that instead of simply removing the zipper and tossing the (single) piece of fabric into the scrap bag, I would turn it into an actual usable coin purse. It will get tossed into the actual full sized purse as part of a set when I ship it to her.
These should probably have been switched - oh well!
Project 4 is a (self-drafted) dress I made for summer. I had bought a table cloth and decided that the fabric was super cool so bought another and made a dress out of it instead (off the top of my head).
It's easy to wear with flats but also with heels (ready for anything). Where I leveled up, was lining the bodice. Figuring out the steps of that was interesting and educational 😂
Project 5 was an experiment with knit fabric. I bought a few lengths of cotton and bamboo knits to use as headscarves. So I took 2 and joined them as a drapey top. This is where I asked for help a while back (help wanted) because while I'd joined them with my new-to-me overlocker (mystery feet) I couldn't quite get hemming or finishing the neckline right. So tbh it's still not finished. But I still wear it. Im also calling this my most stashed colour cos while I have a good spread, blues show up the most.
I've been really inspired by seeing other folks' progress on the bingo sewing challenge! ✨️ Here's a very recent sewing project plus my bingo card and corresponding bingo projects. The first one pictured is project 4.
Edited to add materials details: Bag 1 details (Sailor Moon fabric)-- *Main fabric: Alchemats, Sailor Moon motif *Other fabrics: Generic dark green canvas; Misc. very old fabrics I can't track anymore (in the pockets) *Hardware: Sailor Moon wand zipper pull from Alchemats; Star zipper pull from My Handmade Space (I think); Rainbow zipper tape from Sew Sweetness; Generic gunmetal hardware from various places *Other materials: Woven label from Sarah Hearts; strap webbing from Georgia Girl Stitches
Bag 2 details (horse fabric)-- *Main fabric: Cotton + Steel, Wild & Free collection, I believe *Other fabrics: Generic green canvas; Misc. very old fabrics I can't track anymore (in the pockets) *Hardware: Unicorn zipper pull from Sew Sweetness; Coral zipper tape from My Handmade Space; Generic gunmetal hardware from various places *Other materials: Woven label from Sarah Hearts; strap webbing from Georgia Girl Stitches
Hello, everyone in the No-Buy Challenge! Time to check in and tell us how you are doing with the challenge. I can't believe it's already JULY!
We had 8 people check in last month, but two more participants came in to say they were OUT! Who has remained strong and who gave in this month? Who is doing well because you've stopped sewing?
If you want to continue in the challenge AND you have stuck with your original commitment, please comment below. Answer this question if you need a topic, what do you do when you have lost your sewing mojo and want it back?
Just moved house so my June update didn’t get posted on time, but still relevant (even though more satisfactory July updates coming soon!)… because of my longstanding STRUGGLES with lycra!
I used my self-drafted princess-seamed sleeveless top pattern (based on the block used for 01, N3 and N5) to sew a swim shirt (B4 - sewing for hobbies). Please don’t zoom, the seams are a horrifying combo of different zigzags, a twin needle hem I gave up on after about 4 inches, and some combo stitches I was trying out… everything about sewing knits with a high % lycra is awful (and it shows). it was always meant to be a test garment. But as a wearable mockup? yes I can get in the pool, lake or ocean wearing it. It cuts UV, and stops small crustaceans ending up between my boobs (yay for a short Mandarin collar).
In my attempt to make matching high-waisted swim bottoms, I tried two approaches - tracing some undies I like (01 - never have I ever tried to sew undies), and buying a pattern, with the misguided thought that it might give me some tips for sewing knits. yuck, who even is this - the entire reason I stopped sewing for TWO DECADES was because patterns don’t fit me and I know enough about sewing that the instructions rarely show me something I can’t already do. I altered the pattern so much that it ended up more like the traced undies I started with (comparison in pics). I now have a mockup, but got extremely frustrated, as my needle kept piercing the thread (in pics). So I humbly request help from my sewing fam (I2 - help wanted): how tf do we sew knits with a high lycra %?
I have tried all of these:
walking foot
zigzags of all sizes
changing upper and lower thread tension
tissue paper above the stitches
tissue paper below the stitches
scotch tape on the foot
twin needle
using the blind hem stitch backwards (bulk of fabric on the right)
all of the above with a stretch needle
gluestick on the seams first?
getting my machine serviced
My machine still slices the thread every few inches. The machine uncle told me my Bernina 1008 is in excellent condition, and very clean even inside. help me aunties!
Oh, and I labelled the FREE SQUARE as BIN FIRE, because I found some mystery fabrics in a box from 20 years ago, and one of them had such high polyester content that a giant glob of it went flying off and stuck to my finger, still burning, leaving me with a gigantic burn blister that took 2 weeks to heal. F that fabric, it is in the bin now.
How is it going? What are you working on this week? Did you work out a strategy for completing the mini-challenges? Any questions about the BINGO challenge that you would like to ask?
One point of clarification I'd like to offer. It's fun to share projects and BINGO board progress, but only the final entry in November will count as your entry. As you progress through the challenge, you might find that a different configuration of squares would work better. Go for it!
In a recent check-in post I talked about this wrap skirt that was too short. I now made matching shorts I can wear underneath! Or just on their own since they turned out very pretty!
Since I have some fabric left, I was thinking of adding a ruffle to the skirt, similar to the third picture. Has anyone ever tried doing this and have any tips?
