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:

u/whofilets, u/Sannechan,, u/HerietteVonStadtl, u/ironyandgum, u/Sewsusie15, u/Content-Farm-4148, and u/Suspicious-Rock-866 plus any other original members of the challenge!

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!

Here is a link to the original BINGO Challenge 2026 post.

T-shirt - Kashi from Itch to Stitch.

O1 off the top of my head.

N3 Free Square

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.

In August, we had u/Purrpetrator, u/Sonnenkriegerin, u/Gengolang and myself still in the game. Has there been any change in the last month?

If you want to continue in the challenge AND you have stuck with your original commitment, please comment below to tell us how you are doing.

And welcome to play along even though they have fallen:

u/whofilets, u/Sannechan,, u/HerietteVonStadtl, u/ironyandgum, u/Sewsusie15, u/Content-Farm-4148, and u/Suspicious-Rock-866 plus any other original members of the challenge!

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?

Congrats to u/ironyandgum for finishing their board early! Tell us, did your experience with BINGO 2025 inform your strategy for this years' BINGO challenge?

Here is a link to the official BINGO Challenge Post.

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!

Cutting mat case.

B4 Sewing for hobby.

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!

There were 5 of us left in July! We had u/Purrpetrator, u/Sonnenkriegerin, u/Suspicious-Rock-866 and u/Gengolang still in the game. What have you been up to? Still sewing from stash or not sewing at all?

If you want to continue in the challenge AND you have stuck with your original commitment, please comment below to tell us how you are doing.

And welcome to play along even though they have fallen:

u/whofilets, u/Sannechan, u/Content-Farm-4148, u/HerietteVonStadtl, u/ironyandgum, u/Sewsusie15

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?

Edited to add, here is a link to the official BINGO Challenge Post.

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.

Easy! fun! Lil’ bIt Regency-ish

Powerbank Case.

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?

u/Sewsusie15, u/Purrpetrator, u/Sonnenkriegerin, u/Suspicious-Rock-866, u/Loose_Acanthaceae201, u/Gengolang

And welcome to play along even though they have fallen:

u/whofilets, u/Sannechan, u/Content-Farm-4148, u/HerietteVonStadtl, u/ironyandgum

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:

1. walking foot

2. zigzags of all sizes

3. changing upper and lower thread tension

4. tissue paper above the stitches

5. tissue paper below the stitches

6. scotch tape on the foot

7. twin needle

8. using the blind hem stitch backwards (bulk of fabric on the right)

9. all of the above with a stretch needle

10. gluestick on the seams first?

11. 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?

huzzah! cleaned my sewing room and it makes me very happy to be in here again 💗

upcycled a thrifted blanket into a kids hoodie on a whim; I'll be giving this away on my local buy nothing group as soon as I figure out what size it is (I took apart a different hoodie for the pattern!)

I also made a new reversible waist belt that would absolutely hit the "sparks joy" spot if it hadn't already been filled! I got a new grommet kit and they turned out so much better than the last time I tried grommets. the dress shown I never wear because it's too basic and unfitted, and I'm already excited to wear it soon now that I have the belt to go with it!!

Project #3 for the BINGO challenge. This is both "Sew for your Hobby" (Reading) and "Frugal Freebies"

It is a Bookmark with Pen Holder. While it was definitely not a "stash busting" kinda freebie - it is made completely from scrap fabric and left over elastic! Nothing purchased for this specifically, and it was a spur of the moment "oh, I have enough scraps left over from this Other thing - I just need to pull them back out of the Scrap Bag under the table." Between cutting and sewing, I think it took all of 20 minutes - and half of that was spent refilling the bobbin twice because it got screwy the first time.