September 2025 Sewing Challenges

Sew Phoenix September

Have you ever looked at an old sewing project and thought, “I could totally nail that now”? #SewPhoenixSeptember25 is your chance to rise from the threads of your past makes and show the world just how far you’ve come!

Revisit a project from your sewing past—whether it was your very first attempt, a “learning moment,” or something you’ve always wanted to improve—and recreate it with your current skills and style.

Share your recreations to Instagram throughout September, using the hashtag #SewPhoenixSeptember25 and tagging challenge hosts @sew.letssparkle, @thefrenchseams and @sewvertonmakery. Share the story of your previous make and celebrate your sewing journey with the sewing community. There’s a massive prize draw for extra motivation and a YouTube vlog tour for inspiration.

SAGAM: School September

We’re back to school with this month’s Sew a Garment a Month (#SAGAM) theme. Crack out the brand new stationary and start planning your makes for #SagamSchoolSeptember. As they say, every day is a school day! Think Old School, school colours, uniforms or use this theme as an opportunity to learn a new technique.

Share your school inspired garments to Instagram anytime during September. Use the hashtags #SagamSchoolSeptember and #Sagam and tag challenge hosts @suestoney, @sewing_in_spain, and @eleni_sews

Shirtwaist September

Shirtwaist September is back! Last year, challenge hosts @ashleymainmakes and @sewrena_ were on a mission to showcase how good shirtwaists and shirtdresses can look on all body types. There were so many incredible entries with people from all over the world rocking gorgeous handmade shirtwaists.

Sew or alter a shirtwaist (also called a shirtdress) from any era during the month of September. Share your make to Instagram before the end of the month and tag @ashleymainmakes and @sewrena_ and use this year’s hashtag #ShirtwaistSeptember25. Excitingly, there will be a prize draw this year, so don’t forget to add your location to your caption!

There is also lots of shirtwaist inspiration for you on YouTube, so go and check out Ashley and Serena over there too.

Project Dress A Girl

It’s time to unleash your sewing superhero and use your skills to help children living in extreme poverty. Project Dress A Girl is a charity event created by Mari @marisews_inspiredstitches that encourages the sewing community to create dresses for girls that may have never owned their own garment before. Last year the sewing community made an incredible 7,349 dresses, bringing joy and dignity to girls around the world.

Dresses must be knee length, have no fastenings, at least one pocket and be made of opaque natural fabrics. Send your dresses to your local Dress A Girl Around The World ambassador or to Mari to be featured on the weekly live unboxings.

Tag @marisews_inspiredstitches and #ProjectDressAGirl2025 in your Instagram posts or email your total to ProjectDressAGirl@gmail.com so your dresses can be included in this year’s final count.

Precious Fabric Challenge

To celebrate National Sewing Month @tomkat.stitchery are hosting the Precious Fabric Challenge again. Choose any fabric that is precious to you and sew it up during September.

What is precious fabric? Any fabric that is precious to you. It can be something you bought on a whim without a plan, picked up while on a trip, inherited it from a loved one, or splurged on a really beautiful bolt.

Why aren’t you using it? It’s scary to cut into something precious! The sad thing is that fabric is in your drawer for “just the right garment” and not in your wardrobe and on your body to show off.

Share your makes to Instagram during September and tag @tomkat.stitchery and #PreciousFabric25. There are prizes up for grabs and a YouTube vlog tour to empower you to take the plunge and cut into your special fabrics.

Spooky September Sewalong

Spooky Season is approaching! Do you have any Halloween themed makes planned? If so, the #SpookySeptemberSewalong2025 is for you. You can make anything with a spooky theme. In previous years we’ve seen some amazing makes including bags, quilts, pouches, clothes and toys.

This year Art Gallery Fabrics are sponsoring a fabric bundle prize, so make sure to tag @artgalleryfabrics alongside the challenge hosts @silversstitches and @spunstraw when posting your spooky projects on Instagram.

Sew Fizz Challenge

Tickets for SewFizzTeaCated, the sewists’ afternoon tea event hosted by @surreysews sold out in record time! You’re invited to join in the fun regardless of whether you’re able to come along in person, thanks to the online #SewFizzChallenge25.

Sew any item you would wear or bring to an afternoon tea and share to Instagram on reveal day Sunday 19th October to be in with a chance of winning something from the huge prize pool! Tag @surreysews in the image and add #SewFizzChallenge25 to your caption.

#MyMakesSep25

Whatever you’re sewing throughout September, make sure to share a round-up for #MyMakesForTheMonth to be in with another chance of winning great prizes. This challenge is hosted by @sewmuchtodesign every month, so it’s also a great way to keep a record of everything you’ve made throughout the year.

To join in, simply share your sewing projects to Instagram with the June hashtag #MyMakesSep25, plus the challenge hashtag #MyMakesForTheMonth. Also tag @sewmuchtodesign and follow this month’s sponsors to support small businesses in the sewing community.

Tried And True Patterns

Most sewists have a pattern that is a TnT (tried ‘n’ true) which has been made on multiple occasions, is probably dog eared, tweaked within an inch of its life and is always a success.

Let’s share them! This is a fun and easy non-sewing challenge and a great opportunity to share some of your favourite makes. Collect your old photos (or take new ones) showing your TnT and show us the variety you have made. Of course you can make a new one to add to the mix.

Include the pattern cover in your Instagram post to help other sewists discover your favourite pattern. Share why this pattern is such a success for you and how it became your TnT. If you have multiple TnT patterns, feel free to share more that one post. Tag @sewover50 in your post and add #TriedAndTruePattern25 to your caption.

There are no prizes for this challenge, it’s a ‘feel-good’ way to engage with the sewing community, discover new patterns and spread the word about your favourites.

GG Sewtember

Stash Hub partnered shop Guthrie & Ghani are hosting a challenge this month to celebrate the incredible things you’ve created using their supplies. Each week, there will be a different prompt to inspire you to share the stories behind different makes.

Join in as much or as little as you like thoughout the month and tag @guthrieghani and use #ggSewtember in your caption. Each week, Guthrie & Ghani will choose a community favourite to win a special prize (details coming soon!) it could be you!⁠

Backstitched September

Join Kris @unsewcial this September for #BackstitchedSeptember where we’ll rewind our sewing journeys and empty our camera rolls!

Use the daily prompts to help you sort through your overwhelming photo stash and share your previous makes. Reflect on the ups and downs of your sewing experiences and what you’ve learned along the way.

Tag @unsewcial and use hashtag #BackstitchedSeptember. Check out the tagged posts on the hashtag and @unsewcial profile to discover sewing sagas from other sewists in the community.

Sept Textile Love

The #SeptTextileLove25 challenge ties in with Seam Collective’s current project ‘Warped and Wasted’, a large scale art installation made with 100% waste, second hand and biodegradable textiles. Follow along for themes of sustainability, collaboration, experimenting and the processes of making and remaking textiles. Interpret the daily prompts to share your thoughtful insights into the vibrant world of textiles.

There is a prompt for every day in September and you can respond to as many, or as few, as you like on Instagram. Just remember to keep textiles at the heart of each of your responses – there is no right or wrong here, just a glorious mix of textiles and creativity.

This challenge is also a great way to meet fellow textile enthusiasts in the community. Use hashtags #SeptTextileLove and #SeptTextileLove25 alongside the daily hashtag #STL25Day1, #STL25Day2 etc, plus tag @seam_collective in your posts. Use these tags to find what others have shared and repost your favourites with a yellow heart using the new Instagram repost feature.