Great British Sewing Bee – Week 2 Roundup: Trousers, Patch Pockets and Sewing with Silk

Did you see the Great Brisitch Sewing Bee last night? It was great and really makes me itch to get sewing away.

Last night their three challenges were to make a pair of men’s trouserts/pants, add patch pockets to a skirt and make a custom fitting silk blouse.

Here are some useful links to help you with the skills demonstrated on the show…

Making a Pair of Trousers/Pants

There are two great Craftsy courses, one for making and one for fitting a pair of women’s trousers

Coletterie has a fabulous tutorial for sewing a fly front, lots of lovely pictures that should mean that you can make your own fly front with no bother at all

Attaching Patch Pockets

Adding patch pockets to an existing skirt is a great and inexpensive way of updating your wardrobe. It’s also a great way of making something that is uniquely yours. They aren’t too difficult to make, I’m just not sure how I would have managed under the time pressure that the contestants faced!

Aesthetic Nest has a great tutorial for a really smart looking piped patch pocket

Laundry on the Line has a good post that features a variety of styles and techniques

Feeling like trying something more fancy, then how about an accordion style pocket? Pretty Ditty has a free template and instructions

Made by Rae has a fab tutorial for my favourite…the pleated patch pocket!

Sewing with Silks

Silks are a tricky thing, they slip all over the place and can lose shape if handled too much. They can also suffer terribly when stitching has to be unpicked

Madalynne has some great tips for handling silks when sewing

Melsissa Esplin of I Still Love You fame also has some great tips for sewing with silks

And last but not least here’s a tutorial from by Hand London for sewing those ever so tiny rolled hems, so useful when working with silks

Has the show insired you to do a spot of sewing? I’d love to hear what you have been up to!