The Great British Sewing Bee 2025: Episode 6

This week it was Children's Week.

Pattern Challenge - Adaptive Dungarees

For the pattern challenge the contestants were tasked with sewing a pair of adaptive dungarees for children. This was the Sewing Bee's first adaptive clothing challenge. Adaptive fashion relates to garments that have been adapted for specific conditions and access needs. For this challenge the contestants were asked to add elastic to the shoulder straps to make them easier to get on and off for children with reduced mobility, and they were asked to add openings on the legs with plackets and snap poppers for easy access. 

The dressmakers were asked to choose fabrics that would be fun and comfortable for a child to wear. They were given 4 hours for this challenge.

Victoria Jenkins was this week's special guest judge. She is one of the UK's leading adaptive fashion designers and is a prominent disability campaigner who has been featured in Vogue. 

1 in 5 people in UK have a disability and they have to spend more money and time to get what they need from clothes which is why adaptive designs is so important. Primark has recently launched an adaptive range of clothing.

Fabrics for Dungarees

Gaynor used the Coco colour way of this Florali 21 wale corduroy fabric. I also have it in a lovely midnight colour way. If patterned fabrics are not for you, I have a beautiful aubergine needlecord.

The contestants also used the Prym Vario Creative Tool to add the poppers to their dungarees. I have the purple colour way in stock:

 

If you'd like to sew some dungarees like the ones made on this week's episode then the Heyday Dungarees by Waves and Wild would be perfect. They also do a ladies version of them.

 

Transformation Challenge

For this weeks transformation challenge the contestants were asked to transform maternity wear into play clothes for a toddler. They were each allowed four pieces of maternity wear, fastenings and trim. They were asked to think about what would be enjoyable for a child to wear whilst playing.

The contestants are so creative in this challenge, they created a range of cute play outfits, although some might be a little less practical to wear than others!

 

Made to Measure

For the made to measure they were tasked with making and fitting a fancy dress costume inspired by what they wanted to be when they were younger. They were given 3.5 hours for this challenge. 

⭐ Kit wanted to be a singer. His outfit was inspired by Elton John and he made white dungarees and a sparkly top. He also modified his garment to make it adaptive.

⭐ Orla wanted to be a beekeeper. Her Bbeekeeper costume featured a hat with a net veil and a cotton jumpsuit with yellow.

⭐ Caz wanted to be a fashion designer and her favourite designer was Zandra Rhodes who was an iconic fashion designer in the 1970s. Can made tapered trousers with a peplum top in bold fabrics. It was lovely as her model used Posca pens to draw some designs on fabric and Caz used this on the finished garment. 

⭐ Dan wanted to run away with the circus. He made a ring master outfit. He needed to make trousers, a shirt and a vibrant red tail coat which was a lot to fit into the time they had to complete the made to measure!

⭐ Stuart wanted to be a polar explorer. He made a coat with a faux fur hood, trousers and mittens to keep his model extra warm.

⭐ Yasmin wanted to be a politician and she was a youth MP until she was 17. She made a gathered dress and jersey blazer finished with a red rosette.

⭐ Gaynor wanted to be a ballet dancer. For this challenge she made a snow drop ballerina outfit featuring a leotard finished with elastic and a petal skirt.

This was such a fun challenge! There was plenty of inspiration for fancy dress and world book day costumes in this episode.