Precious Fabric Challenge 2026: Sew Your Stash
We all have that one piece of fabric in our stash. It may have been expensive, purchased on a special trip, or simply too beautiful to risk cutting into without the perfect plan. We take it out, admire it, and then carefully put it away again.
The Precious Fabric Challenge is our opportunity to stop saving that fabric and finally turn it into something we can wear and enjoy.
September is National Sewing Month, and TomKat Stitchery is celebrating by hosting the Precious Fabric Challenge for the third year! Sewists and sewing creators from around the world are joining us throughout the month, and I would love for you to participate.
Read on for all the challenge details and a look at the precious fabric I am finally cutting into after 11 years—or watch the announcement video on YouTube.
What Is the Precious Fabric Challenge?
The Precious Fabric Challenge is a month-long garment sewing challenge hosted on Instagram all through September 2026. The goal is simple: choose a special fabric you have been holding onto and use it to make something during September.
Your precious fabric does not have to be expensive or designer fabric. It simply needs to be precious to you. Maybe you purchased it while traveling, received it from someone special, or fell in love with it at a fabric store and have been afraid you will choose the wrong project.
That fear is often what keeps our most beautiful fabrics folded in the stash. We worry about making a mistake, selecting the wrong pattern, or creating a garment that does not live up to the fabric. But fabric is meant to become something. The real reward of this challenge is taking a textile you love and turning it into a garment you can actually wear.
The challenge is also a wonderful way to discover new garment-sewing creators. We have a fantastic group of creators participating throughout September, each sharing a precious fabric and the project they plan to make with it.
How Do I Enter the Precious Fabric Challenge?
Participating is easy:
- Choose a precious fabric from your stash.
- Sew it into a garment or accessory during September 2026.
- Post your completed project on Instagram by September 30.
- Use the hashtag #PreciousFabric26.
- Tag @tomkat.stitchery so we can find your entry.
Winners will be selected randomly after the challenge ends. We have some wonderful sponsors contributing digital patterns, classes, memberships, store credit, and other sewing-related prizes. Because all of the prizes are digital, sewists from anywhere in the world can participate and win.
You do not need to be an advanced sewist, have a large Instagram following, or make an elaborate garment. This challenge is about using a fabric that matters to you and celebrating the garment-sewing skills you already have.
My Precious Fabric Has Been Waiting for 11 Years
My fabric for this year’s challenge has been in my stash since 2015.
I purchased it at a professional sewing conference hosted by the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals. At the time, I was working in alterations and custom sewing, and one of the vendors at the conference was Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, a high-end fabric store in New York City.
They had brought generous precut lengths of fabric rather than full bolts. This particular fabric was draped around a mannequin in their booth, and when I saw it, I had an immediate, audible-gasp reaction. I had to have it.
It is a Dolce & Gabbana wool double gauze with an incredible mixture of florals, plaid, and animal print on a light tan background. It contains nearly every color I love to wear: orange, peach, green, purple, golden yellow, dark blue, and rich chocolate brown.
I have about three yards, and it was the most I had ever spent on fabric at that point. It may still be the most expensive fabric I have ever purchased.
For years, I stored it in a cedar chest because I was so concerned about protecting the wool. I eventually moved it into my regular fabric stash, and it has been a contender for the Precious Fabric Challenge more than once. In fact, it was one of the fabrics that originally inspired the challenge—but I still could not bring myself to cut it.
This year, that changes.
Why Was It So Difficult to Choose a Pattern?
The cost and sentimental value certainly made this fabric feel precious, but its unusual combination of weight and drape made choosing a project even more difficult.
Wool double gauze has some mechanical give, even though it does not contain stretch fiber. This particular fabric is fairly thick, but it also has beautiful drape. I wanted to select a pattern that would honor that movement rather than forcing the fabric into an overly structured silhouette.
Drapey fabrics often lead us toward garments with cowl necklines, ruching, gathers, or flowing skirts. This fabric, however, felt too thick for the kind of dress or top I would normally make with those details. I kept coming back to the idea of a jacket or coat.
Because the fabric is so special, I also wanted a classic silhouette that I could wear for years. It could not be overly fitted because bodies change, and I did not want to create a garment that would only fit during one season of my life.
That combination of requirements—classic, comfortable, slightly oversized, and suitable for a thick fabric with drape—eventually led me to a bomber jacket.
The True Bias Tobie Jacket
While researching jacket patterns for my fall sewing plans, I found the True Bias Tobie Jacket. The pattern includes two distinct views, and it immediately felt like the right choice.
View A is the more streamlined version. It is a lined, slightly oversized bomber jacket that finishes around the high hip. At 5'2" with a short torso, I appreciate that the jacket will not overwhelm my frame. The relaxed fit should also allow it to continue fitting comfortably as my body fluctuates.
The simple silhouette will let the fabric be the focus. View A has a horizontal seam across the center back, but I am considering eliminating that seam on my final version to preserve more of the print. I also plan to include the welt pockets.
My precious fabric is becoming the centerpiece of my fall capsule wardrobe. With so many colors in the print, I can pull from the orange, green, purple, blue, gold, peach, and brown when selecting the other garments. Instead of creating one jacket that has to coordinate with an existing wardrobe, I can build the wardrobe around the fabric that inspired it.
Should You Make a Muslin Before Cutting Precious Fabric?
A muslin is especially valuable when you are working with a fabric that cannot easily be replaced. Even with an oversized pattern, a test version gives you an opportunity to evaluate the length, proportions, construction, and overall feel before cutting into your precious fabric.
I am making View B of the Tobie Jacket as a wearable muslin using a fine-wale navy corduroy I purchased from the University of Sewing. The two views are different enough that both jackets will have their own place in my wardrobe, so the muslin will not feel like a duplicate of the final version.
For this first jacket, I plan to shorten the body so it hits at my high hip. I have a short torso, but my arms are proportionally longer, so I will probably leave the sleeve length alone. Once I have worn the corduroy version and evaluated the fit, I can make any final adjustments before cutting the wool double gauze.
A wearable muslin does not eliminate every risk, but it gives me much more confidence that the silhouette and proportions will work the way I envision.
Choosing the Lining and Ribbing
I still have a couple of decisions to make before I begin the final jacket.
For the lining, I have two possibilities. The first is a purple silk that would preserve the softer drape of the wool. If I do not have enough of the printed purple silk, I also have a similar solid purple silk in my stash.
The second option is a green silk brocade. It would make a beautiful statement inside the jacket, but it is stiffer and would add more body to the finished garment. Since part of my goal is to embrace the drape of the wool double gauze, the lining choice could noticeably affect the final result.
I also have two beefy rib knits for the collar, cuffs, and waistband. The beige coordinates beautifully and creates a lighter overall look, but I am concerned that it may show makeup and everyday wear around the neckline and cuffs. The olive green gives the jacket a different feeling, coordinates just as well, and would probably be more practical.
What Will You Make for the Precious Fabric Challenge?
National Sewing Month is a wonderful time to celebrate this creative skill we share. We can take a flat piece of fabric and turn it into something that fits our bodies, reflects our personal style, and becomes part of our everyday lives. That really is a superpower.
Pull out the fabric you have been saving and ask yourself what is keeping you from using it. If you are worried about the pattern choice, make a muslin. If you are afraid of making a mistake, remember that every sewing project teaches you something. The fabric will bring you far more joy as a garment than it will hidden in your stash.
I cannot wait to see your projects appearing on Instagram throughout September. Share your finished make using #PreciousFabric26 and tag @tomkat.stitchery so we can celebrate it with you.
It is time to stop saving that precious fabric. Let’s sew it.
