A New Year, A Season of Growth
There’s something about the start of a new year that always feels like a deep breath.
Not a sudden reset or a list of impossible resolutions, just a quiet moment to look ahead and ask: What would it look like to grow this year?
As we head into the new year, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my own sewing journey. In 2025, I tackled projects that genuinely intimidated me, including my first real pair of pants with a zipper fly. It wasn’t perfect. It took time. A lot of time. I had to use my seam ripper more than once. But the sense of accomplishment I felt when I finished? It stayed with me.
That feeling is the heart of what I want to carry forward, and it’s what inspired our first community sew-along of the year.
Introducing: Season of Growth | A Sew Along
Starting January 1st and running through the end of March, we’re inviting you to join us for Season of Growth | A SAL.
Update: We’ve extended the entry deadline to April 14th to give this season a little more room to grow.
This sew-along isn’t about sewing a specific garment, following a single pattern, or mastering a technique perfectly. Instead, it’s about choosing a project that stretches you, whatever that looks like right now.
Maybe that means:
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- sewing your first pair of pants
- working with a fabric you’ve been avoiding
- trying a new construction method
- tackling fit adjustments
- or simply trusting yourself more than you have before
Any garment. Any pattern. Any skill level.
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The goal isn’t perfection! It’s growth through the process of making!
How to Participate
Participation is intentionally flexible so you can show up in the way that works best for you.
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- Choose a project that feels like a stretch
- Work on it at your own pace between January 1st and March 31st
- Share your progress, questions, wins, and frustrations along the way
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We’d love for you to start conversations:
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- in our Facebook group
- on social media
- or right here in the blog comments
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You’re also encouraged to share your finished project proudly, especially if it felt hard. Doing something challenging deserves to be celebrated!
Sharing & Tagging
One of the most meaningful parts of a sew-along is seeing how everyone approaches their projects, especially when you’re tackling something that feels like a stretch.
If you’re sharing your Season of Growth project on social media, we’d love for you to:
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- Use #SeasonofGrowthSAL as the main, evergreen hashtag
- Add #SeasonofGrowthSAL2026 if you’d like to mark this first year (depending on your feedback and participation, we may make this an annual SAL)
- Tag @surgefabricshop so we don’t miss your posts
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Sharing is never required, but it’s strongly encouraged. It helps build community, supports the shop, and, most importantly, gives you a chance to celebrate what you’ve made and how far you’ve come.
Even if your project isn’t “perfect,” it’s worth sharing. Growth rarely is.
Prizes & Entries
To make things a little extra fun, projects made using fabrics from Surge Fabric Shop will be eligible for prizes.
We’ll be using a Google form to collect entries so that:
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- everyone can participate regardless of social media platform
- all entries live in one organized place
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You can submit your project entries directly through the form here: Submit Your Entry
Sharing on social media is strongly encouraged, it helps support the shop and it helps inspire others, but it won’t be the only way to enter.
Here’s to a new year, new projects, and a season of choosing growth — together.
🤍 Kayla
I am all about fitting. But unfortunately, February and March are not good months for me to participate. But would love to read or see the participation while I am far away from my sewing room.
I don’t really need a SAL but I wanted to say I LOVE when you pair fabrics since we can’t know for sure whether fabrics match from the computer. Please do more of top and bottom pairings. I did but some of the paired swim knits but I’d really like other fabrics, still knits but not swim knits.
This was such a good push! I finally made leggings!
I chose a, Surge purchased, See You at Six fingerprint french terry in navoja beige with gray ruffle trimmed sleeves for a feminine modern sweatshirt. Working with a stretchy knit is new, especially w/o a stabilizer, as well as adding a ruffle trim into sleeve seams on my beginner machine (with my beginner skills). Keeping that seam straight was challenging for the lopsided thickness. I’m so happy I made it, It’s dressy enough for work, but looks great with jeans too.