All posts tagged: The great British sewing bee

My Great British Sewing Bee Journey – Week 1

Published by

5 years ago I applied to be a contestant in the GBSB. I wrote a diary, and ahead of the first episode of series 10 I thought I’d share it with you to give you an insight of what it’s like to be on the Bee. Thursday 29th August 2019 An early start to get ready for my 9:45 train out of Leeds. It all went smoothly except when I got on the train I realised I’d forgotten my extension table for the sewing machine. Oh well, I shouldn’t miss it for this episode as I don’t think I’ll be sewing anything too big. Anyway, I left home at 8:20am to catch the 283 bus down to Birkenshaw bar. Only 5 minutes wait before the Leeds bus arrived and by 9am I was at Leeds Train Station – easy peasy. On my walk to the station from the bus I did my good deed for today and gave my bus ticket to a lady who was waiting at the bus stop, at least it saved …

TMS – Sew Stretchy

Published by

For May’s challenge at The Monthly Stitch I’ve made a top and also refashioned one of my favourite T Shirts. Whilst flicking through the Great British Sewing Bee’s book from the 2nd series I decided to make the simple T Shirt.  It calls for a floaty fabric, not a ponte knit as I chose! I only had 60cm of the stripey ponte knit so had to be a little creative and decided to adapt the pattern so it had raglan sleeves. I also lengthened it by 3 inches for adequate tummy coverage.  As you can see from my pattern I’ve cut out a size 18.  This is the biggest size, here’s the size chart from the book: It all went together fairly straight forward.  I stitched sleaves to the back and front, pressed the seam downwards top stitched.  I now think I should have maybe pressed the seam upwards and had the top stitching (or is it edge stitching?!?!) on the sleeve, not on the main body of the top.  I then stitched the side seams. …

Cook’s Apron from The Great British Sewing Bee

Published by

Time was running out for me in The Monthly Stitch’s Challenge – ‘something from a book”.  As I only own 1 sewing book I wasn’t exactly spoilt for choice.   This month has been really busy.  I’ve made a big start on making my Christmas gifts, and also I’ve had 3 birthdays and an anniversary which I’ve made pressies for too. Before I knew it, there were only 2 days left in November for me to make something for the Monthly Stitch, so it had to be something simple.  I chose the cook’s apron as it would be a nice pressie to go with the peg bag I’ve already made for my Auntie Kath. Here it is:   When I made the apron I didn’t have any graph paper, so armed with a pencil, French curve and tape measure I marked out the outline directly onto the back of the fabric. I worked out the measurements and wrote them into the book.    I decided to make 1 or 2 changes to the pattern: I …

THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE TUNIC

Published by

Back in the summer, (which seems like a distant memory now) I bought the British Sewing Bee book which was on offer at my local supermarket. I’d not seen the series on TV but had heard lots about it. I thought I’d give the tunic a try first. It can be made in three different lengths, roughly waist, hip and knee length. I’d bought some cotton floral fabric whilst on holiday in Scarborough and tho it wasn’t in the suggested fabric I thought it would be ok. Originally I made it knee length but it hung like a sack and wasn’t very flattering. So I chopped the bottom off and made a long strip of ruffling (not sure what else to call it!) and added it to the bottom. When I tried it on my hubby said it reminded him of an old fashioned swimming costume!! Undeterred I pressed the ruffle flat, so it didn’t stick out so much and was happy with the result. I also changed the zip insertion. I used a normal …