The Great British Sewing Bee Series 10: The Final

Well, we’ve made it to the end of another great series of The Great British Sewing Bee. Of the 12 sewers that started this journey, just three remained.

Aisla was praised for her originality and understanding of shape.

Pascha, just 20 years old, was the winner of six individual challenges and three garments of the week. Esme recognised her for her technical prowess as well as her burgeoning creativity.

Luke has been creative throughout and although sometimes over-ambitious, they have made some truly memorable outfits.

The pattern challenge was something really special and worthy of the final. In three hours, they had to make two identical and perfectly sewn opera gloves. They were given a selection of stretchy fabrics to choose from and each chose a very different look.

We learned that although being rooted in Regency-core, they were most in vogue during the Victorian era. We also learned that Pascha’s boyfriend is training to be an opera singer. Brilliant!

The gusset that ran between each finger was really fiddly to sew, especially with a seam allowance of just 0.5cm! Even though each glove had just three pattern pieces, very precise sewing was required throughout.

It was certainly a “go-slow” challenge, with the hope that slow sewing would lead to greater precision. We saw another appearance of Luke’s tweezers for handling fiddly areas.

There was extra pressure when it came to judging, as they were worn by a model - and didn’t she look fabulous!

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The Transformation Challenge was to turn party paraphernalia into a fun (and wearable) party outfit.
They could use any haberdashery but no extra fabric. The sewers could take their pick from paper napkins, disposable table clothes, bunting, streamers and much more. The fabrics were not easy to sew with and creating openings also provided tricky!

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It really was anyone’s game going into the Made to Measure and as a truly special touch, the models were close friends of our finalists. Pascha selected her high school friend, Romy. Luke picked Jake, their pal from the Manchester queer scene, and Aisla chose her friend from Glasgow, Thomas.

As this was a draping challenge, they were given mannequins that were exactly the same size as their models. This enabled them to manipulate the fabric on the stand.

Luke opted for a gender fluid look that combined a blazer and a voluminous tulle ballgown.

Ailsa opted for a pleated waistcoat and a kilt-inspired skirt. She added the personal touch with her grandfather’s tartan and sporran. How lovely!

Pascha focused on pleating with structure areas on the hip and waist of her full-length taffeta dress.
What a stunning colour!

Pleats and ruffles were time-consuming elements and there was certainly some rushing as the clock ticked down.

What a treat it was to see the sewers friends and families, and of course, our Series 10 clan too!
We think the winner was very well deserved. Did you agree with the judges?

Images: BBC/Love Productions

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