Make Creatives Sewing Bee Challenge

Sewers up and down the country have been on high alert these past several weeks as it is “that” time of year again – The Great British Sewing Bee is back on the BBC! Conversations have been focussed on baby grows, bras and peplums as well as the new presenter, time restraints (more of that later!) and, of course, Patrick’s hair.

Here at Make, we have been enjoying the excitement of building a community of crafters since our opening in November 2015. This has included a special evening on a Wednesday from 7-9pm called Make Creatives. Each week, the shop is bubbling with the sound of knitting needles, crochet hooks, sewing machines and excited chatter. However, the tension has been immense on two occasions recently as Lizzy introduced “The Alteration Challenge” to keen groups of sewers, eager to dip their toes into the GBSB pool.

On the first week, the group was presented with gents’ shirts and asked to sew an item of woman’s clothing. Nervous hesitation was replaced with a feverish rush for a shirt and soon all machines were switched on, scissors were brandished and it wasn’t long before the rumble of machining began and didn’t stop for the next crucial 90 minutes.

To add to the realism, we had Claudia Winkleman in the form of Lizzy, telling the participants how much time remained at various stages. As you can imagine, this was perhaps the greatest shock to everyone – the time truly does fly by!

 With heads down, it was difficult to know what everyone else was up to so the final line up of finished garments was an exciting time.

Judging by Make’s own Lou took place with formality and a scary amount of precise detail!

Among the completed garments, there was a variety of skirts, tops, and even a beautiful cape.

But the winner was…………

the lovely Sheron with her embellished jacket which was individual, creative and very wearable!

Two weeks later a second group of sewers were presented with a selection of brightly printed ladies’ dresses. Following on from the international theme of that weeks’ episode of the GBSB, the participants had to make a ladies’ garment which complemented the fabric.

Armed with their portable haberdasheries, the sewers again plunged into the activity with gusto.

Once again the results were fantastic! Such creativity and accuracy in such a short space of time was amazing.

The winner this time was ………

..this beautiful waistcoat. The colours and pattern really suited this, especially with the peacock-like tail at the back.

There is one more Alteration Challenge scheduled for Wednesday 22 June, so why not come along and have a go! Lizzy says a big thank you to all those who have taken part in this challenge so far.

And how was it for me? WELL, I mentioned time restraints at the beginning of this blog. Was this my problem, or was it my dog wandering around at my feet, or the heat, or ….? A workman always blames his tools they say. So far, I haven’t managed to tap into my creative side. I know it’s there somewhere so next time I am going to redeem myself with a completed and outstanding result! No pressure then!

Happy making

Sheila