Read all the latest Sewing Bee news and interviews with the bees!

Focus

Be methodical, but practice makes perfect. I've mainly learnt through making mistakes. I find sewing very meditative and I'm sure its good for your health so enjoy the process. I've made things completely by hand and I still wear them. I LOVE SEWING!

Research

I can be obsessive how clothes are finished and how they have evolved, so I am always looking at garments in shops to see how they are made up. I look for beautiful seams, I want everything to be perfect. I also want a surprise, to be excited by the choice of fabric, colour and sewing techniques. Overall, it has to be something beautifully put together.

Take inspiration from everywhere

It could be a button or something in my head. My students or my work in film. But sometimes its the fabric. Oh I have a stash. If I see fabric I like I have to buy it. I was in Greece and I was buying fabric. Wherever I am I buy fabric.

Not being afraid to redo

My favourite sewing tool is my unpicker  I am quite fussy about what type it is, as I am with all my tools. I sometimes toile up to 10 times, so it's just right. And I have blocks that I will use again and again. Whether its for a certain lock or a person and I have a certain dress called the Sharon Stone and I will adapt that into what I need.

Picking the right fabric

I like fabric I can wash. I often wash the fabric before I make something so I know it wont shrink when the garment is finished. I'm quite keen on blue and like natural fibres such as cotton and silk. I often see fabric that I fall in love with my most recent buys are from Bilbao. One is a pale pink fabric with embroidery roses and the other has Lurex in it.

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