Sewing Bee

I loved the series too, but it was far too short, only 4 programmes. Hopefully it's popularity will prompt another series more on the lines of the bake-off. Even my 13 year old GS enjoyed watching. All 6 GCs watched the bake-off, and 'moist' and 'soggy bottom' often come into family conversation now!

I agree with you suzie Ann is such a classy woman and I so enjoyed watching her work. I think she should make a few 'Sewing for Beginners' progammes for those of us who can do the basics but never get much further.

I love to sew and belong to a sewing group. I feel it is a hobby which is undervalued and often looked down on . I often wonder how we would manage if we had to pay a proper price for clothes if people in china Malaysia or the Philippines were paid the minimum rate of the UK worker.

I was blown away by Ann's expertise and delighted that she won. DH and I had been having bets and were sure it would be Lauren (just as we had been "sure" that the final would be between Stuart, Ann and Lauren for age/gender/inclusivity reasons!!!)

What a good idea it was to use relations as models. It was lovely when the sewers (should be able to find a word with less unpleasant connotations!) realised who the models were. By the time the final came along, I felt that Sandra and Lauren had more or less resigned themselves to Ann's being the winner. Nobody could possibly match her precision and expertise - and experience.

I thought using the relations was brilliant! Especially Ann's daughter with her odd measurements it added another dimension and must have given them a bit of moral support.
We get so many "celebrities" making a mess of things and giggling it's such a change to see people who are really good at what they do.

Great to see experience being valued - as the old adage says age before beauty.

I loved this programme, and I can't sew to save my life. However this has inspired me.

I watched it, thinking 'I used to do that...' but I haven't created any garments for about 40 years and I'm not sure why. Now I just have a very small sewing machine, good for putting up hems or perhaps making a cotton skirt.

I am glad that Ann won, not because she was classy.... because... what does that have to do with her sewing.. but because she did the best job on the day and because she was talented

I thought she was classy because of what she chose to wear and make, cathy. The simple Channel style bouclé jacket and linen men's shirt were fabulous, and reflected her own style. An elegant woman!

I typed Chanel and this bleeping iPad chose Channel for me!

By necessity and in 'another life', I made many of my own clothes. I was taught by my mother and my professional dressmaker aunt. Not having achieved the Latin stream at my girls' grammar school, I joined the domestic science stream which included needlework and basic cookery. Guess what?...skills learned in my stream turned out to be much more useful than learning Latin!
None of the young women of my acquaintance is capable of even sewing on a button and most of them depend on ready meals, take outs and restaurants for their nourishment. Call me old fashioned, but I think that's a sad indictment of our education system - their lives are the poorer because they lack those skills.
That should bring out the bra-burners!
Ann was a lesson to us all - patience, competence, politeness, pride - she had it all in spades and I was so glad when she won. GN lets start a campaign to get her on the telly again!

Yes, I'd love to see her on TV. I noticed that Jo, who won one of the Great British Bake Offs, has been on QVC type programmes, demonstrating KitchenAid mixers, and she wrote a cookbook. I'd prefer to see winners like Ann and Jo on networked TV programmes like the Home Made series Kirsty Allsopp did, which inspired me to try a few crafts.

I quite liked the dress made by the youngest girl, I think it was well made

Either way it was a brilliant show and hope they do make it again

I have a sewing machine sitting in the cupboard, I hope to make time and use it very soon.

The last thing I made was a skirt for myself..how about you..what was the last thing you made.

Curtains quite recently but in the clothing line a dress for my DGD about 12 years ago - had cherries on the fabric.

Dining chair pads and a jersey pencil skirt in the last year. I have some material for cushion covers for my daughter, but now I've watched those little summer dresses being made, I'm going to have a crack at some for my toddler grandaughters.

Do let us know how you get on with the shirring elastic when - my mother was good at that but I have never tried it. She also did smocking by hand for me when I was little.

I will Bez. They made it look so easy on the Sewing Bee!

That's just reminded me - I have done smocking by hand when my daughters were small. Forgotten it till now!

thats brilliant, its good to hear that we are actually doing stuff, when I was pregnant we could not afford to buy loads of maternity wear so I bought some material and made a smock that my sister later used, i was so proud at that smock looking back, not so much at the time, just as I looked back.

I would love to turn my love of sewing into some kind of a business but I truly would not know were to start.

I loved the series and was so pleased Ann won. I thought she was wonderful and the black evening dress was superb. I still make things; skirts for myself, curtains and blinds sometimes. I made dresses for my DGDs from Liberty type prints; they loved them and my DD called them the Von Trapp dresses. I "did" cookery and needlework at school, but didn't learn a thing. My mother, who made all our clothes (with a lot of cursing and sighing), taught me to sew and I taught myself to cook. If some of the next generation choose not to do it, I would think it is for convenience sake or because their parents haven't passed the skills on. it certainly isn't cheap to make clothes or to hand knit any more, so I think you would only do that for pleasure. My DD sews a bit (mostly ribbons on ballet shoes) and she and my DS are both excellent cooks. Not sure we taught them much directly, but I suppose the example was there and good food was very important in our family life.

I used to do a lot of sewing when I was younger and would like to take it up again however there are no good places to buy fabrics here. It is best to see and feel materials which you can't do on line.
I enjoyed the programme too.I thought the lady who won would do so from the start as she obviously had the experience and flair which showed from the start. A similar programme for knitters would be interesting and resources may be easier to find.