I’VE GOT TITLE ALL SEWN UP!
Doctor on corona front line is BBC sewing bee champ
FOR a nation desperate to keep itself occupied during lockdown, the Great British Sewing Bee was a godsend.
Thousands were inspired to pick up needle and thread thanks to the BBC1 show’s popularity.
And last night, hospital consultant Clare Bradley – who has been working on the NHS front line during the coronavirus pandemic – was crowned the winner, thanks in part to her love of vintage clothes.
Miss Bradley, a lung specialist at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital, won the competition after ten weeks of tough sewing tasks which were filmed last autumn.
The 38-year-old claimed the title after triumphs including creating a 27-pleat kilt and turning a swimsuit and party dress into a costume fit to wear at a carnival.
But it was her 1930s-inspired red evening gown in the ‘made-tomeasure challenge’ that stole the show. Commenting on the dress, judge Patrick Grant, 48 – an Edinand burgh-born fashion designer who played rugby for Scotland at U18 and U19 level – said: ‘This is the very epitome of elegance. It’s ever so chic, it’s ever so refined.’
Fellow judge Esme Young added: ‘The simpler the garment the more the mistakes show up so it’s really tricky to sew something like this.’
Miss Bradley was taught how to sew by her mother Jane – who was also a doctor – at the age of eight.
However, it wasn’t until five years ago that she started taking it more seriously when her love of vintage clothing developed.
She said: ‘I started wearing vintage-style clothes when I struggled to find clothes – particularly trousers – that fitted my proportions.
‘I settled on a mid-20th century clothing look, particularly the 1940s, because they are a good combination of fit and smartness.’
Her appearance on the show – presented by Joe Lycett – made her instantly recognisable to patients
it has led to many revealing their own interests in knitting, sewing and quilting.
Miss Bradley said: ‘I watched a lot of the series on my own during lockdown… for the final episode I borrowed a projector so that I could watch with a couple of friends in their garden. My closest colleagues knew I had got to the final as they could count how many days I’d had off work, but I think I managed to keep it a secret that I’d won by pulling my best “patient confidentiality” straight face.’
Miss Bradley beat 11 other sewers to the title, pipping broadcast engineer Matt Gage, 43, and jewellery designer Nicole Akong, 42, to the post in last night’s final.