Sew far, so good for contestant Brogan
A DERBYSHIRE teacher has lived up to her name after excelling in yet another week of BBC TV show The Great British Sewing Bee.
Brogan Sommerville wowed judges Esme Young and Patrick Grant during summer week but narrowly missed out on winning garment of the week in the latest episode, screened on Wednesday.
Brogan and the rest of the contestants were tasked with making a shirred midi dress for their first challenge. Other contestants commented as the pattern for the garment was handed out: “I think this challenge was made for Brogan, it’s very her.”
A shirred dress, according to Esme, is: “Where you have elastic and as you are sewing, it gathers the fabric up but you can still stretch it”. The style of dress has seen a comeback in recent years.
Going into the challenge, Brogan said: “I absolutely love everything about summer. My ideal summer outfit is a dress with lemons on it with huge puffy sleeves.”
She said: “It feels nice to know that others have confidence in me I don’t want to embarrass myself by doing a really bad job. I have made two shirred dresses like this at home.”
Judging the garment, Patrick remarked: “Your rows of shirring are really well spaced and incredibly straight. I could easily see that on the rail of quite an expensive clothing shop. Beautifully light and brilliantly shirred. Everything about it was perfection well done.” After winning the challenge, Brogan said: “It felt amazing to hear Patrick say it was exceptional and for Esme to say that the sewing was really good.”
In the next challenge, the sewers were told to make a summer garment out old hammocks and macrame.
Brogan received high praise for her two-piece top and skirt, however, she narrowly missed out on the top spot in the challenge to fellow contestant, Angela.
Contestants were asked to create a summer co-ordinated outfit for the final challenge. Brogan, who is a languages teacher, designed her outfit after being inspired by her time living in Spain.
She made a risky choice for the challenge by choosing to make her garment from satin while other sewers chose more manageable fabrics such as linen or cotton.
Patrick said: “It does look very Spanish. I think because it’s slippery you have dragged it a little bit on the sideseam of the trousers.”
Esme said: “I have a bit of a problem that we have got a tie at the front and a tie at the back.”
The Great British Sewing Bee will return next Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.
It feels nice to know that others have confidence in me. I don’t want to embarrass myself by doing a really bad job.