The Great British Sewing Bee returns to our screens on Monday 16th May, and Sussex Downs College student Jade Earley is the youngest ever competitor.—Sussex Downs College, 13 May 2016
BBC Great British Sewing Bee Jade Earley, 19, from Uckfield, near Lewes, applied for The Great British Sewing Bee and beat thousands of entrants to become the youngest ever sewer on the show.
The hit BBC show, which airs next Monday 16th May, sees 10 contestants battle it out, with one knocked out each week, leaving three in the final.
Amateur sewers take on challenges as they compete to be named Britain’s best home sewer.
Judges include Esme Young, a senior lecturer on the prestigious fashion course at London’s Central St Martin’s College which she also attended during the 70s.
She co-founded the fashion label Swanky Modes, gaining iconic status with its signature bodycon dresses loved by celebrities Cher, Grace Jones and Julie Christie. The legacy of Swanky Modes lives on at the V&A and the Museum of London where the dresses form part of a permanent collection.
Today Esme makes garments for films (including Trainspotting and Bridget Jones) out of her Hackney studio.
Judges also include, Patrick Grant, he is the Creative Director of Savile Row tailors Norton & Sons and menswear line, E. Tautz. He was the recipient of the British Fashion Council’s Menswear Designer of the Year award in 2010, he is renowned for his passion for clothing, craftsmanship and classic British brands.
In her BBC profile for the start of the show, the bio says, “Jade lives at home in Sussex with her parents, three younger siblings and two English bulldogs. She sews for them all; shirts for her dad, dresses for her sister and tutus for the dogs. Her family are hugely supportive of her sewing talents and have even built a log cabin in the garden for her to sew in. She spends more time in there than she does in the house, and prefers sewing over nights out clubbing.
“She is inspired by fashion magazines and dreams one day of opening her own haberdashery or having her own clothing line”.
Talking about the experience to the savvy Downs College news network timeline, Jade says: “It was nerve-wracking being the youngest. People assume you’re not as experienced but I’ve been sewing for four years now. Being the youngest, the other contestants were so nice and looked after me like one of their own!”
Jade started sewing after an accident in 2012 meant she had to give up her previous passion for swimming. After dislocating her knee, Jade had to quit competitive swimming, something she had been doing since the age of nine.
“The hospital gave me two options: two more years of physio, which wasn’t doing anything, or a knee reconstruction. I went for the knee construction,” Jade says. “It was incredibly tough as swimming was my life for eight years. I swam every night for two hours and was in competitions at weekends. That stopped and I literally felt like I had nothing now. Then I went along to a sewing course aged 14 with one of my mum’s friends. She said I picked it up so quickly and it was clear I had a passion for it”.
Jade ends her interview with the Sussex Downs College news network timeline with praise for the educational environment that has enabled her skills base to flourish, expressly indicating the transformative power of education when it makes you happy.
“I am now on the Level 3 Art & Design Extended Diploma course at Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne. I looked at other Colleges, but felt it was so much more relaxed. I had a tour of the print room and I could see myself there. You want to go somewhere that makes you happy.”
Basic Construction
The Great British Sewing Bee, Series 4
BBC2 Monday 16 May 2016
Claudia Winkleman hosts a new eight-part series of The Great British Sewing Bee.
Under the scrutiny of Savile Row’s Patrick Grant and Central St Martin’s Esme Young, ten fresh-faced home sewers face three challenges designed to test their skill and understanding of basic garment construction. First, the sewers follow a pattern for a woman’s top made up of four pieces. However, it is deceptively difficult, demanding accurate pattern matching skills, a steady hand for cutting and precision sewing.
