The Great British Sewing Bee 2025 - The Final!

Nine weeks down, 27 challenges completed and three contestants left!  The final of The Great British Sewing Bee was last night!  Did you watch it?  If not and you’d like a summary with no spoilers of the winner, read on!

GBSB Final Pattern Challenge

The last pattern challenge that Orla, Caz and Yasmin had to contend with was a bias cut dress.  All sorts of difficulties come with a project like this and it definitely seemed like they were feeling the pressure.  It was a beautiful pattern with a cowl neckline, spaghetti straps and French seams.  All three contestants picked a satin fabric but Caz’s seemed to be particularly tricky to work with and she was struggling with it stretching out.  Yasmin seemed to find the hem challenging and I’m not surprised as hemming satin on the bias is not easy.  They all did a fantastic job in the three and a half hours that they were given.

If you are looking to sew up your own bias cut dress, then there is a lovely one in Elisalex Jewell’s book 'Made To Measure'.  Its called the Siren Slip Dress and it’s a draft your own pattern so you will learn some pattern drafting at the same time.

The contestants all did well with their French seams – if you are looking for some support with how to sew a French seam, check out my short tutorial video here:

GBSB Final Transformation Challenge

The final transformation challenge of the series involved translucent garments and turning them into something stylish.  Esmee said that she particularly wanted the sewers to think about what was revealed and what was concealed and they had 90 minutes to do it.  There were some interesting fabrics given to them to use ranging from sheer black polkadots to an opaque rain mack type material!  As usual they used their creativity to come up with some striking looks!

GBSB Final Made to Measure Challenge

The final made to measure challenge, and what was the final challenge of the series, was based on the art of trompe l’oeil.  The judges wanted garments that tricked the eye and created illusions and the contestants had the opportunity to get moral support from their family as they were their models this time!  Yasmin was creating for her fiancé, Caz for her daughter and Orla for her sibling.  The pressure must have been immense and I could feel it through the TV and would not have wanted to be in their positions.  With so much at stake, it would have been easy to make mistakes and Yasmin panicked at one point and unnecessarily unpicked her collar which I’m sure I have done in the past.  Their dresses were all inspired by a personal story which added more emotion to an already daunting task and the relief when they put their needles down must have been enormous! 

I do believe that it was a difficult decision for the judges as all three contestants were amazing but in the end, only one person can win.  I’ll leave you to enjoy the episode and find out who that was, whilst I work out what I’m going to do with my Tuesday evenings now its over!  ….Probably more sewing!