Fan of BBC One’s The Great British Sewing Bee Ellen Hopkin tells Claire Brine why faith inspires her work with fabric
T
HEY’VE snipped and stitched, pinned and patched. Now, accompanied by the quips of presenter Joe Lycett, the amateur sewers are about to find out who will be crowned the winner of The Great British Sewing Bee. The final of the BBC One show is scheduled to be aired next Wednesday (24 June). So far in the series, judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young have asked the contestants to create a variety of clothing including sleepwear, sportswear, children’s wear and even One sewer who can’t clothing made out of heavy-duty plastic wait to watch the final bags. After weeks of trimming down the unfold is Ellen Hopkin, 12 competitors by assessing their skills through a series of pattern, transformation a self-described fabric addict. She has been a and made-to-measure challenges, there fan of The Great British are just three hopefuls remaining. At Sewing Bee since its this stage of the game, all three need Ellen Hopkin launch in 2013. something very special up their sleeves. ‘What I love about it is that there’s never any drama,’ she says. ‘It’s lovely to a cheery one. Plus, I make clothes for my watch people being creative for an hour own kids, so that kind of sewing is what and know that they’re not going to be I know. I loved the dungaree challenge in slammed by the judges if they make particular, because I could see the sewers a mistake. using a pattern that I was familiar with.’ ‘My favourite episode so far has been While Ellen enjoys watching the series children’s week, because it was such from the comfort of her own home, she also faces a recurring question: Could I do that? ‘Every year I toy with the idea of applying for the programme,’ she says. ‘But while I’m an amateur expert in some things, there are other areas that would terrify me. If I had to make something out of leather, I wouldn’t have a clue. But then again, that’s why the challenges are designed to be so different. Maybe in a few years I’ll give it a go.’ For the past five years Ellen has been running her Ellen uses free motion own business called Faith embroidery in her work in Fabric, creating pieces of art using free motion embroidery. ‘Basically I’m using a
It’s lovely to watch people being creative
Sewing se special Holly Booth Studio
4 • War Cry • 20 June 2020
