Win Tickets to The Great British Sewing Bee Live!

Just a quick post today for my UK based readers (or readers further afield who might fancy a trip to London in October!). There's a new dressmaking event in town brought to us by Upper Street Events in collaboration with Love Productions who brought us The Great British Sewing Bee! The Great British Sewing Bee Live will be taking place at Excel London from 21st-24th September 2017 and there will be a whole host of things going on to entertain and inspire anyone with a passion for sewing, fashion and textiles.

It looks to have a fairly similar format to the Knitting & Stitching Show which I've had a brilliant time attending for the last few years. I always discover something knew and leave inspired to sew but as much as I'm interested in and inspired by all kinds of craft my real passion is sewing and dressmaking so I'm really excited to see an event focused purely on that. Plus of course anything to do with the Bee has my extra special interest as I was lucky enough to combine my work and my hobby and join the sewing team last series as fabric buyer!

There is a huge array of things on offer to do and see including dressmaking drop-in clinics, a catwalk and garment and vintage fashion galleries. Of course one of the main draws for me at this kind of event are the exhibitors stalls and there will be over 200 dressmaking and sewing suppliers offering up their goods. Of course it wouldn't be a GBSB event without the chance to rub shoulders with prior contestants and judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young. A visit won't be complete without attending one of the Super Theatre sessions where Jenny Eclair will be hosting two shows a day including live sewing challenges with former contestants and audience members. I'm beginning to think that a single day ticket may not be enough!

One of the things I was most impressed with when looking into the event was the variety of workshops on offer (over 250 across the four days!). They vary in length from 1-3 hours and there is pretty much something for everyone with all abilities and specialities catered for. I was really delighted to see some more advanced sessions included in their number and found plenty to interest me. I was very tempted by the fitting classes including the one on tissue fitting which is a technique I have never attempted but have also never tried machine embroidery and find the idea quite intriguing. In the end I stuck with what I love and focused the nitty gritty of sewing techniques and construction. I've got myself booked onto the Double Welt Pockets Workshop led by GBSB competitor Paul Clarke and am really looking forward to it.

The good news is for you guys that I have five pairs of tickets to give away! All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is leave a comment below. Make sure to include your email address if it is not easily accessible on your blog profile so I can contact the lucky winners directly. You have until midnight GMT on Sunday 30th July to enter and I will announce the winners in my monthly Indie Pattern Update post on Monday. Good luck!

If you're super keen to come along and want to book yourself a ticket then make sure to use the discount code the event organisers have been so kind to offer me to share with you. Enter the code DCS at the checkout for a £1.50 discount on adult advance ticket sales and concessions. I hope to see many of you there!