Great British Sewing Bee: Sewing made Twyford publicist 'braver and bolder'

A publicist from Twyford was ‘flabbergasted’ when she became one of 12 contestants on the Great British Sewing Bee.

Jess Harriott-Kerr returns to the finale episode tonight (Tuesday) as per ‘tradition’ to reunite with fellow sewists and share which of the remaining three finalists they believe will win.

The Polehampton School alum learned to sew when she was 11, hailing from generations of ‘excellent seamstresses’, and by 16, she was wearing her handmade garments to school.

“By sewing, I get to make clothes out of high-quality fabrics, more slowly and with more passion and love than even when you buy designer stuff,” Jess told the Advertiser.

“It's made me much braver and bolder. Instead of going for black, you can go for neon green.

“You’re already wearing something you made, that's a pretty confident thing to do, so why not have it in neon green as well?"

The 34-year-old said making your own clothes offers ‘creative freedom’, but buying second-hand, altering, repairing and mending your existing wardrobe can be more accessible.

“Like many millennials, I grew up at a time when fast fashion was everything," she said.

“We have this idea that we're entitled to something at low cost simply because we want it.

“Sewing is a really brilliant way of teaching people the value of clothes.

“You can't make as much as you buy, because it's so much slower to make them. It made me more considerate of the actual craft.

“It taught me how to be better at caring for my stuff because if you spend hours making something, you're not just going to chuck it in the washing machine and hope for the best.”

Jess and her sister Eleanor started their Instagram page Sew Relative during the pandemic to share their creations while they spent time apart.

“We talk about sewing all the time – it was one of the things that bonded us as a family,” said Jess.

“But during the pandemic, we suddenly had all this time to sew and no one to talk about it with.”

Sew Relative has grown ‘astronomically’ this summer since Jess appeared on the BBC One show, but the page remains a place for the sisters to share with their community.

When approached, Jess didn’t believe she was good enough for the show, but after several rounds of auditions, she got the call and started filming in September 2024.

“My family had been saying that one of us should have applied for years,” said Jess, who was also encouraged by Eleanor.

“It was simultaneously and surprisingly the hardest thing and one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.

“I've walked away with 11 really good friends from completely different walks of life.

“I learned a huge amount from the other sewers; it was a competition, but it wasn't a case of letting everyone fluster and fail.”

The ten-part series follows a similar format to the Great British Bake Off, and Jess loved being given weekly themes and challenges.

“I am a PR manager by day, and sewing is my relaxation activity," she said.

"It was quite tricky trying to do a relaxation activity in a stressful [environment] because it's a competition."

Jess was eliminated in the fifth ‘disastrous’ episode, after making a fatal error with her ‘zero waste pattern’ during Reduce, Reuse, Recycle week.

“I think until then I was doing quite well,” said Jess.

“The aim is to make a garment without wasting any of the fabric. I unfortunately drew my very first line wrong, which meant my pattern pieces were not right.

“It was the only week when I couldn't start again because it was zero waste.”

But her ‘forte’ was celebrating design icons in the third episode, and Jess was also glad she could make a garment out of clothing from her family that ‘celebrates the women who sew’.

This was a ‘full circle’ and ‘perfect tribute’ to her late aunt and ‘brilliant seamstress’ who passed away from cancer a month before the show aired.

“Everything has to be imbued with a bit of you, so it's fun to play with briefs through your perspective,” added Jess.

The show, hosted by Sara Pascoe, is one of the most-watched in the UK, and Jess will watch tonight’s finale at 9pm with her mum and sister.

“Surprisingly, even though lots of people don't even own sewing machines, [the audience] seems to like to watch us sew,” she said.