Former Kineton High School student makes it to the final of the Great British Sewing Bee

A FORMER Kineton High School student has made it to the grand final of the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee.

Beth Eames beat off tough competition to make it to the last round of the long-running TV sewing competition which seeks to find Britain’s best amateur sewer.

And she is being cheered on by her family, friends, and former school right here in Warwickshire.

Twenty-four year-old Beth is an Engineering PhD Student at Oxford University.

When not away at university she loves to be at home with her family in Kineton and their two red setters, Fanta and Cilla.

A hard-working high achiever, Beth discovered sewing in her teenage years as a way to relieve stress, even choosing to make a skirt the night before her English GCSE.

Sport is another mindful escape for her, and she loves powerlifting, running, hockey and tennis.

Living with scoliosis, Beth has learnt to adapt her clothing to fit her body, which helps her feel confident and express her personal style (and indulge her love of backless dresses).

She also enjoys creating bespoke garments, recently making personalised trench coats for herself and her boyfriend, who is training to be a barrister.

As she nears the end of her PhD, Beth sees sewing and engineering as two sides of the same coin.

She said: “Both come from a love for materials and problem-solving. When something goes wrong, I just get the unpicker out and fix it.”

Beth has the Carolyn Rose School of Sewing based in Leamington to thank for teaching her to sew from the age of 11.

Her fellow contestant Angie Lorraine, who was knocked out of the competition earlier in the series, also has connections with Carolyn Rose, helping out at their shop in Regents Street for a number of years.

The 63 year-old retired Warwickshire College business studies and computing lecturer has also been attending Time to Sew sewing sessions at the sewing school and is planning on running some workshops over Christmas.

The Great British Sewing Bee sees 12 amateur sewers head to Sunny Bank Mills in Leeds, where they battle it out across the pattern challenge, transformation and made-to-measure rounds, hoping to impress judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young.

This series once again featured reduce, reuse, recycle week, sports week, music week and kids week, alongside new themes such as Mexico week, literary icons and wardrobe heroes.