This Is What Happens to the Clothes and Fabrics on Great British Sewing Bee

Have you ever wondered what happens to the wonderful creations on the Great British Sewing Bee? 

We love the whole ethos of the show which has amazing transformation challenges that take old clothes and make them into entirely different garments. 

But we began to think about what happens to all the clothes and all the scraps and materials used to make them. 

So, This Is What Happens to the Clothes on Great British Sewing Bee 

Nothing Goes to Waste

All was revealed when the show's new host Sara Pascoe spoke to the Metro. 

She said the contestants "get to keep all of their clothes but the show itself, especially because BBC is really careful with all of the fabrics."

It's great to hear that the contestants get to keep their creations. After all, they put in the time to make them. Although some of them will need a bit more finishing!

So what about all the off-cuts and bits of fabrics that the sewers use? Thankfully all these scraps are taken care of.

Sara said: "Everything that was wasted, they sent to refugees who needed to make clothes. And the clothes that the people design - they get to keep everything, it all gets sent to them."

‘There’s no like, skip out at the back with all nice trousers you can go through. Everyone’s got to keep things.’

Again it is great to hear that the show tries to minimise waste as much as possible. The fabrics also go to support  refugees which is great for people, not just the planet. 

Transformation Challenges

The Great British Sewing Bee is now into its 10th year. There have all kinds of impressive transformation challenges where the sewers have been tasked with upcycling and overhauling old garments into something radically new.

One of the challenges was for the sewers to create something using scraps of material leftover from their previous weeks of making - making sure as much of the original material is used as possible to get all the fabric used up.

Which outfits from the Sewing Bee would you like to take home? 

TV Shows Cutting Down Waste

There's a lot that other TV shows could learn in trying to promote less wasteful lifestyles. The Great British Sewing Bee is helpful in many ways in encouraging all kinds of people to sew, repair and upcycle their clothes. 

We're already shown our surprise and admiration for Love Island using preloved clothes. And there are other shows like The Repair Shop which is all about restoring people's favourite old items. 

TV is a great medium for breaking down stigmas as well as inspiring people to take up new hobbies. It can make us more appreciative of how clothes are made. Maybe it's even enough to wean us from fast fashion!

What Can You Do With Fabric Scraps?

If you're a keen sewer you might be wondering how you can also make sure that nothing goes to waste.

There's a few ways you can do this depending on how creative you feel. If you're feeling super creative you might be able to turn spare fabrics into scrunchies or you could even use them for a bit of slow stitching (here's just how mindful slow stitching can be). 

If you have those really annoying bits and pieces you might be able to donate them as rags to your local charity shop. It is worth checking before you take them though. The charity shops can often take these bags of scraps and sell them on.