Fauve Birch: Sewing Bee – October meeting

Fauve was a contestant and runner up in Series 9 of the BBC television show, The Great British Sewing Bee. 2327 people applied and 12 were chosen to compete. She described Patrick Grant as 'tall, dark and handsome', and the second judge, Esme Young, as 'able to drink her own body weight' and a person who always keeps you laughing. Fauve said that Patrick and Esme were supportive if you were struggling, but that Sarah Pascoe did not seem to understand the pressure they were working under and could be a nuisance.  

The pattern challenge is to test the sewers' skills, and the first of the series required French seams which Fauve explained she had never done before. As the series progressed, the instructions provided for the pattern challenge became fewer and fewer. Fauve said that sometimes the programme made mistakes, such as giving them the wrong size zip for the backpack challenge, and the wrong type of machine needles for difficult fabrics. In episode 2 they broke 82 machine needles trying to complete the work asked of them. Despite these mistakes, the contestants were not given extra time. Fauve stressed that the time restraints and challenges are real.

Fauve expressed a dread of the Transformation Challenge, where contestants have to change something unwanted into a garment. This might be nylon bags, discarded tents, duvet covers, tablecloths, etc. One of the challenges of series 9 involved windbreakers. Fauve showed us the jacket she made. It looked pretty impressive to us, but apparently did not impress Patrick and Esme. The noise of the windbreaker material dominated the sewing room, and Fauve described experiencing a type of PTSD a few weeks later at a BBQ with many windbreakers flapping in the wind!

For the first few weeks hanging threads were acceptable, and the inside of garments had little or no finishing, but things got tighter and more was expected as the series moved on. The third challenge of each episode, the Made-to-Measure, was the only one which they knew about in advance and for which they could prepare. They were given a budget for the fabric. Fauve showed us a dress on her mannequin, explaining that she made four versions of it before the episode. She said that they were allowed to choose their model from a list of those available, and she asked for a model of similar size to herself. She was given a lovely model, but she was much taller, a size 6 but more curvy and not really anything like Fauve. Things could become quite stressed in the Made-to-Measure and Fauve told us that one time she sewed her finger to the garment whilst adding a hook and eye at the last minute.

Fauve showed us one of her favourite items made on the show – a dragon dressing-gown for a child. She said she had to run to the fabric table to ensure that she was able to grab the red and green fur fabric she wanted. The contestants are only allowed 15 minutes with the child models: 5 minutes at the beginning, 5 minutes about halfway through, and then the final five minutes when the garment is displayed. Fauve won Garment-of-the-Week for her dress made of leather and lace. She was a lively and entertaining presenter who kept us enthralled throughout her talk.   

Gwenynen Wnïo Bedwen Fauve – cyfarfod mis Hydref

Roedd Fauve yn gystadleuydd ac yn ail yn Gyfres 9 o sioe deledu'r BBC, The Great British Sewing Bee. Gwnaeth 2327 o bobl gais a dewiswyd 12 i gystadlu. Disgrifiodd Patrick Grant fel 'tal, tywyll a golygus', a'r ail feirniad, Esme Young, fel 'person sy'n gallu yfed pwysau ei chorff ei hun' a pherson sydd bob amser yn eich cadw chi'n chwerthin. Dywedodd Fauve fod Patrick ac Esme yn gefnogol os oeddech chi'n cael trafferth, ond nad oedd Sarah Pascoe i'w gweld yn deall y pwysau yr oeddent yn gweithio oddi tano a'u bod yn gallu bod yn niwsans.

Mae'r her patrwm i brofi sgiliau'r gwnïwyr, ac roedd y cyntaf yn y gyfres yn gofyn am wythiennau Ffrengig nad oedd Fauve erioed wedi'u gwneud o'r blaen. Wrth i'r gyfres fynd yn ei blaen, daeth y cyfarwyddiadau a ddarparwyd ar gyfer yr her patrwm yn llai a llai. Dywedodd Fauve fod y rhaglen weithiau'n gwneud camgymeriadau, fel rhoi'r sip maint anghywir iddynt ar gyfer yr her sach gefn, a'r math anghywir o nodwyddau peiriant ar gyfer ffabrigau anodd. Ym mhennod 2 fe wnaethant dorri 82 o nodwyddau peiriant wrth geisio cwblhau'r gwaith a ofynnwyd iddynt. Er gwaethaf y camgymeriadau hyn, ni roddwyd amser ychwanegol i'r cystadleuwyr. Pwysleisiodd Fauve fod y cyfyngiadau amser a'r heriau yn real.

Mynegodd Fauve ofn o’r Her Drawsnewid, lle mae’n rhaid i gystadleuwyr newid rhywbeth diangen yn ddilledyn. Gallai hyn fod yn fagiau neilon, pebyll wedi’u taflu, gorchuddion duvet, lliain bwrdd, ac ati. Roedd un o heriau cyfres 9 yn ymwneud â siacedi gwynt. Dangosodd Fauve y siaced a wnaeth hi i ni. Roedd yn edrych yn eithaf trawiadol i ni, ond yn amlwg nid oedd yn creu argraff ar Patrick ac Esme. Roedd sŵn y deunydd siacedi gwynt yn dominyddu’r ystafell wnïo, a disgrifiodd Fauve brofi math o PTSD ychydig wythnosau’n ddiweddarach mewn barbeciw gyda llawer o siacedi gwynt yn chwifio yn y gwynt!

Am yr ychydig wythnosau cyntaf roedd edafedd hongian yn dderbyniol, ac nid oedd gan du mewn y dillad fawr ddim neu ddim gorffeniad o gwbl, ond aeth pethau'n dynnach a disgwyliwyd mwy wrth i'r gyfres symud ymlaen. Trydydd her pob pennod, yr un wedi'i Gwneud yn ôl Mesur, oedd yr unig un yr oeddent yn gwybod amdani ymlaen llaw ac y gallent baratoi ar ei chyfer. Rhoddwyd cyllideb iddynt ar gyfer y ffabrig. Dangosodd Fauve ffrog i ni ar ei manequin, gan egluro ei bod wedi gwneud pedair fersiwn ohoni cyn y bennod. Dywedodd eu bod yn cael dewis eu model o restr o'r rhai oedd ar gael, a gofynnodd am fodel o faint tebyg iddi hi ei hun. Rhoddwyd model hyfryd iddi, ond roedd hi'n llawer talach, maint 6 ond yn fwy crwm ac nid oedd hi wir yn debyg i Fauve. Gallai pethau fynd yn eithaf llawn straen yn yr un wedi'i Gwneud yn ôl Mesur a dywedodd Fauve wrthym ei bod wedi gwnïo ei bys i'r dilledyn un tro wrth ychwanegu bachyn a llygad ar y funud olaf.

Dangosodd Fauve un o'i hoff eitemau a wnaed ar y sioe i ni - gŵn nos draig i blentyn. Dywedodd fod yn rhaid iddi redeg at y bwrdd ffabrig i sicrhau ei bod hi'n gallu gafael yn y ffabrig ffwr coch a gwyrdd yr oedd ei eisiau. Dim ond 15 munud y caniateir i'r cystadleuwyr fod gyda'r modelau plant: 5 munud ar y dechrau, 5 munud tua hanner ffordd drwodd, ac yna'r pum munud olaf pan fydd y dilledyn yn cael ei arddangos. Enillodd Fauve Dilledyn yr Wythnos am ei ffrog wedi'i gwneud o ledr a les. Roedd hi'n gyflwynydd bywiog a difyr a'n cadwodd yn swynol drwy gydol ei sgwrs.

Newsletter – November 2026

This month we welcome the U3A recorder group to entertain us with a variety of music and songs, from ancient to modern. The group arrangements are in four-part harmony with soprano, alto, tenor and bass recorders. After this we have a short 'add-on' presentation from Trading Standards and a local PCSO on scams and how to avoid them.

Please do visit the table covered with marvellous Christmas decorations made by our craft group. These are for sale to raise money for our charity. Remember you can also always make a donation in the pot on the refreshments table to help boost fundraising.

The next meeting will be just before Christmas (yes, Christmas already!) and there will be festive musical entertainment, mince pies and Christmas cake. Please remember that we are having our buffet as a New Year celebration at the January meeting, as we did last year, which was so successful and appreciated. Please do not bring buffet contributions to the December meeting.

May we remind members that we are in need of a new treasurer. Our WI is not allowed to continue without a treasurer and will simply be closed in May if no one comes forward to take over the role. The role could be shared and there will be full support from our current Treasurer and from WI headquarters if needed.

Groups: 

    Book Group: Wednesday 11th November / 11.00 am / La Cucina da Mara 

    Family History: 7th December / 2.00 pm / 113 Pantbach Road 

    Poetry and Prose: Monday 23rd November / 10.45 am The Ark coffee bar, Ararat
    Topic: technology

    Craft: Monday 16th November / 2 pm / 18 Heol Stradling 

    St Mary's Gardens: Tuesday 1st December / 10 – 12; working party, all welcome

    Sunday lunch group: 22nd November / 1 pm / Llanishen Golf Club

Following meeting: 

    Monday 14th December; Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm. 

    Speaker: Christmas musical entertainment from Ysgol Glantaf with mince pies and cake.