Wigan seamstress 'incredibly overwhelmed' as she competes in BBC1's The Great British Sewing Bee

Suzy Sankey is among the amateur sewers hoping to impress judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young and bidding to be crowned Britain’s most sensational seamster.

The first two episodes of the 10th series have already been broadcast and saw the contestants make clothes inspired by holidays and then sports.

Suzy got off to a flying start, with one of her creations proving to be a winner in the first episode.

The 29-year-old was brought up in Wigan with her two older brothers, before moving to Liverpool to go to university.

She now works as a waitress and is engaged to Christian, who proposed to her in a fabric shop, surprising her with a large piece of material featuring: “Suzy Sankey, will you marry me?”.

She is a self-taught sewer and likes to use upcycled, repurposed and deadstock fabrics for her designs.

Suzy already has the support of staff and pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School in Springfield, after she visited last term to talk about sustainability and demonstrated using old materials, such as curtains and blankets, to make unique clothing. Her brother is a year three teacher at the school.

After the first episode aired on BBC1, she posted on Instagram: “Had the most wonderful night watching week one of @britishsewingbee with my fave people (missing a few of course).

"So much went into making that episode and I’m glad you got to see the incredibly talented sewers I now call my friends. I think you can see from the episode just how much the craft really means to us all, so I’m so glad we get to share it with you.

"I’m feeling incredibly overwhelmed, lucky, loved and proud today and am so grateful for all the love. I never imagined I’d ever get on the show, never mind to achieve what I did last night, so at the end of week one I was feeling prouder of myself than ever.”

The Great British Sewing Bee is aired at 9pm on Tuesdays on BBC1 and is also available on BBC iPlayer.