Sewing Bee winner Charlotte Newland gets a bumblebee tattoo to celebrate

Sewing Bee Charlotte
(Image credit: BBC/Love Productions/Charlotte M)

Sewing Bee winner Charlotte Newland has celebrated her success with a permanent tribute to the BBC2 show – a bumblebee tattoo!

The Great British Sewing Bee winner Charlotte Newland has celebrated her success with a permanent tribute to the BBC2 show – a bumblebee tattoo!

“I’ve had a two-inch bumblebee holding a needle tattooed on my left arm,” the mum-of-three tells TV Times proudly. "It’s something for me, to mark the experience. It’s a bit like when Olympic athletes have the Olympic rings tattooed on their body – except I haven’t had to exercise!"

Charlotte clinched Britain’s best amateur sewer title in a nail-biting final on Monday night that saw her and fellow finalists Joyce Bellingham and Jade Earley tackling eveningwear.

The 43-year-old, a medical research journal editor from north London, says her victory on the Claudia Winkleman-hosted series still seems 'surreal'.

“I won and then couldn’t tell anyone – not even my mum. My kids made me apply and I was overwhelmed to even make the chosen final 10. I never dreamed I’d actually win!”

Charlotte now has big plans for the future after her Sewing Bee win… “I’d love a sewing career on the TV,” she said.

“I plan to teach dressmaking and show women that you don’t need to visit shops and feel there’s something wrong with your body. Bought clothes only fit imaginary figures that don’t exist – I want to teach people that you can adapt patterns to fit your shape. Dressmaking’s empowering in that way.”

 

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.


Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 


David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.


Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!