Business is buzzing as sewing Bee meets Sewing Bee
From one "sewing bee" to another.... Bee Murton, the Black Country lottery winner who used her winnings to set up a textiles business, met up with a finalist from the Great British Sewing Bee television series a year after her win.
Bee, from Bilston, who scooped £300,000 on a National Lottery scratchcard, dropped in on Lauren Guthrie at her haberdashery and dressmaking shop in Birmingham.
The anniversary coincided with the final of this year's Great British Sewing Bee, which saw Annie Phillips emerge victorious.
Bee, 32, said the win had changed her life, enabling her to set up her embroidery business Bee's Bespok' Creations and renovate her house, although she continues to work as a community carer.
Bee said she had long enjoyed arts and crafts, and making clothes for herself and her son, and her first purchase after winning was an embroidery machine.
Her business, set up at the start of the year, now produces everything from pram blankets to hair bows.
She also bought a static caravan near Malvern, and is learning to drive.
Bee met Lauren, who reached last year's final, at her shop Guthrie and Ghani in Moseley. Bee said she hoped to learn from Lauren by following her example.
“Meeting a real-life ‘sewing bee’ was brilliant," said Bee.
"Lauren’s shop is full of beautiful fabrics and materials that have given me so many ideas. Chatting with her was inspirational. Learning her story, physiotherapist turned dressmaker and now a successful businesswoman and author, just shows that you can follow your dreams. The win has given me the opportunity to do the same.”
Bee has no plans to give up her job as a carer, visiting the elderly in their own homes – although she hopes that learning to drive will make the work easier.
“It is such a fulfilling job, even more so in the pandemic," she said.
"To see the smiles on peoples’ faces when you visit them is very rewarding, it feels great to be doing a job that helps people."
Bee bought her scratchcard from the One Stop Shop in Bridge Street, Bilston, after going out to get a fizzy drink.
"I saw The National Lottery scratchcards at the till and thought I’d have a go," she said.
"I picked a couple and, on the walk, home I started to scratch them.
“I won a fiver on the first Scratchcard so I was pretty pleased. I was just about to walk through the front door, having scratched the second one, when it all went a bit crazy.
"I couldn’t believe what I was staring at and started to shake. After many checks and double-checks, I just started to cry."
