Serena Baker had a busy 2021 – juggling the ongoing challenge of the MBChB programme, while also emerging as the winner of the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee.
How did you first develop an interest in sewing?
I started sewing when I was 15 years old. One summer I fancied trying out new hobbies, so I used my mum’s old sewing machine to make a dress and it just grew from there. As soon as I tried sewing, I knew that it would be my passion.
I found it was the perfect combination of testing yourself with new skills, escapism, and satisfaction from being able to create your own beautiful clothes that fit you correctly. I was also interested in learning sewing because it allowed me to be more individual, alter clothes to fit better and upcycle second-hand ones.
How did you juggle your participation in the Great Sewing Bee with your commitment to the MBChB programme?
To be frank, it was incredibly stressful. I basically missed eight weeks of placement and online teaching at the start of Year 4 and had to catch up with it all when I got home from filming.
I think the fact we were in lockdown/heavy restrictions for much of that year helped me be able to catch back up, since it’s not like I had anywhere else to go.
And even though I almost had a breakdown when I got home and realised just how much ortho content I missed and would have to spend my winter evenings learning, it was completely worth it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
How did you cope with the stress of the show?
Being filmed was very difficult to adjust to. Usually when I sew, I’m doing it alone in my room listening to music or watching Netflix in the background. Suddenly doing it in front of a room of people with cameras in my face and having to answer questions was peculiar. The whole situation is very pressurised and quite distracting. In terms of competition, there wasn’t a competitive spirit between the 12 contestants, everyone was kind and helpful to each other. This helped with the stress and pressure of filming as we were in it together and helped to try and keep each other calm, although it didn’t work most of the time.
Thinking up new ideas under pressure was very tricky! Designing garments is an area I personally developed most during the 10 weeks of the show. Towards the end of the show, I developed more of a personal style that I think make me more unique but was really difficult. Forcing yourself to be creative under time pressure is stressful, especially when you know it needs to be good enough to be judged for television.
What are your best memories of the experience?
Meeting an amazing group of friends that I will have for life. Sewing is not a common hobby for people, so it was lovely to be able to talk about my passion with other people who understand it and love it as much as I do. We have all bonded through this shared experience that is often quite hard to explain.
We all met up this summer for a lovely weekend and will hopefully continue seeing each other for a really long time!
What do you think about sewing/crafts for improving wellbeing?
Crafting and sewing have done wonders for my mental health during university. As someone who overthinks very easily, sewing gives me time to decompress and think about something completely different. I have also made some amazing friends through the crafting society, so would definitely recommend finding people to share crafting with!
Apart from the first year, I have always been very fortunate to have the space to sew while at medical school and have slowly become used to fitting it alongside my studies. When I am too busy to sew, I still try to do aspects of sewing other than physically sitting at my machine, such as researching and planning projects, which can be done away from home or during a short break. I often need to prioritise tasks and save sewing for the evening when I’ve finished studying. Strangely, I am often most creative during exam season, either because I am procrastinating or because I need even more of an outlet because of the exam stress. If I don’t have this creative outlet I become more and more stressed.
What’s next for you? Has winning the Great Sewing Bee and the attention it has brought you had an influence on your plans for a future career?
Winning the Great British Sewing Bee has made me think a lot about my future career. After the high of filming the final calmed down, and I experienced more placements, I settled on the decision to still do medicine as my main career. I do really love medicine and believe it will be a fulfilling career, although I don’t think I’ll ever be one of those doctors for whom medicine is their life, I will always need time in my life to enjoy hobbies outside of medicine – including sewing.
I also decided that sewing was best kept as a hobby/passion/side-hustle for now, as I don’t want the magic of it to be ruined by monetising it. Sewing has always been something I do to escape, and I think that adding money and pressure into in could ruin the enjoyment of sewing. Plus, I got a taste of sewing under pressure on the show and that was quite enough.
I have a very exciting project lined up that I can’t quite announce yet. I should be able to soon – keep your eyes peeled! In general, the next few years will be busy with finals and foundation years, but I am hoping that after that I can choose a job that gives me a bit more freedom to explore sewing again. I am not quite sure what that looks like yet, partly because I am not sure what area of medicine I want to work in. I’m not stressing about it, sewing and creating will always there for me and are something I need to prioritise. But for now, I need to focus on graduating with a medical degree!
