She teaches fashion at Central St Martin's, and declares that she learns just as much from her students as they do from her. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. I especially loved reading the sections where she said about the films she had worked on, and one of my favourites being Bridget jones Diary with that classic bunny girl outfit! She has one of those lives that just seems to natural and brilliant, she met the right people in fun places and is very humble and gorgeous.

I love the Sewing Bee and I love Esme's eagle-eyed critiques of the clothes, and the fun relationship she has with Patrick. A romp through fashion and stars from the sixties to current day Esme has met and made for the best. While he is the dapper, sartorially precise voice of the pairing, she's always had a cheeky glint in her eye, and the occasional allusions to her past career and life made me reach for this book - I listened to her read it herself via Audible. I am aware, however, that the home sewing fraternity has greatly enjoyed it, so perhaps the fault is in me!The writing is so good in the sense that you do feel she is sat right opposite you telling you her stories, and her cheeky humour really comes alive too which I love! Their clothes were out there, just at a time in the early 70s when people were looking for out there, and when punk was just around the corner (Esme and the gang were at the heart of this, and it's the bit of the book that I hoovered up, it brought so many evocative memories of myself in those days and my early attempts to create something a bit out there to wear . The style of writing was also all over the place that I started to loose interest and finally gave up.

A celebration of a creative life lived differently, Behind the Seams is a reminder that it’s never too early, or too late to pick up a needle and start stitching in a new direction. I always thought it would be brilliant to go out partying with Esme and nothing I have read has disabused me of this notion. A celebration of a creative life lived differently, Behind the Seams is a reminder that it's never too early, or too late to pick up a needle and start stitching in a new direction. I learnt a lot about pattern cutting I didn't know - in fact enough to make me not only respect the pattern cutter a great deal more, but to make me want to learn more and try to be a bit more adventurous myself. I didn't understand any of the sewing bits but then I love watching Sewing Bee because watching people being creative is really what it's all about.

In the last series in particular, there have been some tantalising hints about her previous life as a designer for the avant garde Swanky Modes, so I was really looking forward to learning more. Esme has had such a fantastic and varied life, so interesting such a very clever lady with skills you could only dream of having!

Her life is astonishing, from the radical fashions she created with Swanky Modes, to the daring decisions she made as a young girl living in London and enjoying the swinging 60s. As with most memoirs, I found the chapters about her early life slow going - these sections always take me longer to read as it’s not the part of the persons life you are familiar with but give a great insight into what makes this person who they are. Some of Esme’s stories from her childhood and particularly her own and her siblings boarding school days were hilarious.

While watching the last series of Sewing Bee I said to my parents “I wish Esme would bring a book out, she’s had an amazing life by the sounds of it! It brings back memories of wonderful, creative times in London — our friend's final fashion degree, endless parties, and unique people we met. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

Esme followed her heart and lived a rebel with a cause life, supported by so many people along the way that also shared in her enthusiasm and dreams. There was little emotion - the struggles were glossed over, so we didn't get to see the pain, which made the triumphs less triumphant. Esme Young is a fashion designer and a judge on the much-loved tv series The Great British Sewing Bee . What a character, the people she has worked with in the fashion and film industry was mind blowing, as well as partying with so many celebrities. Her whole life has revolved around fashion and creativity and her enthusiasm for her subject leaps out of her autobiography.

Personally, I think that the true essence of a person is one who has made relationships and continued those relationships for years. She's honest and warm-hearted, she's highly individual - has been all her life, has stuck to it too - and as such my admiration for her rocketed. Esme is over 70 now and has lived a fascinating and creative life, there’s just not enough pages for her to go into great depth but gives you just enough. She's good at recognising the contribution of others to her success - not always the case in autobiographies - and it's a book I'd enjoy reading again. I love how Esme talks about Swanky Modes, a London collective in the '70s, and the key times when these four women worked together for the love of fashion and clothes, managing families and other commitments.