Asmaa Al-Allak

Asmaa Al-Allak lives in Cardiff with her husband and two children, where she is a Consultant Breast Surgeon at a Cancer Centre. She is also the winner of The Great British Sewing Bee 2023

 

Asmaa was born in Iraq where she learnt her love of sewing and during the Iraq and Iran War she would spend her time watching and learning from her grandmother who was a seamstress.   Asmaa would hand sew the most fabulous wardrobe for her dolls using any scraps and remnants she could find.  After finally escaping Iraq, age 14, she and her family moved to Durham where her father was working as a scientist.  At 18, she moved to Cardiff to study medicine.

 

Her wardrobe is mostly self-made as she likes to create brightly coloured modest clothing. She also specialises in making underwear, creating lingerie sets to coordinate with her outfits and has been known to have made post-op bras for her breast cancer patients.  Something that she intends to do more of. Her style is feminine, modest, and classic.   

 

On winning Sewing Bee, she said :-

 

‘Work have been amazing and incredibly supportive.  My patients have all been watching it too, so that’s been lovely. One lady who I treated last year sent me a gift - her husband does woodwork and he made me my own unpicker.  I thought that was amazing; incredibly sweet, and thoughtful.

 

My grandmother was a seamstress who taught my mother, who then taught me.  I think this confirms it is in the blood. The only thing that has really kept me going and kept me balanced in life and especially in the last few years has been sewing – it’s my escape and my way to forget about all the troubles in the world and at work - I don’t think I will ever stop.’