Entertainment
‘The Great British Sewing Bee’ Star Handmade Her Wedding Dress in Just 8 Weeks
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NEED TO KNOW
- The Great British Sewing Bee star Suzy Sankey revealed that she hand-sewed her wedding dress, took about eight weeks to make
- She had a few challenges in making the dress, including figuring out the right bodice design and sewing the skirt just right
- She also sewed eight bridemaids’ dresses, her mother’s dress and flower girl’s dresses for her wedding
The Great British Sewing Bee star Suzy Sankey made sure she had a one-of-a-kind wedding dress.
The 2024 semi-finalist shared with Cosmopolitan UK that she knew from the start of wedding planning with her partner Christian that she wanted to make her own wedding dress to reflect who she was as a person.
“I had originally planned on wearing fuchsia pink as a plain white dress didn’t feel very me, but I ended up finding my wedding dress fabric in a charity shop,” she shared to the outlet, adding that she only got the fabric for only £13.50 ($18).
On Instagram, she noted that the fabric she found ended up being the perfect fit as it incorporated all the things she loved, including her “favorite color, polka dots” and even her “favorite print.”
Suzy Sankey/Instagram
“Anyone who knows me will agree it is 1000000% the perfect fabric and NOTHING else could possibly ever have been right,” she shared alongside a video showing off the dress.
Once she had the perfect fabric, it was time to construct the dress. She managed to complete it in eight weeks, but it didn’t come without its challenges.
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Suzy Sankey/Instagram
Sankey said she tried “tons of different bodice designs” in order to get the shape right for the “drop waist and strapless boned corset” she wanted for the dress. She ended up reaching out to Ralph Pink Patterns for help on how to draft “a corset pattern.”
The next thing to work on was the skirt, which she said she initially thought would turn out “fine,” but ended up being “horrific.” She noted that she eventually made “a new pattern, re-fitting the existing pieces together like a jigsaw,” but ended up making a big mistake.
“I ended up cutting out two left sides rather than a right and left side – the exact same mistake I made on The Great British Sewing Bee,” she recalled to Cosmopolitan UK. “That was the only time I broke down and cried during the stressful eight-week sewing process.”
Luckily, she said she was able to “fix it” just in time for the big day. She proudly showed off the dress on Instagram along with its detailing, which included the bodice and the tulle skirt which ended just short of her ankles. She completed the look with second-hand Stella McCartney Elyse platform shoes and a vintage Jimmy Choo bag.
“I felt the most beautiful I’ve ever felt in my life on my wedding day. I think I’d have felt amazing no matter how it came out, knowing how much effort I put into it,” she said. “I was so proud of myself, and I felt super high fashion, which is what I wanted.”
That wasn’t her only accomplishment, as she also sewed her veil and garter and even “made a second evening dress for myself along with 97 napkins.” On top of that, she sewed together her mom’s dress — which featured a colorful bird print — and then “eight bridesmaids’ dresses “ plus two flower girl outfits — which all featured a polka-dot print.
Suzy Sankey/Instagram
“Believe it or not, I enjoyed every second of sewing,” Sankey said. “It was not easy and I was tired throughout as I was working [my day job] too, but going home in the evening and sitting at my sewing machine is my way of relaxing.”
She added: “My advice for brides wanting to make their own dress or have a custom wedding dress would be to think about how you want to feel wearing your dress… Your wedding dress doesn’t have to be completely different or unique from anything you’ve ever worn, just because it’s your wedding dress.”
Entertainment
Vans Warped Tour Montreal 2026: Everything you missed
The Vans Warped Tour continued its 2026 run this weekend in Montreal with legendary acts like A Day To Remember, All Time Low, Yellowcard, and more. With fans from all over flocking north of the border to catch their favorite pop punk, emo, and hardcore acts, the weekend was nonstop music and action. Ahead, see what you missed from the tour’s latest stop in La Métropole – and what you can look forward to at the remaining Warped Tour stops this year.
Entertainment
Melissa Gilbert advocates for young stars to be protected after Hayden Panettiere’s death

Melissa Gilbert fiercely advocated for child stars to be protected after Hayden Panettiere tragically died last week
“Within one year, Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and Hayden Panettiere have died,” the “Little House on the Prairie” alum wrote via a Substack essay titled “Enough Is Enough.”
“Three former female child actors of the same generation are gone. Tragically, heartbreakingly, agonizingly too soon,” she continued.
“They are gone and the question I have been turning over and over in my head is, ‘WHY?’ Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?”
The producer, 62, admitted that though she didn’t know Panettiere personally, she briefly worked with both Trachtenberg and Chase.
Trachtenberg died at age 39 in February 2025 from complications of diabetes mellitus, while Chase died on June 16 at the age of 36 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
As for Panettiere, she was found dead on Aug. 16 at a Greenville, South Carolina, Airbnb she was staying at with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. She was 36.
Gilbert said she takes the deaths personally because it feels like she “was them.” She then listed several other former child stars, including Brooke Shields, Dakota Fanning, Ellie Fanning and Drew Barrymore “to name a few.”
“We are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current,” she penned. “When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong.”
The former “When Calls the Heart” actress explained how she and former child stars “know the stories of how the entertainment industry uses, abuses, exploits and then throws away its youngest.”
“But for some reason, this trend is getting worse,” she added. “My thinking is that it is tied to the invention of the mobile phone.”
Gilbert argued that actors suffer from a lack of privacy while out in public and in the media, posing the question, “How do we fix or end this before someone else dies?”
She also got candid about growing up in the entertainment industry and on the “Little House on the Prairie,” writing, “I can’t tell you how many times I worked while horribly sick, injured or worse.”
The “When We Last Spoke” star explained how her father died when she was 11 years old and how she returned to work “within months.”
“And not one single adult on that set discussed it with me or offered condolences,” Gilbert, who portrayed Laura Ingalls on the beloved western series, added. “I later found out that the fear was I would become too upset to work. I was eleven, my Daddy had just died and I was shattered.”
“Thank God my character cried in every single episode. That, as twisted as it sounds, was my therapy. My release.”
Gilbert suggested that all former child stars should come together to “enact real, substantive change,” explaining that free mental health resources for actors should be a top priority.
She concluded her emotional essay, sharing that she has “an image” of Panettiere’s 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, growing up without her mom.
The pre-teen has grown up in Ukraine with her father, Wladimir Klitschko, after the late actress gave up custody in 2018 due to her ongoing battle with postpartum depression and addiction. However, Panettiere maintained a strong bond with Kaya and often visited with her.
“And now I am weeping as I type this and I just want to scream from the rooftops,” Gilbert signed off, adding, “ENOUGH!”
Gilbert’s passionate essay came after her husband, Timothy Busfield, 69, was charged in a child sex abuse case back in June.
On Jan. 13, the “West Wing” actor was arrested on charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor and child from incidents with two twin boy child stars dating back to 2022.
Busfield denied the allegations against him, telling police at the time of his arrest that it was “highly likely that he would have” had contact with the two victims, who were 7 years old at the time.
Gilbert has stood by the “Thirtysomething” star’s side, with her rep previously telling Page Six, “Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.”
She also claimed that Busfield was “the last person in the world who would hurt a child,” telling “Good Morning America” in April that she was “100% confident” he would be exonerated.
Busfield will go to trial in May 2027.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Entertainment
‘DWTS’ alum Peta Murgatroyd reveals how family’s adjusting after move to Florida

Peta Murgatroyd revealed she and her family — including husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy — are enjoying a “great lifestyle” in Florida after moving from Los Angeles.
“We’ve always loved Florida, we’ve always loved the lifestyle here,” the “Dancing With the Stars” alum said in a since-expired Instagram Stories upload on Friday, per Us Weekly.
“We fell in love with Boca because it, kind of, has everything, the best of everything,” the pro dancer, 40, said, sharing that they’re “really close to Miami” and “have the beach” nearby.
Murgatroyd, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, also cited “really top-rated schools” and “amazing sports” for their sons — Shai, 9, Rio, 3, and Milan, 2.
The two-time Mirrorball champ admitted that she thought she “would have a bigger problem” with the heat and shared that people told her, “You’re gonna come back to Cali.”
Still, she’s happy with the cross-country move, noting, “Cali will always be a home of ours because we lived there for 20 years but, right now, I think this is what our fam needs and we are loving every second.”
“It’s the best,” she divulged.
Murgatroyd also gushed over the “very sweet, very nice, very accommodating” neighbors she’s encountered, claiming “this never happened over there” in LA and that the Florida “mothers are all really nice.”
“I wanted Shai to have the childhood that I had and I can see it happening. He has playdates, he has boys knocking on our door, saying ‘Hey come play, let’s go ride our bikes,’” she said. “It’s the best thing for me, and it’s all I want. I’m so happy.”
Not only that, but she noted the convenience of having nearby friends for her children and “a CVS or Walgreens on every corner,” saying, “I love it; I feel like at this stage of my life with three boys, I’m about convenience.”
Murgatroyd and Chmerkovskiy, 46, detailed their move in an emotional YouTube video in June, saying at the time that it was “the best decision” for their young family.
“There are tears you don’t expect, goodbyes that hit harder than you imagined, and moments where you wonder if you’re making the right decision,” she wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “But sometimes you have to leave what’s comfortable to find what’s meant for you.”
In a separate Instagram post, Murgatroyd reflected on the “fun ride” of living in LA in their $18K-a-month home but said “we have to move on to new things, new life and new adventures, and make new memories.
The “DWTS” couple married in July 2017 and have since moved on from the long-running competition show.
Murgatroyd last competed on Season 32 in 2023 and Chmerkovskiy — a one-time winner — last competed on Season 25 in 2017.
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