Keen competition among seamstresses? (6,5)
I believe the answer is:
needle match
'among seamstresses?' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot tell whether it can be defined by this definition.
'keen competition' is the wordplay.
'keen' becomes 'needle' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'competition' becomes 'match' (match is a kind of competition).
'needle'+'match'='NEEDLE MATCH'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for needle match that I've seen before include "local derby, perhaps" , "grudge game" .)