The Great British Sewing Bee

Amateur sewers compete and watch. Great to see skills improvement over the weeks but some episodes would benefit to a change in format where competitors and viewers get a masterclass in a particular technique which can then be used going forward.. cutting a difficult pattern, making a toile, draping, fitting. That would help competitors progress and provide inspiration for viewers. Previous competitors had some very skilled sewers but this group very different so lessons would have helped all to unskilled in this series and going forward. Of benefit to basic sewers in the audience this time round too.

GBSB is just a lovely piece of tele and a panacea to many of the over-hyped competition shows that have multiplied in recent years. It borrows from the Bake Off format with a couple of challenges on day one (broken up by a nice bit of morning tea in the local caf) and a major challenge on day two. A small starting group is whittled down week by week across eight episodes by judges whose sewing expertise is matched by their delightful oh-so-British eccentricity. The contestant's backstories are light-touch, and largely without drama. Most importantly, the contestants are delightful, kind, considerate, polite and humble. There aren't any villains and the products of their sewing remain in focus the whole time. Wholesome, restful, entertaining tv without any octane, and that's ok.

This is probably my favorite reality/competition show ever. I've watched every episode more than once if I could find it here in the USA. My great disappointment is that it was not sold to Netflix or run on my local PBS station. The best thing this show did was make sewing fun. The contestants were so passionate about their hobby that I was always encouraged to go make something. Such a shame that the production company dropped the marketing ball on this one.

I love Sewing Bee, and I think the new series is excellent. Joe Lycett does a great job bringing humour and Esme and Patrick are fabulous. The competition is very friendly which is nice, though I wish there was a proper prize at the end really. Very informative, I like the fashion history as well.

At my secondary school, "D&T" (Design & Technology) was a required subject in the pre-GCSE years. Among other tasks, we had to attempt to learn how to use a sewing machine. I was rubbish at it, embarrassingly so. Luckily for me, I'm also part of a generation that relies on fast fashion, so I've never really *needed* sewing as a skill. However, I have a lot of admiration for people who make their own clothes. And I enjoy Glow Up, another BBC series with a similar format to this show - pitting aspiring 'MUAs' against one another with surprisingly backstabbing or negativity from its bright-eyed young talents. So, I gave The Great British Sewing Bee a try. I'm so glad I did! It's a relaxing, low-drama reality competition series where the contestants are united by a real passion for sewing. Reality telly has a reputation for encouraging fakery and conflict for the sake of conflict. The producers of this series seem to understand that the genre can be entertaining even without endless amounts of lip filler and scripted arguments. There's a time and place for trash but sometimes you just want to watch a group of slightly eccentric people from around the UK get excited about well-executed skirt linings or whatever.

Another thing I like about the show it is that, like you might expect, there's substantially more age diversity here than in a lot of reality competition shows. Season One includes a gran in her 80s and it's nice to see her compete with people who are much younger - hopefully it'll challenge some prejudices!