Sewing Bee 2024

Someone could have made a perfectly executed jacket in that poo brown, @ThreeWordHarpy and then Esme would have marked it down precisely because it was brown.

I think I might be in the same online group @ThreeWordHarpy !

Having sewn for years I still make the odd poor fabric choice tbh. It's like there's a little demon in my head saying that one's lovely even though deep down I know it won't work so well for the pattern I am making. I really should know better and sometimes I end up deconstructing the garment half way through whilst saying "told you so" to myself 😂.

I think the programme needs to go back to its roots with the second challenge "making something wearable from used clothing". So far, "usable, practical and wearable" do not feature much at all

I think this is down to Esme, @ItWasnaMeGuv . Her and her edgy, punk designer stuff - she doesn't give a stuff if you can actually wear anything so long as it fits her aesthetic. Look at that perfectly wearable calico and madras outfit with the pleats rather than the scrappy daft thing she picked.

The first judge was May Martin, who teaches home sewing (like Mary Berry with teaching home baking). Patrick was the High Street professional (like Paul Hollywood before he disappeared up his own fundament). May's interest was in what was made and how practical it was, not whose unwearable nonsense would work on a St Martins student catwalk.

I like Esme and find her a fascinating person, but she doesn't care if something actually functions as a garment, and that is very frustrating as a viewer.

Chinela was the most fun to watch as a sewer of all the competitors they've had, and lovely deaf Lynda - with her sign for Patrick that I use to this day - was one of my favourite personalities. Series 2 was such a great series.

"O" level needleworker here (shows my age), whose DM used to saunter off to do residential tailoring courses with the WI. I used to make a lot of my clothes/soft furnishings (less so now), but I am sure that I would panic in front of a camera. I faff about far too much.

In our house, "Sewing Bee" and "Bake off Professionals" take over from "Interior Design Masters" and "Pottery Throwdown" and "Race Across the World" in the summer months. These are some of the few programmes we record/seek out to watch as a family. Design Masters seems to attract some characters we don't care for, but we sit their rooting for contestants to succeed.

An extra hour or two would make a massive difference. I suppose it is a bit different with pottery, but it would be good to have the programme include a demo of a particular technique that contestants then had to duplicate.

I live in a small city and would observe that the staff doing alterations/tailoring tend to be Iranian/Asian/East European.

Not only is this thread on Mumsnet, it is in FWR. The BBC staff would all state they had suffered literal violence and go off sick for 12 months if expected to read a thread here.

If its supposed to be a competition based on a skill, then that skill should be possessed by all competitors.

Can someone link this thread to the bloody BBC??

No-one is asking for 12 white home counties types to be selected, (who may not be the best sewers) but surely an above average standard is necessary to make the competition worth watching?

Well, just look at Sky Portrait/Landscape Artist of the Year. The contestants come from a huge range of backgrounds, some professional artists and some amateurs. They’re all good artists (though I’m increasingly quibbling with the final choices of the judges, but that’s another issue). It’s very, very popular and rightly so.

A little while after that started to be a clear success, the BBC began on a rival painting contest show. Some were good but many of the contestants were, I’m sorry to say, embarrassingly bad and, at best, middling amateur level. They had two mentor/coach-types and then their efforts were utterly torn apart by two judges, and just to put the boot in further they had a vote from members of the public! it was a mess imho and I couldn’t see the point in watching something that seemed to be about delighting in people struggling, getting increasingly inhibited, and being criticised.

I like to see people who can do things well competing against each other. I don’t care if they’re above my own level and some TV exec doesn’t think it’s ‘relatable’.

I loved the age cover of the first few series. Ann, who won series 1, was well into her 80s, and one of the other finalists, Lauren, was in her 20s. I loved that. And yes, the army officer was great too, although I didn't like his style. His wife did though, and he sewed for her. I dislike the middle challenge intensely now. First middle challenge was to customise a grey skirt. They all got the same skirt and access to the haberdashery. That's what people do in real life. We don't make ponchos from paddling pools.

@ReadySteadySew Like you I will watch regardless. I agree the time pressure and sometimes daft challenges are necessary for cliffhanger excitement. No-one is asking for 12 white home counties types to be selected, (who may not be the best sewers) but surely an above average standard is necessary to make the competition worth watching? They could then select a good mix of applicants from differing backgrounds for the human interest angle. As they did in the first few seasons.

I also liked the Army officer except for his truly awful 'skank' trousers. That was true diversity, not a gay man making drag outfits. Have there been any lesbians on the show making lovely clothes for their partners?

It's the same with the time limits. A true sewing or baking fan would rather watch them have enough time to do a great job. But the jeopardy of a tight time limit is absolutely standard for any kind of creative challenge on TV. We have 3 days to transform this garden....totally arbitrary, but it draws in a wider audience.

It doesn't have to be like that though. Bake Off wasn't to start with, it was a gentle baking show where the first challenge was to make a Victoria sponge. And that was it - plenty of time, no "Sculpt a face out of it" or whatever. It became successful because of that, not despite it.

The producers were always trying to film people crying etc - Sue Perkins said in her autobiography that she or Mel would stand in front of the cameras and swear profusely to stop the footage being usable. Bake Off was already losing its edge on the BBC - the last good year was the one in which Nadiya won, after that it was all "kerrrazey" challenges and ridiculous time scales - but the move to C4 and different presenters killed it off completely. And it was the endless desire for "water-cooler drama" that did it.

I'm going to be really sad if Sewing Bee goes the same way. Why isn't it enough for something/someone just to be quietly good?

You're a peach, thank you

What's frustrating is that, as regards race or ethnicity, sewing really is genuinely diverse, as a trip to my local market stall would confirm. And yet those women, who I see scrutinising the fabric and haggling with the stall holder in two languages, would never be selected in a million years. I don't think the BBC could handle them. They possibly don't even even know how to find them.

@CocoapuffPuff it's clare.bradders. I also follow abbymats, she doesn't post that often but her skills are awesome.

I'm the same re proper sewing. Full disclosure - I studied fashion and focused on traditional couture techniques, so the slapdash format of the show really gets on my nerves, despite knowing they're doing the best they can in the time. I'm still in the couture world professionally so really, the show isn't for me. But when a talent like Claire comes along, the joy!!

Thank you!!!

Can you share her Instagram handle please?

It was Claire. I follow her on Instagram, and her skills are amazing. She limits herself to buying the equivalent in fabric of wartime clothing coupons allowance, so she's often making over or mending her clothes, and she puts so much time and care into her makes. I follow a few people who use couture methods, working slowly and carefully to make absolutely beautiful garments. I find that much more inspiring than someone with a drag queen persona producing a nasty 'edgy' garment in a couple of hours.

The last skilled, truly truly skilled person in my opinion, was the 40s loving doctor from a few years ago. Her skills came from working with vintage sewing patterns - few to no instructions and complex construction methods based on traditional sewing and tailoring. Wish I could remember her name.

Understandable as you clearly love the shows. I like the concept, but find the execution lacking now, although it was much more interesting years ago.
Maybe there just aren't enough decent home sewers left who are willing to put themselves in front of cameras. So maybe that leaves us with Inexperienced or adequate or even mediocre sewers with big personalities who tick particular diversity boxes, who can handle the pressure. It's a pretty small pool. I think they're well into the shallow end now, and have been for a few years.

Ha ha, sorry. Obviously I'm a bit over invested.

Well, that's us telt

We watched episode 5 last night and I came to the thread hoping for discussion about the last minute fabric change for the Nehru jacket. Surely choosing a fabric, then deciding someone else has chosen a better one, is very poor Sewing Bee etiquette? I thought it was a sign of Georgie really losing her nerve. But also, as the judges pointed out, a dangerous strategy, as it leads to direct comparison. So it was only karma when the original was so much better than the copy.

It's a shame the diversity casting is apparently getting in the way of many of you enjoying the show, but honestly, it's been that way since the very first episode of the Bake Off and is absolutely standard for this kind of show. If you want pure sewing (or baking) content, there is plenty of it on YouTube. If you want a rigorous baking or sewing competition, go to your local county show. There is a format for these programmes that is designed to make engaging TV, and expecting them to change it now is just wanting a different kind of programme really.

I am a white, middle aged, middle class woman who has twice got very close to getting on Bake Off. I know I'm a better baker than some who get on the show. But actually, my demographic was raised to sew and bake, and has always had the opportunity to do it. It's fair enough to give people from different demographics a chance, and it would be very dull if it was just 12 white women fighting it out for the prize.

It's the same with the time limits. A true sewing or baking fan would rather watch them have enough time to do a great job. But the jeopardy of a tight time limit is absolutely standard for any kind of creative challenge on TV. We have 3 days to transform this garden....totally arbitrary, but it draws in a wider audience.

Also, be careful assuming you or your talented sewing friend would do better. It's very different doing it under time pressures and in front of a camera. The whole thing is as much a test of character and stamina as of skills.

But I have been absolutely hooked since the very first days of Bake Off and will happily watch the same formula whether it's cakes, sewing, wood, pottery or even dolls houses!