Great British Sewing Bee 2020

[LIZS]

Returns Bbc1 22nd April 9pm

Interesting article about Patrick and what he's up to in the "Weekend" supplement in today's Times - with the caption "I haven't hugged anyone in months".

And a splendid photo of him looking casually ravishing.

Oh!

Is there no Mrs Patrick?

(Asking for a friend )

No Mrs Patrick. He split from a fairly long term relationship in 2016. He's rather twinkly isn't he?

I just find him 'dashing'. I think I can sound old fashioned saying that, but it sums him up!

He would make a good James Bond.

I must be hormonal I watched and found him quite lovely but in a wound like to take tea with him way. A couple of those models though...

"Dashing" is exactly the word Rousette.

And he is very"twinkly" iklboo.

(Mr Schaden is twinkly. It was one of the things that melted my defences. He remains twinkly 40-odd years later.)

Oh twinkly is lovely. Especially the eyes. I had a boyfriend pre Mr. Rou and he had the most amazing twinkly green eyes.

Sigh.

I think it’s unfortunate that the sewers have been ‘cast’ in a similar way they now do with the Bake Off.
I would love to know more about the initial application process for something which has always been a traditional female skill but now seems to be dominated by gay men.
I agree with a PP who wanted to see more practical sewing, household items for instance, included along with the ‘fashion’. Again, the Transformation task is my least favourite element as it so rarely produces anything wearable. That awful thing which won the first place in Ep 1 is a case in point, it just looked like he threw a bunch of fabric at the mannequin.
Not a Joe Lycett fan, nor a fan of his sleazy innuendoes. Still think someone like Liza Tarbuck would have been perfect on this show, or the Bake Off, but she is a woman of a certain age, isn’t she, and that wouldn’t do!

Sewing is definitely not dominated by gay men. I'm on a few sewing forums and whilst there are men present they are definitely in the minority, less than 5% at a guess.

The young balldancer would never have got into sewing bee had he been a girl. It is supposed to be a competition to find the best amateur sewer, and he a very long way from that.

All these shows have a demographic tick list. Especially the BBC output. This years Sewing Bee does have a lot of gay men, disproportionately so to the point it jumps out at you, and one of the guys has the BBC's favourite topic of the moment, drag as a back story (he designs drag costumes for his partner), so bet they were champing at the bit to sign them up. Some of them are talented for sure, but them being gay was a boon for the BBC. A lot of TV production people are gay so they will be influencing the direction of travel too.

My favourite sewers are the woman from Trinidad, and the guy inspired by Vivienne Westward. The guy from the bank who won star sewer last week is also very good.

I suppose the BBC is all about inclusivity but they overdo it so that it looks contrived, and is not representative of the best sewers in the land, it just means they were good and had the bonus of fitting in a box that the the tv programmers want filled.

I expect I will get jump on for this post. I don't have any negative feelings about being gay or from a background completely different from mine, diversity brings a good dimension to the programmes. But when it is done disproportionately, like this year's Bee, it does rather belie the premise of the programme which is to find the best sewer in the land.

There's always a retired primary school teacher - maybe I should apply . Actually I have no desire to be on TV.

It's not about being the best sewer, it's about being the best sewer with a great TV personality. They don't want dull, shy sewers, they want the ones who will show character onscreen and give good entertainment.

I like the transformation challenge because it shows that you can recycle an item into something else. You won't want to make the "thrown at the mannequin" dress but it might make you think "Yes, actually I could make a dress off of that old shirt". I also like that it shows their creativity - most competent sewers can make something up from a pattern but it takes different skills to make something out of another item.

Can't wait for kids fancy dress tonight!

Sarcelle, I was trying to (clumsily) say exactly what you have much more eloquently written!

The disproportionate casting of gay men in this show is jarring, especially if it is at the expense of, say, middle aged women with skills far in excess of those we have seen so far. Heaven forbid the BBC accurately represents the Sewing demographic!
As a feminist I dislike ‘drag’ and I’m just waiting for the producers to shoehorn in a Sewing challenge based around it.

Agree with Starks about the drag issue and I fear you may be right....although I very much hope not. If that makes sense.

I find the recycling/upcycling a bit sad they don't seem to have outrageous imagination and so much more could be done for it to be wearable

I haven't watched last weeks as DD has been too busy so I am sitting down with some lace to sew on to my bustle skirt made from a curtain (with a bit of company) to see how it went

My friend got into the final auditions last year and said there was only 1 guy in her group of 12 and he got on the show. Can't remember who but he went pretty early doors so can't have been great.

Apparently though filming schedule is really shit. They make out its done on the weekends but actually they want you to film loads of days on the trot so she was looking at having to use all her annual leave depending on how long she was there for. I guess it makes sense for the tv crew but that probably skews the demographics quite a lot too.

My grandson applied for junior bake off last year and got to the second stage. He is a brilliant Baker (better than most of those who got in in my unbiased opinion) but not chatty or quirky enough. He was fine about it and understood they are making a TV programme that had to be entertaining. He was a bit miffed when he saw some of the atrocities they baked though.

Second stage of interviews that is.

I know a friend of a friend who applied and from what I can remember she was ditched fairly early on. There were lots of questions about techniques all of which she knew and (I think) long before she got to sew anything she was got rid of. They said she was too good, she is exceptionally good in her technical knowledge and experience. Has made everything from weddings dresses to bags etc

I've always said that if I go to audition I'm going to get chickens and goats and go hula dancing on Thursdays. Seems to be about the standard of extra curricular you need on these shows.

I thought you were making cat costumes, Katymac 😂😂