Sewing Bee is back

[Cocolapew]

Wednesday 24th May at 9pm 🥳

The thing is that the diverse group of people is also getting predictable.

You usually have a two "quirky" young women with either brightly coloured hair or of more flowery persuasion, at least one or two youngish, rather camp men, another will be a retired man who has recently taken up sewing, one or two middle aged white women, competent but with no flair, someone who is all flair but no skill, someone professional, one or two black ladies and an Asian woman.

It's casting by numbers.

Every time. Same with bake off or any other similar thing.

And it’s dull and predictable. And the few decent people just drift about in the middle for the first few episodes and then go towards the end because they have no flair.

They're trying to make the show inclusive and diverse. I've no idea why some people find that dull or predictable.
What's the matter with including people who are gay or from ethnic minorities?

Because it’s not diverse. It’s box ticking. I don’t give a hoot if people are gay, or from an ethnic minority group or are not the kind of people you’d expect to be doing that hobby. It’s when you can tell the producers have thought ‘are there enough of this group?’

That’s not the matter. The matter is that is predictable.

I'd like to see more good sewers. I don't care about sex or race or sexuality. All should be treated equally and he best sewers get in. I'd like more hetero males but maybe there just aren't many in yo sewing. I do think this is a middle aged women hobby and if they are in the majority it's a shame to discriminate against them to meet a diversity quota

There are millions of people from Central and Eastern Europe living in the UK Not sure they have been represented.

Going back to the draping, wasn’t there a contestant way back at the beginning who was from somewhere in West Africa, or at least of that heritage, who made all her clothes like that? It was how her grandmother had taught her. She laid out the fabric all across the floor and folded it, no patterns.
And yes, it would be great to have someone Romanian/Polish I’m sure there are plenty of sewers in that community.

Agree. I'm a GP and most of our non UK patients are Polish or Romanian. I am in Scotland though where as most BBC programmes are London based where the ethnic mix is very different. Few Chinese/ Japanese contestants also

Was that Chinelo from around series 2? I thought she was great. She seemed a natural sewer, though I seem to remember she sort of fell apart in the final when they had to make ties and it just didn't play to any of her strengths.

While I didn't particularly like Lizzie's boubou it was very well sewed.

Thanks @NutellaEllaElla I was trying to remember the name of who Lizzie reminded me of!!

Than you for explaining the harness. It's a shame he's determined to get that in every make as it looked good as a little detail but claiming it as a harness it just looked rubbish. Hope that makes sense!

@CabernetSauvignon thank you for remembering her name! I loved her way of sewing and had high hopes for her but also remember that she often had difficulty with timing that also went against her. The way she worked without patterns always seemed magical to me.

I have no issues at all with diversity and want lots of it but I also want them all to be on roughly the same page when it comes to skill. I do think some struggle with timing and that makes them look less skilled than they are but some do seem to be quite far behind others in just about every sewing skill going.

N.b when I say roughly the same skills, I don't expect them all to be sewing geniuses just pretty good with the ability to come out with something magical from time to time. Was it Annie who won last year? She was always at least competent and then came into her own toward the end producing gorgeous garments in the last few episodes. She was a delight.

I got Chinelo's book Freehand Fashion after she was on Sewing Bee - its an incredible insight into a different way of sewing if you've taught yourself entirely from patterns. It reminds me a lot of the way that proper tailors sketch out suits on the material.

I applied to GBSB a few years back and got through to audition - you definitely need a story or a "quirk" of some sort. I remember they really pushed me on what other hobbies I had and wondering how you'd fit in working full time plus doing enough sewing to be high standard with multiple hobbies. That was before I had kids too!

Unfortunately they've changed the filming schedule now to be through the week rather than every weekend which probably restricts the potential competitor pool a lot.

The foldline website are doing their usual episode guide if anyone fancies trying some similar patterns. I did a sew-along a few years back and tried timing myself to compare to how long they get given - I'd definitely be cutting corners to fit the time limits!

https://thefoldline.com/category/great-british-sewing-bee/

Right, @ChardonnaysBeastlyCat and @PriamFarrl , we'll just need to agree to disagree. I like to see diversity, I'm an oldie and it warms my heart. However, I primarily watch it for the sewing.

I’m not sure what you disagree with. I’m not complaining about diversity, I’m complaining about the same make up of the contestants every single year. And about the lowering of standards to find contestants to fit this.

Diversity does not have to mean the same, pretty much, group every time.

It's just about including other folks. I'm old enough to remember when everyone on my telly box was a white bloke, but there you go. I like the fact that Sewing Bee is diverse, I think they're right to do it, but that's only my opinion.

I agree with you. It would be good to see more Eastern European contestants too though.

I don't mind, @CaptainMyCaptain - that would be great as well. I just think it's a positive to encourage and represent groups making up our society. That's all!

Plus it's an entertainment programme and people have to be interesting to non-sewers. I can sew quite well but wouldn't be entertaining, I have no back story that I'm prepared to divulge and I would just want to get on quietly. I would watch a programme with experts explaining sewing techniques as well but many wouldn't. The Repair Sjop would not be so successful if it was just about mending things it needs the stories about the grandparent's treasured item and the emotional response when it has been restored.

Also, I disagree with the "lowering standards" to be inclusive, eg Asmaa is very creative and talented.
You're right, @CaptainMyCaptain - it's an entertainment show.

No one is disputing Asmaa abilities. I have already posted about this above. What about the rest of them? The standards are definitely lower this year.

Where is the older black woman though? Where is the older Asian woman? Where are the Eastern Europeans?

I will stop posting after this, because I don't want to highjack the thread, it's about the similarities in the make up of the group.

Maybe there isn't an older non white woman because none of them met the sewing requirements, which challenges your previous statements. I would argue that they do go for creativity and skill, but understandably want to have non white people as well. It's not about putting useless people in because "they tick a box". It's about trying to find interesting, capable contestants who are not a homogeneous group. I have no problems with that.