Great British Sewing Bee is back. Thread 2 - Art week is our past, Movies are our present

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

For when the first thread is full. I may be watching but won't be posting because I won't have access to a computer and I need the speed of a keyboard to get my opinion out there before I forget what it is.

I always wonder what their garments look like inside. They never show anyone finishing seam edges. I also think they should have an element of handsewing eg sewing a hem.

I can't stand the "comedy" skits.

I think the comedy stuff is just annoying if you're a serious sewer (or baker), but surely it must appeal to some part of the audience? They will do focus groups and research, maybe it draws in some casual viewers?

I'm neither a serious sewer nor a baker, but I hate the comedy stuff and the skits around the time calls. I'd prefer more time spent on the sewers and bakers - on GBBO they used to a section about the history of the cake where bakers haven't seen the recipe beforehand (can't remember what it's called) - I'd rather they brought that back, and maybe something similar for SB.

Did I read somewhere that there is a knitting programme with Tom Daley in the offing? Or was that a bad dream (the TD bit, not the knitting bit).

I quite like the jokes and sketches to be honest. Maybe I’m the one!

I read that too. Can’t quite see how they’ll manage to knit much in a short time although my grandmother was phenomenally quick. Big needles perhaps.

I quite like the comedy bits even though they are a bit cringey and I hate the history bits! Different strokes etc.

It’s a bit disingenuous of Kit to say he has been sewing for just a year but then say in his last episode that he’s been an avid watcher of the sewing bee since he was 12.
his scarecrow was awful and should not have won garment of the week with orla’s doll.

looking forward to Sophie willand presenting.
(Alma’s not normal, is very good)

I think esme should retire and they need to refocus the transformation challenge. It seems such a waste and no one would wear hardly any of the stuff they come up with. I’m fed up of sexy garments being popular with the judges and honestly I’m surprised the younger generation that are interested in the sewing bee are ok with that: they all seem to spend their time in Lucy and yak dungarees round me.

honestly, pattern drafting is actually easy: if you got patience, a calculator and Winifred Aldrich’s ‘metric pattern cutting for women…’
i haven’t bought a pattern for years. You’ll get such a better fit

oh gosh Tom Daley’s knitting programme: it’s been teased for years. Not my kind of design (blooming awful book!). If it gets more people into the craft then that’s good but I actually think the knitting/crochet fad is waning and they have missed the boat.

I love the history of fashion snippets. I can't stand forced comedy. It's ok to have it as an intro but the constant repetition with "5 minutes left!" gets on my goat.

Hee hee yes I don’t like the editing of the ‘5mins left’ but it builds jeopardy into the competition.

My husband is not a sewer or a baker but he watches both programmes now they are less serious 🤷‍♀️

I like the history bits more than the 'funny' bits.

It’s a bit disingenuous of Kit to say he has been sewing for just a year but then say in his last episode that he’s been an avid watcher of the sewing bee since he was 12.
To be fair to Kit, plenty of people watch who don't sew. It's entirely possible he didn't actually start sewing till much more recently.

I agree about the transformation challenge. A creative mending challenge would be interesting instead, I quite like watching that sort of thing on YouTube. So, one week jeans that have worn through on the inner thigh, another week a dress with a big rip in the skirt part. Or resizing, making a shirt over to fit a couple of sizes bigger.

I’d like it if they did demos of how to do different skills, like button holes, but accept that wouldn’t be interesting for non-sewers.

Id also like to see a made to measure where they make the same thing for two body shapes (e.g. tall hourglass and short apple shape), where they have to adapt the fitting but ideally also small changes to the design to suit each

Tom Daley's knitting challenge is called Game of Wool.

Applications to be on the show closed in January 2025.

Expert judges will be Di Gilpin and Sheila Greenwell.

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/channel-4-cast-tom-daley-host-new-knitting-competition-game-wool
https://www.channel4.com/4viewers/takepart/game-of-wool

Presumably coming to our screens early 2026 in the GBBO slot?

There was a knitting one years ago. I think they gave them a brief and then a month or something to do it. The problem was that it meant it took a year or so to film one episode.
There was also an allotment one, that didn’t work either.

The problem with the makeover challenge is the brief and the time. To completely transform an already made piece into something different in one and a half hours is just not doable.

Sewing shouldn't be stressful, though it does have it's challenges.

I liked the allotment one. From what I remember they had to make jams and pickles and flower arrangements from their produce. Though the tasting judge used to make extraordinary faces.
There was a woodwork one too with Mel Giedroyc. DH loved that one.

I liked the woodworking one too

I liked the allotment one too. I agree about the awful “comedy” sections (I’m looking at you too pottery) and I’m glad to see the back of SP. I don’t know who the new presenter is but let’s stop having “comedians” doing this

Thank you! I'm looking forward to that, though I'm not overly enthusiastic about Tom Daley

I’m shocked Kit went.

Me too I was sure he'd win.

I'm also curious about the great british knitting bee/knit off. I wonder if they'll knit small things or just show the contestants finishing off a larger garment on the show. My mum is a fast knitter , but it still takes many days to make a sleeveless jumper. Or perhaps they'll include other tasks such as crochet or embellishing garments. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

I loved the allotment one and thought I was the only person in the world who watched it
I seem to remember they changed the format from working in pairs in the first season to alone in the second (or vice versa?), and I think in the first ep they introduced us to all the contestants and showed them getting their allotments, then in the next one it was x months later when everything had grown.
And yes, they had to do floristry, and make things from their produce.