Great British Sewing Bee -The Positive Effect of Blokey Bees

Like many other sewers, I am so happy to see the return of The Great British Sewing Bee - BBC2, Thursday night is now something really to look forward to!

I've loved all of these series but I'm amazed at how much more demanding the tasks are each time. All of the tasks in the first series were - if you had a basic idea of sewing - probably fairly manageable, although of course you did still have that dreaded time constraint!

However, when Series 2 bounced onto our screens, it was immediately obvious that the challenges were going to be a whole new level of demanding! Last year, at the Sewing For Pleasure show at the NEC, I went to a talk by Stuart Hillard from Series 1. A few of us were a bit early and Stuart was just chatting about things and mentioned how he was rather glad he wasn't taking part in it this year (Series 2) as the challenges were so hard! So, that was a fun little insight!

My husband isn't into sewing but he is very supportive in giving me opinions and helping when I run to him, flapping instruction sheets and crying 'I don't understand!!!!' He's also fabulous in doing the boring bits like cleaning my machine. That is actually good for both of us as I'm pretty accident prone and he is mechanically and technically minded (I am so very not!) so letting me loose on the mechanics is probably safer for both of us!

 However, he thoroughly enjoyed watching Series 2 of the Bee with me and I think this was enormously helped by the fact that a) it's just a super enjoyable programme, whether you sew or not, as my parents also watch it and neither sew either. But I also think the appeal is that there are blokes on it - and 'blokey' blokes at that so it's something he can relate to very easily. Policeman David (also known now as Dizzy Sew and Sew ) was the perfect example in Series 2. I think this aspect really added a huge benefit for viewing figures. On Series 3 , amongst others, we have a Lieutenant Colonel from the British Army - it all shows that you can still be an Alpha Male type but also enjoy sewing! And that's just brilliant! It opens the hobby up to absolutely everyone.

Interacting with other sewers on Twitter such as Jules from Sew Me Something and Heather, who won Series 2 of the Great British Sewing Bee (with the most gorgeous Couture dress EVER!), it sounds like the Bloke Effect of the Bee is filtering down. It seems that boys are signing up for their classes! Yippee!! At last! The stereotype of sewing being only for girls has been around for far too long and it's such a shame, and a waste! We've seen from the programmes that men can have a completely different take on things than women do, and I for one, think that's a fascinating aspect! Men and women do think differently and it's good to accept and embrace and learn from that!

So, to paraphrase 'Footloose' - Let's Hear It For The Boys!

(Apologies for there not being any pics on this post - I'm not entirely sure of the legalities of posting any pics from the BBC website and didn't want to get into any copyright murkiness. Pics next post, I promise!)

Happy Crafting!

The Great British Sewing Bee 2

I can't believe we are at the final for the Great British Sewing Bee!  The weeks have flown by and I could quite happily sit and watch it all again.

It's certainly been a lot more challenging this series than the first one. I wonder if anyone has had a bit of a shock at what they've been asked to do? I like the fact that this time there's been some more in depth explanations of things with Claudia going off to visit places like The V & A Museum and the Fashion and Textile Museum which helps give us background on some of the items, or techniques, the contestants are having to deal with.

I used to watch Project Runway in the States, but ended up stopping because of the bitchiness of, not only the contestants, but also the judges. Obviously it's a much bigger deal there with a chance to show at New York Fashion Week, etc but I felt awful for the participants when they'd stand with their creation and then have humiliating comments tossed at them by the likes of Michael Kors and Heidi Klum. I realise that they obviously have experience in the fashion world - that's not in question, but I do think they could have put their criticisms across more constructively. That's why I love our Sewing Bee! May and Patrick obviously have a huge amount of knowledge between them but they always try to advise constructively, even if something's not to their taste.

I was sad to see Lynda leave last night. She's been such a lovely addition to the group; so kind and thoughtful towards the others and generous when anyone asked her anything. It's hard when it gets to this stage to see anyone go. I'd really like Heather to win it now, but Chinelo is super talented too and would also be very deserving of the title. How to choose?!

It'll be a tense time next week for the final challenges. What will they be?!

In the meantime, I'll be getting back to my own sewing! I've just made up two cushions from this fabric and just have a little hand sewing to do to finish them off. I'm hoping to get the last one finished off later so that I can photograph it and put it on here to show you.

I love that the Sewing Bee has inspired so many people to either drag out their sewing machine from a dark cupboard, or learn from scratch. Attending the NEC's Sewing For Pleasure a couple of weeks ago, I was amazed at how much busier it was this year than when I went a couple of years ago. Last time I went, it took about an hour for that side of the show to start filling up, but this time it was busy from the opening of the doors!

I'm still deciding whether to go to Creative Stitches and Fashion & Embroidery at London's ExCel which starts tomorrow. I have a complimentary ticket so it's just the train fare to find. The last time I went though, it was pretty tiny. I don't know whether the upsurge of interest in sewing will have boosted this exhibition or whether The Knitting and Stitching Shows held at Alexandra Palace and Olympia have fulfilled the need for London shows. I was surprised to find that Sew Magazine wasn't at the NEC show this year, having always attended before but again, perhaps they felt that attending the Ally Pally and Olympia shows in Spring and Autumn are enough. I have attended the Ally Pally one a couple of times but the last time, a couple of years ago, it was so busy and so cramped, it was unbearable! I don't know whether they have rectified that problem at all now and would love to hear from anyone who has attended more recently.

Did anyone else attend the Sewing For Pleasure show? What did you think?

In the meantime, happy GBSB watching and happy sewing!