'The Great British Sewing Bee' is back! :: Craft shows

PR 'Great British Sewing Bee' judges May Martin and Patrick Grant - 'The Great British Sewing Bee' is back! - Craft - allaboutyou.com

The smash-hit series 'The Great British Sewing Bee' is back for a second series, starting on Tuesday February 18 on BBC2 at 8pm.

The basic format of the show is the same, and it's still hosted by Claudia Winkelman, with challenges set by Savile Row's Patrick Grant and sewing expert May Martin (left). Each week in the eight-week series, one person will be asked to leave, and another will be awarded garment of the week.

To whet your appetite, here's a sneak preview of this year's show...

The challenges

Each themed episode tests the sewers on different aspects of their sewing. And those challenges get progressively harder.

Each week, the first challenge is to follow a surprise pattern - from a basic tunic top in week one, to a 1930s pattern in week six. In one episodes the sewers are simply given a length of fabric to make a dress with no pattern at all.

For the second challenge, the sewers have to radically alter a high-street garment they've never seen before - in just 90 minutes. Men's suits become smart dresses, children's leggings and sweatshirts are turned into fancy dress outfits from pirates to dinosaurs. The sewers' ability to think fast and create something spectacular from nothing comes to the fore when in the final week they are given a wedding dress to turn into a special-occasion dress.

For the third 'made to measure' challenge the sewers will show their fitting skills when they are asked to create garments for a model, including nightgowns, pyjamas, prom dresses for surprise models and this year they will also be making garments to fit themselves.

Week 1 concentrates on the core fabrics of cotton, wool and silk. The surprise Pattern Challenge tasks the sewers with making a simple tunic top from cotton fabric. Some excel, some struggle to finish, while others cut corners to their cost. In the Alteration Challenge the sewers demonstrate their ability to transform a plain high-street wool skirt, creating a frilled miniskirt, a pencil skirt with peplum - and dungarees. Finally the sewers face the toughest of core fabrics - silk - when they're asked to fit a made-to-measure silk nightgown for a model.

The remaining weeks are themed as follows: Week 2, patterned fabric; Week 3, stretch; Week 4, children's clothes; Week 5, advanced fabrics - nylon, leather and velvet; Week 6, historic clothes; Week 7, no pattern; Week 8, couture.

The competitors

This year's sewers (left) are: Tamara, a yoga instructor who is a bit of a sewing maverick when it comes to sewing; David, a Scotland Yard police constable who has been known to make alterations to his colleagues' uniforms; Heather, a closet sewer who is a dressage trainer and rider; Lynda, a learning support assistant who thinks sewing for her grandchildren is like wrapping them up in her love; Chinelo, a media graduate who uses the Nigerian method of freehand cutting; Cerina, a cookery teacher who specialises in ballgowns for her teenage daughters; Cliff, a retired prison chaplain who makes his own shirts; Julie, a housing estate officer who started sewing to make her daughter's dancewear; Jenni, a resources manager who started sewing just a year ago and made her wedding dress, and Simon, a museum worker who has a passion for British cloth.

Photos: BBC

From the first series

Watch 'Great British Sewing Bee' how-to videos, including sewing on a button, sewing seams, and making using bias binding

Sew a laundry bag - free pattern as seen on series 1

Sew a floor cushion - free pattern from 'The Great British Sewing Bee' by Tessa Evelegh (Quadrille, £20)

Sew a ruffle cushion - free pattern from 'The Great British Sewing Bee' by Tessa Evelegh (Quadrille, £20)

There's also a book of the second series, published on February 18: 'The Great British Sewing Bee: Sew Your Own Wardrobe' by Tessa Evelegh (Quadrille, £25). Click here to buy the book