Last night saw the much anticipated return of the sewing bee. This is always one of the highlights of my year. The show is what inspired me to start sewing and each episode gives me new ideas for things I could make. And the new series seems to be no exception…

Returning to the sewing room is like reuniting with old friends, even though we’ve not yet met any of this year’s sewers.

This week’s (this season’s) first challenge is wrap skirts. As usual, while the sewers rummage through the stacks of fabric my initial thought is “I want the haberdashery”. Am I alone in this? To just pick up a pattern and be able to choose from such a range of fabrics there and then would be amazing.

Incidentally, have the desks/sewing stations always been different pastel colours? I’ve never noticed it before…

The finished skirts range from beautifully made (Therese’s, Ali’s and Peter’s really stood out to me) to a little messy (though I don’t think I’d have like Nicole’s even if it had gone perfectly – shiny and gold’s not my thing). It’s still a little early to tell much about our sewers yet though.

Next up is the transformation challenge (I still think of it as the alteration challenge). I think this is the part of the show where you can see the biggest change between now and the early season’s. In the first season they were given a specific task to do (change the neckline of this top, add some patch pockets on this skirt etc) and they were judged on execution as well as the difference they made to the garment. Over the seasons, this has shifted to more and more radical transformations. Sometimes I like the end results, sometimes I’m less impressed – although it’s always fun to see what everyone comes up with.

Taking two men’s shirts and creating an item of women’s clothing should sound bonkers, but having seen some of the previous transformations, nothing surprises me any more. I quite like the idea of trying this, but as Boyfriend only as two shirts total, cutting them up might not go down well…

Not sure I’d have ranked them exactly how the judges did (Liz and Therese’s were my favourites), but I’ve seen a lot of negative comments online about Peter’s dress. Now, while it might not be to my taste, I can appreciate the skill, creativity and amount of work that went into it. Yes, there was sewing involved. You actually saw him with a needle and thread. He may have draped it on the dummy to get the shape but then he sewed everything into place, just like we saw with Chinelo (sp?) a few years ago.

Right – rant over. On to made to measure. As I said in my last post, this is always my favourite challenge and where we finally get to see a bit more of who the sewers really are. My personal favourites were Liz’s (again), Therese’s (spot a pattern yet?) and Clare’s. Matt’s was very pretty and well made but I wasn’t keen on the fabric.

I’m not going to spoil who’s left and who got garment of the week, but here are my initial thoughts on each sewer so far:

• Alex – his skirt could have been ok if he’d not got flustered and done the buttons wrong. Really wasn’t keen on his pattern or fabric choice for the tea dress, and he made quite a few mistakes. Hopefully it’s just nerves… But he definitely had on his best ballroom smile!
• Ali – good, competent sewer. I liked some of her style choices and everything was well made. Being a paramedic she should cope with the stress well.
• Angillia – felt a little like she was out of her comfort zone. She can obviously sew well (as shown in her tea dress) but not sure how well she’ll cope with time pressures.
• Clare – love the vintage style! I really like her tea dress but she didn’t seem as confident on the pattern challenge and her transformation looked a little messy in places. Again, could be first week nerves…
• Fiona – a little bit feisty at times (accusing Patrick of stretching her skirt!!! 😂). Wasn’t really keen on the feathers and her tea dress wasn’t finished, which is never a good sign.
• Hazel – I liked the fork truck! She seems like a strong competent sewer but for some reason didn’t stand out. Maybe it’s just different taste in fabrics etc.
• Liz – I like her slightly quirky style, plus she seems to be able to sew well. Like the corset-style top in the alteration challenge and loved her tea dress. (She also kinda reminds me of Kate Kane from Batwoman!!!)
• Mark – my local sewer from Kenilworth! Plus he gets bonus points for the cute dog. Another one with a vintage-y style, and again, seems to be able to sew. And he appreciates the value of pockets! Always good.
• Matt – love the title of Drag Designer in Chief!! He made an extremely good tea dress, but I wasn’t as keen on his skirt or transformation challenge.
• Nicole – definitely made the wrong choice of fabric with her skirt and it’s never a good idea to not listen to the judges advice. She’s very distinctive but I think we have very different tastes.
• Peter – he literally bled for his art – showing it’s not just me who can injure themselves sewing… He had two very strong challenges and I quite liked his tea dress, even if I wouldn’t wear it. He does need to work on his fitting though…
• Therese – as you can tell from what I’ve written above, I think she could’ve one to watch. She’s obviously got a lot of skill and I adored her tea dress!

So, to sum up my current top pick are Liz, Therese, Peter and Ali. I can’t believe I now have to wait a while week for the next episode!

Oh well, off to see if I have any patterns for tea dresses…