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F TELEVISION titles have taught us anything over the last few years, it’s that us Great Britons are pretty great at a lot of things. Baking, pottery, menus, sewing... This is the fifth series of the stitching competition, with brand new host, comedian Joe Lycett taking the reins from Claudia Winkleman.
You wouldn’t have thought that watching people sew could be that gripping.
But this isn’t darning socks or replacing buttons. There’s panic over patterns, anguish over arm holes and the trauma of fitting garments to actual real live people. Yes, plenty of chances for contestants to unravel.
Ten of the country’s best home sewers take up their needle and thread, watched studiously by Savile Row’s Patrick Grant and Central St Martin’s Esme Young.
First they have to make a Diorinspired ‘wiggle dress’ in cotton, before transforming three secondhand items of denim clothing into a single, stylish new garment in just 90 minutes. Then they must make a made-to-measure jumpsuit that nips and tucks in all the right places.
There are some technical segments, with talk of zips and darts and hems, which probably aren’t that interesting unless you’re into sewing – we’re mostly waiting for the big reveal of the finished outfit. This is where Bake Off will always prove more popular.
But Joe does a good job of chatting up all the contestants and there’s some innuendo from the judges that would make a tailor blush.
Plus if we’re really lucky, there might be some form of sleeve-gate or button drama to get the nation talking.