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Episode 1

Amateur sewers test their sewing and dressmaking skills. The contestants are tested on the three core fabrics in a dressmaker's cupboard: cotton, wool and silk.

The Great British Sewing Bee returns for an eight-part series presented by Claudia Winkleman. Ten of the country's best home sewers face three challenges to make or alter an item of clothing under intense time pressure. Each week, their creations are judged by Savile Row's Patrick Grant and sewing expert May Martin, until one of them is crowned Britain's best amateur sewer.

The first episode tests the sewers on the three core fabrics in a dressmaker's cupboard: cotton, wool and silk. The surprise Pattern Challenge tasks the sewers with making a simple tunic top out of straightforward cotton. Some excel at producing the perfect top, some struggle to finish, and others cut corners - to their cost.

In the Alteration Challenge the sewers demonstrate their ability to transform a plain high street woollen skirt in just 90 minutes, creating mini skirts with frills, pencil skirts with peplums, and dungarees.

Finally, the sewers face the toughest of core fabrics when asked to fit a made-to-measure silk nightgown for a model.

7 months left to watch

1 hour

Audio described

Last on

Fri 30 May 2014 09:05

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Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Claudia Winkleman
Expert May Martin
Expert Patrick Grant
Executive Producer Anna Beattie
Series Editor Susanne Rock

Broadcasts