The Stitch Up!

It’s Christmas! Join James, Jo, and special guest Tony R (season 9 finalist) to discuss this year’s Great British Sewing Bee Celebrity Christmas Special. The four contestants must create a Christmas stocking, transform adult puffer jackets into children’s food-themed fancy dress, and then create an outfit for their dream Christmas Day. Who will wrap up their year with the coveted Christmas Sewing Bee trophy? Finally Tony plays this or that, sewing edition! Find out whether he prefers buttons or zips, woven or stretch, and skulls or camo!

It’s the final episode of The Great British Sewing Bee Season 9 and a winner must be crowned! The final three contestants first have to make a demanding Victoriana-style evening dress pattern, turn regular garments into an exuberant men’s red-carpet outfit, and engineer a dress that transforms into a second dress whilst walking down the runway! Join James and Jo as they talk statistics on the challenges won throughout the season, explain French darts, and laugh over Esme and Patrick’s antics!

It’s utilitarian clothing week in the ninth episode of The Great British Sewing Bee Season 9, and also the semi final!  The contestants are tasked with making a classic double-breasted trench coat, transforming items out of the cleaning cupboard into wearable garments, and creating a fashionable boiler suit. Join James and Jo as they talk tabards, mix up drill and twill, and argue over whether Asmaas’ dress is purple or blue!

Join James and Jo as they discuss the eighth episode of The Great British Sewing Bee Season 9. This week the contestants have to make Audrey Hepburn’s iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s dress, turn shower curtains into high fashion garments, and create a mens smoking jacket. Join us to learn what a shawl collar is, discuss who Hugh Hefner is, and try to interpret James’ autocorrected notes. The final is getting close now! 

This week James and Jo discuss the seventh episode of The Great British Sewing Bee Season 9 where the contestants are transported back in time to the 90s. Watch them grapple with cargo pants, transform household textiles into iconic fancy dress, and channel 90s supermodel fashion to make a glamorous dress fit for the catwalk. Charlie the dog makes a brief cameo in this episode that discusses fluffy toilet seat covers, how James doesn’t know who Liz Hurley is, and who has made it through to the quarter finals.

Join James and special guest Greer for Kids’ Week in the sewing room, where the contestants have to create a dinosaur towelling robe, upcycle denim jackets using hand-me-downs, and create a show-stopping special occasion garment! James and Greer tackle the big questions such as “what is bias binding?” in Jo’s absence and attempt to navigate through their sewing knowledge together, with lots of laughs along the way!

In the fifth episode of The Great British Sewing Bee Season 9, the contestants are tasked with creating a modernist skirt, turning art students’ canvases into catwalk-worthy transformations, and constructing a surrealist-inspired outfit. Jo and James discuss the garments that wowed them the most, James learns about appliqué, and we sadly say goodbye to another contestant.

It’s the fourth episode of The Sewing Bee season 9 and it’s Jo’s favourite week: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Did you know that in the UK we throw away 1 million tonnes of clothing every year? Now more than ever it’s critical to be reducing our consumption of fast fashion and making our clothing go further. This week the contestants have to make a zero-waste trouser pattern, give discarded tote bags a new lease of life, and refresh preloved crochet blankets into standout garments! Join us to discuss who managed to turn trash into treasure… and who made a load of old rubbish!

This week James and Jo discuss the third episode of The Sewing Bee season 9 where the contestants are tasked with creating garments that celebrate West African fashion and fabrics. Nigerian fashion designer Banke Kaku, joins Esme and Patrick as a guest judge to assess the quality and creativeness of each garment. To start off, a Ghanaian batakari must be made from handwoven strips of deboya fabric. For this week's transformation, the contestants must drape hand-dyed adire fabric to create a unique and imaginative garment. Finally, the contestants were tasked with creating a show-stopping boubou, a wide-sleeved, airy garment worn by both men and women in West Africa. Join us as we discuss the highlights of this episode, and hear what James has taken notes on this week!

Join James and Jo for the second episode of The Stitch Up where the contestants were tasked with creating items based around vacationing! Firstly they had to make a roll top rucksack with complex straps and metal hardware. Secondly, a windbreak must be turned into creative emergency rainwear. Thirdly, the contestants were tasked with made-to-measure swimwear.  Join us as we discuss who think made a splash and who belly flopped! We’ll break down sewing techniques, talk about what inspired us the most and, as always, James will be subject to a stitchy quiz!

In this debut episode of The Stitch Up, James and Jo dive straight into the first episode of The Great British Sewing Bee Season 9. They dissect the challenges and marvel at the remarkable talent of the new batch of contestants as they face their first sewing hurdles.  From the nerve-wracking pattern challenge to the intricate transformation of a garment, the hosts unravel the stitches, unravel the drama, and celebrate the heartwarming moments that make this show so captivating. Join Jo and James as they share their favourite standout garments, discuss the judges' critiques, and explore the sewing techniques that impressed them the most.