Great British Sewing Bee 2019

It's been a long time coming but finally The Great British Sewing Bee is back on our TV screens! As before, the fifth series features 10 amateur sewists, who have been described described by Patrick Grant, as the most talented group yet, and they're all keen to win the title of the best home sewer.

Judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young are joined this year by Joe Lycett, who replaces Claudia Winkleman as the host. Each week the contestants have to complete three challenges designed to put their skills to the test with different garments and fabrics.

There's a different theme each week, however the format of the tasks remains the same, and these are: Pattern Challenge, Transformation Challenge and finally Made to Measure.

The theme for Week 1 was Cotton and the tasks for were definitely more challenging than in previous years. The first challenge was the Wiggle Dress comprising of 12 pattern pieces... no mean feat for your first make when you're under the glare of the camera. Next, a denim up-cycling challenge!

The final task was the jumpsuit... on trend for SS19 and very much on my "to make' list! It was really interesting to see how different they all looked. My favourite was Juliet's one shoulder version!

We've several jumpsuit patterns including the Yari by True Bias, which, at the moment is top of my list, shown above left, the Burnside Bibs by Sew House Seven are another option, as is the Helga Wrap Playsuit, above right, by Named Clothing.