I visited the Hobby, Craft & Stitch Trade Show at the Birmingham NEC in February 2015 on the lookout for exciting new products. Whilst there I  was lucky enough to hear May Martin talking about her sewing career and how she was selected to be a judge on The Great British Sewing Bee! In the audience with us were former contestants Lauren Guthrie, from Series 1, and founder of Guthrie and Ghani & Jenni Taylor from the 2015 show.

May learnt to sew at the age of 13; and it very quickly became her passion. At a time when most women were encouraged to pursue a career in either hairdressing, secretarial work or nursing, May bucked the trend by opting to study at St, Osyth’s College at Clacton-on-Sea, a teacher training college which specialises in needlework. She said the it was the hardest three years of her life, but that it stood her in good stead for the future.

She taught for several years at secondary schools and was Head of Department before deciding to go into adult education.

When the BBC researchers, for what was to become The Great British Sewing Bee, were looking for potential judges, they visited and interviewed lecturers from all the top fashion colleges including Central St Martins but were struggling to find the right person for the role.

Out of the blue, May received an email from the BBC saying that they’d like her to audition for the show! May, very nervously went along for the interview where she faced 90 minutes of questions whilst being filmed... once they’d finished she remembers saying to them that it'd had been great fun but they wouldn't use her, she felt they'd opt for someone from one of the elite fashion schools.

Shortly after, she did screen tests with Patrick Grant, who she was sure would get the job, but she wasn’t at all sure what they thought of her! We all know now, that they were very impressed with her calm, kind manner and extensive knowledge.

She kept the fact that she was filming the show a secret from all her students, and as you can imagine they were really surprised, and delighted, when GBSB first hit our screens. After that first show went out the producers asked her why she was so quiet, and she told them it was because she'd been petrified! After that first series May was offered some presentation training for when she's in front of the camera and hasn’t looked back since!

Although May Martin is no longer a judge on the show, we're really pleased that GBSB is finally back on our TV screens again! 

If watching GBSB has inspired you to take up sewing why not take a look at our thoughtfully curated range of Sewing Patterns and Fabrics.

Hello there,

From today we've introduced a FREE second class shipping option for all orders delivered within the UK, no matter what the order value, and we've also updated our oversees shipping rates too. For our European customers we've introduced a flat rate price of £7.50, and for International orders a flat rate of £10.00.

So now, you've got even more reason to buy!!

We love a good Blog here at The Draper's Daughter, especially if it's about our favourite subject......sewing!!

So, we thought we'd just share with you the ones that currently inspire us the most!

Madalynne has been a longstanding source of inspiration. We love her kooky sense of style, and find her blog both informative and inspiring. We first came across Madalynne a couple of years ago when searching the web for instructions for making knickers! Since then we've loved following her sewing tutorials with great interest, they're not only beautifully photographed but easy to follow.

We've long been huge fans of Tilly and the Buttons since way before Tilly first appeared on the Great British Sewing Bee back in 2013, and she remains one of our favourites to this day. Tilly has her own, very identifiable, sense of style. Her "Learn to Sew' posts are perfect for beginners, and have tackled the basics such as "How to Stitch" through to more complex garment construction matters like a "Puff a Sleeve Pattern" aimed at the more experienced sewer.

The Coletterie is, we're a little embarrassed to admit, relatively new to us! That said it's already become one of our "go to" blogs. We particularly love the articles for modifying existing Colette Sewing patterns, whether it be the "Mod-ified Laurel" or "How to add keyholes and ties to the Violet Blouse sleeves".

Another relatively new blog to us is Did you make that? Karen's already become a firm favourite, her conversational tone and informative posts have made us feel right at home!

Finally, and certainly by no means least, we have City Stitching with Christine Haynes. Christine's the author of four fantastic sewing books; her posts are really informative, ranging from anecdotal articles through to detailed  "How to" tutorials and "Sewalongs" for her fabulous sewing patterns.

We hope you approve of our favourites? We'd love to hear who your top sewer blogger is. Why not drop us a line.......

Hello there,

As you know, we only stock items that we'd buy ourselves, things that are a little different and that stand out from the crowd. That's why we were thrilled to discover the Heather Lins Calendar Kits when we were sourcing our launch range last Winter. They're very popular in America but not very well known over here........yet!!!!

We're pleased to say that these stitch calendar kits do not disappoint, we've been busy stitching "A Year in Stitches" and are really pleased with how it's coming along, even if we are a little behind!!

They're completely sold out in the States but we still have a few calenders left. You'll need to hurry though as our American friends are snapping them up fast!!!!

We've just finished unpacking our latest delivery of fabulous Merchant & Mills goodies!

You'll be pleased to know that we're now back in stock of The Camber Set and The Top #64 patterns and new in we've got their latest sewing pattern The Union Dress. This pattern has a straight silhouette and a henley neckline with a button through front placket. It also has both side seam pockets and in-seam front pockets and is finished off with small side splits.

With a nod to traditional work-wear the Union Dress is very versatile and would look equally good made up in utilitarian denim, soft laundered linen, or for a smarter look why not try seasonal wool flannel? The only question now, is which one to make first!!