When is the Great British Sewing Bee 2026 kicking off?
It is finally that time of year again where we are all super duper excited to tune into some great sewing based telly. Yes you guessed it, the Great British Sewing Bee is making a grand return and boy, did they keep us waiting to announce the new series. It is finally starting on Tuesday 14th July, at 9pm on BBC1 almost exactly the same time as last year.
(It's also perfect timing for those of you with no interest in the current sporting event taking place.)
The GBSB Series 12 Contestants
(Image Credit BBC/Love Productions/ Neil Sherwood)
This year as usual,12 contestants will battle it out at the sewing machine testing their creativity, sewing skills and ability to work under pressure - hopefully they will be whipping up plenty of inspiration for the rest of us in the process. As ever, this year's hopefuls will include people from all walks of life with varying degrees of sewing experience. This is what we know so far and we can't wait to get to know them over the series. There are just so many reasons to be excited....
- Sam, 31, West Yorkshire, heating engineer
- Heather, 28, West Midlands, project manager
- Beth, 24, Oxfordshire, engineering PhD student
- Emma, 45, Midlothian, classical soprano
- Tim, 60, Suffolk, care farm director
- Lewis, 29, East Sussex, primary school teacher
- Rebecca, 27, London, chartered actuary
- Minnie, 30, Bedfordshire, full-time mum
- Adele, 36, West Yorkshire, primary school teacher
- Angie, 63, Warwickshire, retired business studies and computing lecturer
- Anna, 27, North Yorkshire, barista & waitress
- Dawn, 64, London, chief financial officer
Who are the GBSB Season 12 Judges and Host?
(Image Credit BBC/Love Productions/ Neil Sherwood)
Comedian Sophie Willan takes over as host from the much loved Sara Pascoe having stood in for her on last year’s celebrity Xmas special and will undoubtedly bring her trademark energy and enthusiasm to the show.
Sophie will be presenting alongside seasoned judges and sewing Pin Up Patrick Grant together with the gift that keeps on giving, Esme Young. (By the way, we featured Esme in our blog on 5 Inspirational Women in Sewing.)
GBSB: what we know so far…..
Just as in previous years, there will be 3 challenges each week. The pattern challenge, the transformation challenge and the made to measure round, all testing the sewing bees' skills to the limit. One brand new element in the first week will see the contestants modelling their made-to-measure outfits themselves - we love this idea!
- Pattern Challenge: sewing a pair of summer shorts with a patch pocket
- Transformation Challenge: repurposing barbecue aprons into functional bags
- Made-to-Measure Challenge: designing an ideal outfit for a perfect summer’s day and modelling the designs themselves for the first time ever.
We can feel the pressure already and can't wait to see how they cope with Patrick and Esme's on point critique.
GBSB Highlights from last year
There are so many highlights from last year to even remember so we had to remind ourselves with our handy GBSB Series 11 round up blog.
As always, we loved the feedback from the FG Sewing Community following each episode and the healthy debates about which contestant should have left. However, we all agreed that Caz was a very worthy winner with her stunning creations which blew the judges away. Who can forget her final made-to-measure in the Trompe l'Oeil challenge, representing her own heart surgery.
But a definite Team FG highlight was Episode 6 in Kids week when contestants had to make adaptive dungarees for children featuring two of our favourite corduroy fabrics.
So many highlights and plenty more to look forward to this year in Series 12.
GBSB: Stay Up to Date
Worried you might miss out on an episode? Well, don't forget you can catch up on BBC iPlayer and we'll do our best not to post any spoilers on our socials; we will also have a Sewing Bee Collection on the website, which we will update regularly to include any suitable fabrics for the week's tasks. So you really will never miss a thing….
Discover our Great British Sewing Bee Collection
The team at Fabrics Galore London will be following the new series avidly and will be featuring fabrics for each of the weekly challenges to celebrate the return of the beloved Great British Sewing Bee! In the meantime, please browse our range of latest fabrics for all your own Sewing Bee projects!
Authored by: Annabelle Rigg, Online and Store Manager at Fabrics Galore London
Reviewed by: Paul Johnston, Owner and Founder of Fabrics Galore London since 1992
