The last couple of weeks were super exciting for fabric fans, as The Great British Sewing Bee was on BBC One for the second time last year with two Christmas celebrity special episodes. These hour-long episodes were on BBC One on Boxing Day (26th December 2020) at 7.45pm and on New Year’s Eve (31st December 2020) at 8pm. They were a must-watch for any lovers of sewing, especially for anyone who enjoyed series 6 earlier this year! If you missed them you can catch up on The Great British Sewing Bee celebrity episodes on BBC Iplayer.
Here at Fabrics Galore, we are huge fans of The Great British Sewing Bee, so we were very excited to enjoy these episodes over the Christmas season, and maybe even get some inspiration for future 2021 dressmaking creations.
What did we see in The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Specials?
The Great British Sewing Bee is a spin-off of the format of The Great British Bake Off, and normally features ten amateur sewers, with the weakest eliminated each episode. The two special episodes featured celebrities trying out some sewing challenges, which we knew would test their limits!
In the Boxing Day episode, the celebrities took on three challenges set by judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young, with the first being the pattern challenge, where the celebs had to make a pair of festive pyjama bottoms. Secondly, the transformation task entailed the celebs creating a festive fancy dress outfit for a dog. And the final challenge was the celebrities sewing their very own perfectly fitted dress to wear on Christmas Day.
On the other hand, the New Year’s Eve episode saw the celebrities create a child’s party skirt for their pattern challenge. For the transformation challenge, they needed to turn some old
clothes into a famous pantomime character. And for the final challenge, they were required to make a New Year’s Eve party dress that reminded them of a party from the past.
The Vivienne closed the New Year’s Eve show with a special performance in which Patrick, Joe and Esme made a surprise appearance.
Who is the host of The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas specials?
Joe Lycett was the host welcoming celebrity guests into the sewing room to take part in these fun, festive challenges. He is best known for featuring on shows such as Taskmaster, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and QI. You may also recognise him as the presenter of Channel 4’s consumer rights show, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back.
What celebrities appeared on The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas specials?
The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas specials contestants included Denise Van Outen, Strictly’s Shirley Ballas, Dr Ranj Singh and comedian Sara Pascoe - who all appeared in the Boxing Day episode. Whereas The Vivienne, Lesley Joseph, Sabrina Grant and Sally Philips featured in the New Year’s Eve special.
Learn more about The Great British Sewing Bee Christmas Specials
More people than ever have been exploring their creative sides this year, especially in sewing, so we are sure these episodes were firm festive favourites with sewing viewers up and down the country. No matter whether you are new to The Great British Sewing Bee or a loyal fan, you can trust that the Fabrics Galore team will be here with all the latest updates, and their own latest fabric recommendations for the GBSB festive makes.
