SEWING BEE: MEET THIS YEAR'S SEWERS AHEAD OF NEW SERIES

Sara Pascoe invites twelve of Britain’s most talented home sewers to compete in creating beautiful garments from scratch in a bid to impress Judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young as they search for Britain’s Best Amateur Sewer.

Meet the 12 sewers competing in this year's series below. The Great British Sewing Bee returns next Wednesday at 8pm on BBC One.

ANGELA, 63

Lancashire

Health Visitor & School Nurse

Angela was born in Lancashire and has lived and worked there all her life. She balances her demanding job as an NHS Health Visitor and School Nurse with her hobbies of gardening, walking and of course sewing. Angela has 50 years of sewing experience, but hopes that Sewing Bee will take her out of her comfort zone and she will “be brought into the 21st Century”.

ANNIE, 32

Surrey

Fashion Buyer

Annie has always loved art and fashion and now works as a buyer for a high street fashion brand. She lives in Surrey with her boyfriend. Annie enjoys roller skating and loves going camping and on long walks with her 2 younger siblings and mum and dad. The person who has given her most inspiration is her 92 year old Granny Monica who taught her to sew. The first thing she made was an apron when she was 8 years old for The Brownies.

BROGAN, 25

Leicestershire (Originally Edinburgh)

Secondary School Teacher

Brogan is originally from Edinburgh but now teaches Spanish and French at a secondary school in Derbyshire. She has just bought her first home in Leicestershire with her fiancé and they share it with Roger the sausage dog who has a handmade wardrobe courtesy of Brogan. Brogan remembers watching the first Sewing Bee when she was a child with her mum and was inspired to start sewing as a result.

Chichi, 23

Surrey

Research Analyst

Chichi is originally from Zimbabwe and grew up in Somerset and Hampshire. She now lives and works in Greater London as a research analyst in a molecular biology lab where she has been working in PCR research. Music is her passion and she will listen to anything from Rock to Metalcore to Dance music. She enjoys experimenting with strong makeup looks and she loves dressing up in one of her alternative handmade outfits for a night out.

CRISTIAN, 29

London (Originally from Romania)

Retail Store Manager

Cristian grew up near Transylvania in the mountains of Romania as one of 6 children. His mum is a music teacher and Cristian also has a diploma in music teaching, specialising in the oboe. Cristian had a love for fashion from a young age and learnt to sew by watching his mother making her clothes.

DEBRA, 51

North Wales

Communication Lead & Personal Assistant

Debra is an active outdoorsy person who can usually be found sailing or snorkelling in the chilly waters off Anglesey with her son and husband. Debra started sewing age 9 by making outfits for her dolls and then worked her way up to full sized garments for herself. Debra admits to being a bit of a messy sewer with lots of random fabric and assorted projects all over the place. She prefers to develop her own designs and freestyle than to rigidly follow a pattern.

GILL, 44

Doncaster

Public Health Intelligence Analyst

Gill first tried sewing when her husband bought her a machine 3 years ago. It was love at first stitch and she’s never looked back. She taught herself to sew, starting with a headscarf from a 1970’s duvet cover – which she’s yet to wear out in public. Gill makes clothes for herself and her two stepdaughters and she’s also made menswear including pyjamas for her husband and even a three-piece suit for a work colleague. She’s even branched out to making a dog coat for her greyhound rescue Maureen.

MAN YEE, 25

London

Actuary

Man Yee was born in Hong Kong and moved to Portsmouth as a child. Her sewing journey started over a decade ago when she and her friends wanted to dress up as Japanese anime characters for Comic Con, so she asked her aunt to teach her how to sew. Her style has developed from avant-garde and Japanese street style to one that balances playfulness and sophistication.

MARNI, 50

Devon

Veterinary Surgeon

Marni has been a vet for 26 years and she now runs a busy veterinary surgery in Devon with her husband. She focuses primarily on pets, ranging from dogs and cats to lizards and llamas and even the odd goat. Marni was born in Canada. She and her mum are Canadian First Nation members of the Maliseet tribe.

MITCH, 31

Cumbria

Theatre Manager

Mitch met his fiancé at University but they hit it off romantically when he joined her ABBA tribute band as Benny a few years later. Mitch grew up around his mother sewing when he was a boy in Leicester, but was never interested in it until his fiancée started sewing 2 years ago and he decided to give it a go. Since then, he has studied books & YouTube videos to teach himself. Mitch mostly makes clothes for himself and his two children, he loves a loud and “lairy fabric” to help make his garments stand out.

RICHY, 34

Shrewsbury

Baker

Richy is a professional baker at an independent cafe where he works with his partner of 15 years. One of the first things Richy made was a wool skirt with a gold satin lining for his mum but it shrunk on the first wash. It spurred him however to sew more and now he mainly makes historical garments which he extensively researches. He will often bury himself in a history book or visit a museum in his pursuit for recreating an 18th or 19th century garment.

STEVE, 32

Newcastle (originally from Essex)

Personal Running Coach

Steve grew up in Essex and is a massive Millwall supporter. Steve has been a music enthusiast since he was a teenager, when he played bass guitar in a punk band, and loves curating playlists to listen to whilst sewing. He decided to take up sewing as a hobby during lockdown, since then he hasn’t stopped and he now sews for at least 2 hours a day. He likes to make at least one garment a week using bright bold colours which clash pop and film culture references.