The Great British Sewing Bee Book tour has landed at My Happy Sewing Place! YAY! If you haven't heard--the Great British Sewing Bee is a new TV show in the UK all about sewing! Plus, it has the best. intro. ever. If the intro alone doesn't make you want to run (not walk) to your sewing machine...I don't know what will!
Check out episode 2 here (the title music at 1.50 to 2.10 is the best!):
You can imagine I jumped at the chance to get my sewing paws on this book. One of the things I absolutely love about the book and the show are the stories of sewing history in the UK. The show name is inspired by the Sewing Bees that took place in Buckingham Palace to 'Stitch for Victory' in 1939. I've just loved reading these vignettes which are scattered throughout the book..
There are also loads of fantastic patterns in the book. I think it's the first time that I've seen a sewing book in which I wanted to make almost all of the patterns:
There's one pattern included in the back of the book (for a tunic blouse). For the rest of the patterns you either have to download them and print them out or scan and enlarge the pattern page.
I've downloaded the Pyjama bottoms pattern (I don't know about you but I've been wanting an easy staple pj pattern that I don't need to draft myself...lol):
It was really easy to download and print out the pattern. This is what one of the pages looks like:
The black notches help you match up the pages for taping together:
Et voila! All ready to cut out! I'll be making both David and myself some new PJs this week! Definitely check out the book if you want a nice collection of staple patterns (including curtains, cushion covers, a circle skirt, a fabulous halter dress...the list goes on!) The book is also great because I recognise a lot of the patterns that were made during the show (including Tilly's blouse pattern!)
Check out the giveaways of the book happening at the moment:
- Karen is giving away a copy over at her blog Did You Make That
- There is a giveaway going on over at Teasemade
Also check out the other reviews that are part of this blog tour organised by Crafty magazine:
- At the blog Peas and Needles
- The lovely review by Jane who blogs over at Handmade Jane
Next up, the blog tour is heading over to Rachel, just back from her trip to Brazil! Check out her post tomorrow at House of Pinheiro.
A super big thank you to Crafty magazine for including me in this fabulous line-up! So, tell me... Have you seen the show? What did you think of last week's elimination? Do you love the intro music/title as much as I do?
