The Sewing Bee is back and it's better than ever. To catch up with the new series head over to our Great British Sewing Bee guide but if you want to learn more about the legendary Patrick Grant then you've come to the right place.
We sat down with the one and only Patrick Grant to get all his thoughts and feelings about the latest series of the show. But first, discover more about Patrick's sewing background…
Who is Patrick Grant?
Patrick Grant has been with the Sewing Bee since it began in 2013. He was chosen to judge alongside May Martin and later Esme Young, thanks to his experience in designing men's fashion.
He was born in Edinburgh and studied at the University of Leeds and New College, Oxford. Before turning to fashion, Patrick was an aspiring rugby player whose rugby career was cut short by a shoulder injury.
He later moved to the US where he worked in a surprising variety of jobs. His first job there was as a ski instructor, but he also worked as a nanny, camp counsellor, landscape gardener and model agent. He returned to the UK in 1995 to pursue a career in marketing.
In 2005, Patrick sold his house and car (as well as seeking loans from family and friends) to buy Norton & Sons, a struggling Saville Row bespoke tailor. He threw himself into restoring the 200-year-old business to its former glory and was able to turn its fortunes around.
Patrick went on to revive the E. Tautz brand in 2009 and acquired Cookson & Clegg in 2015, saving the 160-year-old business from closure.
He was awarded an Honorary Professor of Business from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2013 and was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 2016.
How old is Patrick Grant?
He is 51. Patrick Grant was born on 1st May 1972.
How tall is Patrick Grant?
Patrick Grant is 1.9m (6"2).
What is Patrick Grant doing now?
Patrick is the owner of Norton & Sons and Cookson & Clegg, as well as the menswear label E. Tautz. He is the king of artisanal suits with an eye for detail and precision which he brings to all his judging.
But it's not just high end tailoring that's keeping Patrick busy, he set up Community Clothing to support ethical clothing manufacturing practices.
Patrick is also a supporter of HRH King Charles III's charity Future Textiles. The charity aims to educate young people and sustain Britain's traditional craft skills for the next generation.
All this and judging in our favourite TV show? How does he do it!
Now we've given you a bit of background on Patrick, have a read of our interview with him about the latest series of the Sewing Bee.
Meet The Great British Sewing Bee 2024's judge Patrick Grant!
Here's what the amazing Patrick Grant has to say about 2024's Sewing Bee series...
How did it feel walking into the sewing room for Sewing Bee’s celebratory 10th series?
Pretty good. It's funny when you reach certain milestones and they give you pause to reflect. It’s interesting to see how far the conversation around clothes has changed over a decade. And the conversation around our own abilities to make and mend and reuse both the clothes and the textiles we have in our homes.
I’d be surprised if Sewing Bee hadn't had a fairly significant impact on people's awareness of the issues around the production and disposal of clothing. And, also, on their willingness to participate in doing things a better way.
In this series, for the first time, there were a significant number of sewers wearing clothes they'd made out of non-new materials. Also, on various made-to-measure challenges outside of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Week, they were voluntarily choosing to make clothes out of reclaimed or repurposed textiles. That is a fundamental change in thinking and we've had a lot to do with that.
Did any sewers taking part this year start sewing after watching the show, too?
Yes. There have been loads of them over the last few years. And, in a non-shouty way, we drop things into the conversation that often people find quite shocking.
You know, little statistics about the clothing industry? I remember having a conversation with a researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London, and they’d calculated there was enough clothing on the planet at that time to clothe the next six generations of the human race – even allowing for exponential growth in population. I said that on the show and thousands of people mentioned it on social media.
It reminded me that, in our quiet way, we are encouraging positive changes.
Patrick Grant
There has often been times where something has really struck a chord and made people think more carefully about their clothing choices. We were nominated for a BAFTA last year and BAFTA ran a bit of film about television’s positive influence on environmentally sustainable practices. There was a clip of me on Sewing Bee in this film. So, even though we didn't win a BAFTA, that was super nice. It reminded me that, in our quiet way, we are encouraging positive changes.
What's the standard of the sewers this year?
As good as the last three years – we’ve had a pretty consistent standard.
Sometimes we've had people who are more technically capable, sometimes people who are more creatively capable. And not just creatively capable with time to prepare at home. Some people have been phenomenally good at picking up whatever pile of gubbins we throw in front of them in the transformation challenge and making something incredible. This year is no exception. It's not always the technically most competent person who wins. That’s what's made the show much more interesting over the last four or five years.
You have quite an age range this year…
Yes. We have a lovely retired research physicist who’s up into his 80s. He’s 84. The sewers are aged from 20 to 84. We have never lacked for interesting, warm, kind, open individuals on the show. Hats off to the team who find all these brilliant people we want to hang out with for weeks on end. They do such a fantastic job.
The standard now – as it has been over the last four or five years at least – is so high. Their ideas are so good and everybody is so nice, it's really tough to send anybody home. My own rather brief appearance on Celebrity MasterChef brought home to me just how bad it feels to be that first person out, so I have great sympathy. Unfortunately, somebody has to go, but now those somebodies are all really good.
What are the most unusual day jobs of the sewers this year?
We have a retired research physicist – which seems an unlikely spot from which to garner a contestant for a creative sewing programme. LAUGHS We have a young woman who’s a DJ – mostly DJ-ing clubs and festivals on the South Coast. We have a diversity, equality and inclusion director. And we had our first non-binary contestant. As usual, a mix of genuinely nice and fun people.
You've got something special in week one. You’re harking back to the first ever episode…
Yes. The starting point for each of the challenges in this year’s first episode was the corresponding challenge in the first episode of the first series. It was really interesting to compare how far the challenges have come in terms of complexity.
In that initial series, we asked people to make an A-line skirt. In this series, we’re asking people to make an A-line skirt, but it's a much more complicated A-line skirt. In the second challenge of the first series, we asked people to change the neckline on a tunic top. That seems improbably straightforward compared to today's transformation challenges.
Where you throw a bundle of fishing nets and rope on a table and say: ‘Make a holiday bag!’
Yes! For one transformation challenge this year, we went to a chandler’s and filled a wheelbarrow. LAUGHS The final challenge in the first year was just ‘Make a dress…’ This year, it was more specific – a dress with a vintage or summer festival look. Expectations now are higher.
It was a nice way to cast everybody's mind back and demonstrated how far the capabilities of the general public have gone. We see more sewing schools now and we see more haberdasheries. Sadly, I don't think we're seeing much more sewing in school, although we should.
The Environmental Audit Committee picked it up as one of the things we should do in this country to encourage more sustainable practice, but they've done nothing about it slightly unsurprisingly.
Sewing Bee has really gone from strength to strength…
There were about two million people who watched the first series. I imagine many of those are still watching and they've been joined by another three-and-a-half million more.
Of course, our winner in the first series had been – until this series – our oldest ever contestant. [The late] Ann Rowley was 81 and phenomenal. She was sort of classically-trained on dressmaking, tailoring, embroidery… she could do absolutely everything meticulously. The way she sewed was the way professionals sew in places like Savile Row.
Quite a few past sewers I still see or chat to occasionally. It’s nice to have built this network. We try very much to avoid becoming too friendly with contestants during the series. It's difficult enough for Esme and I to judge as it is, without having the added complication of personal favouritism and friendships. Luckily, we get opportunities to meet them afterwards and we're delighted to get to know them a bit better.
What were your favourite challenges this year?
They were genuinely the best set of challenges we've ever put together. I can't think of any I didn't really, really enjoy. My favourite pattern challenge… well, I really liked the fleece we did in Sport Week. It’s just such a brilliant, different and jolly array of outcomes. You had quite a bit of scope because there were multiple materials and you could place bits of colour in different places. That I really liked.
I liked the Balenciaga-inspired challenge in Design Icons Week. It was a real mind-bender and an interesting thing to show just how innovative pattern cutters can be. It was just fun to be doing something that elevated on Sewing Bee. I don't want to give too much away, but it was a dress with a significantly challenging pattern. When you looked at that pattern on the board, it looked like no dress pattern you'd ever seen.
You had absolutely no idea how to put it together…
Absolutely none. There was no way your knowledge of everyday dressmaking would have got you to the end of that challenge… at all.
You do like to test the sewers…
We do give them instructions, but even then… LAUGHS Frankly, they managed it brilliantly.
What about favourite transformation challenges?
Reusing cricket stuff was fun. For years, Central Saint Martins art school has done a project for their first year students where they have to make outfits that are entirely white. And, because it is an Olympic year, we did Sport Week, so we reused cricket whites – including boxes, pads, gloves and all kinds of paraphernalia. That was fun.
And I loved the challenge using nautical gear: nets, rope, old fishermen’s raincoats, welly boots and all that. That was really fun.
The animal fancy dress in Kids Week was phenomenal and really difficult to judge. They were some of the best transformations. We gave them a bunch of beach towels and said: ‘You’re on holiday, your kid’s going to an animal-themed fancy dress. Away you go…’
Any particularly memorable made-to-measure challenges for you?
Turning a wedding dress into a party outfit was amazing. People have a difficult time imagining doing something else with a wedding dress. You’re never gonna wear it again, so why not turn it into something you can wear which brings back all the lovely memories you might have of your wedding day? If, indeed, you have lovely memories of it. If you haven't, it's even better because you can chop it up and turn it into something useful. It was a great challenge and they did loads of fun stuff to the fabric. They were allowed to dye it, print it and paint it before they came into the sewing room.
And, again, because it's the Paris 2024 Olympics, we did a made-to-measure sports kit. You got to choose a country and a sport and had to make an Olympic outfit for that sport. Some of them would’ve been the best Olympic kit that team would’ve ever worn in that sport.
You've got a new host this year. How did Kiell Smith-Bynoe fit in with the gang?
Well, Esme and I both knew Kiell from his fabulous appearance on the Christmas Special in 2021 where he was the kind of understated linchpin of hilarity. When we heard he was in the frame for the job, Esme and I were both delighted he was being considered. He fitted straight in.
He’s a very different character from Joe [Lycett] and Sara [Pascoe]. Obviously, like Sara, he'd been a contestant on a celebrity special, but he’s a comic actor, rather than a comedian. There’s a very different spirit. We had a lovely time. He was great with the sewers and brought his own personality. He was brilliant fun and did a fantastic job.
You did a bit of karaoke, we hear…
We did a bit of karaoke, yeah. That’s becoming something of a crew tradition now, the karaoke. It’s so nice we get to socialise because for three years we weren't allowed to outside of filming because of Covid. Not that there's an awful lot of time off-camera, but yeah…
What were you singing this time?
Oh God, I did a few things, but I made the terrible mistake of singing [Van Morrison’s] Brown Eyed Girl, which I’d forgotten goes on for about 15 bloody minutes. It felt like 15 hours by the time I got to the end. You’ve got to be fit to sing that song. I was exhausted at the end… my poor old diaphragm.
When you made the first episode of Sewing Bee with host Claudia Winkleman and fellow judge May Martin, did you think the show would catch on and still be around 11 years later?
No, I absolutely didn't. It just didn't cross my mind. That first series was not quite make-it-up-as-you-go-along because, obviously, we had a format, but the whole tone of the show was set. I remember talking at great length about the judging criteria and how we were going to show what was happening in the room on TV. We were absolutely engrossed in trying to get a good show out just that once.
I think the BBC was hoping for a million viewers. It was on BBC Two at 8pm and a million viewers then was not like a million viewers today. Now, if you get a million viewers, you're really, really pleased. Then, a million viewers was a sort of average for the time slot. Far fewer people watch live TV now. We got double what they expected and, of course, they recommissioned a second series. We were in some funny little chapel just on the corner of Balls Pond Road in Dalston. We had a sort of caravan out the back that me, Claudia and May all shared as our green room. You could barely swing a cat in the whole place, but it was phenomenal fun.
How long do you think Sewing Bee can go on and how long do you want it to go on with you?
I'd be happy for it to go on until I’m… well, Esme is managing to smash through it in her mid-70s. That gives me 25 years of physical and mental capability. I'd be delighted. I love making the show. It's hard work because my day job doesn't stop when I go to Leeds to film Sewing Bee. And, almost always, my day job is incredibly demanding on my time and energy and brainpower. Who knows? Maybe one of these years, my day job might get a little easier.
This year, I was trying to write two books and run Community Clothing while filming. Every moment I wasn’t on camera, I had my laptop out and was writing something, but I still love it. The atmosphere on set is terrific. We get on really, really well, they're such a nice crew. Half, at least, of the technical crew have done at least half the show, so it does feel like a family. And the sewers… they do such a good job of finding lovely people. It’s always fun. Also, it's an opportunity to put yourself in a room with people very different from the ones you might live and work with every day. It’s a real privilege to get a chance to hear what’s important to them in their lives. And it's a real joy to get to work with Claudia and Joe and Sara and now Kiell. I count myself incredibly lucky.
What sewing machines are used on the Sewing Bee?
If you've been eyeing up the machines on the Bee and want to know which model or brand they're using, we've got you covered! Simply Sewing Magazine's senior technical editor has tracked down what sewing machines are used on the Sewing Bee so you can order your own.
Why Patrick Grant is a brilliant Sewing Bee judge
Patrick Grant is at the heart of the Sewing Bee – and he's been judging the show since it first launched in 2013! Patrick brings a lot of personality to the show and it's easy to see how much his feedback matters to the contestants.
As well as adding warmth and wit to the show, Patrick has years of experience in men's fashion, with a keen eye for tailoring and precision. He's the owner of Norton & Sons and Cookson & Clegg, but he also established Community Clothing to support ethical clothing manufacturing practices.
We can't wait to see Patrick back in the sewing room for the new series!
Get to know the Sewing Bee's Esme Young
It wouldn't be the Sewing Bee without our favourite duo: Patrick Grant and Esme Young! Esme's fashion career has spanned 50 years, so she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the sewing room. She's worked with a number of celebrities over the years, including Leonardo Di Caprio!
Get to know Esme Young with Gathered's fascinating interview.
