The Great British Sewing Bee

The Great British Sewing Bee is back, with 12 sewers competing this time. Joe Lycett kicks off ten weeks of the most perplexing patterns, eye-popping transformations and stunning made-to-measure garments yet. Scrutinising every stitch are Saville Row's Patrick Grant and Central Saint Martins's Esme Young, testing the sewers across a huge range of garments from rugby shirts to children's dungarees, flamenco skirts to a boned basque, via food fancy dress. 

In their first week, the sewers are eased in gently with wardrobe staples that might look familiar but aren't necessarily straightforward to make. For their pattern challenge, the judges ask for a wrap skirt, a garment whose clean crisp lines can only be achieved through precise cutting, accurate stitching and a judicious choice of fabric. 

Next, the contestants' ability to make the ordinary extraordinary is put to the test in the transformation challenge, as they transform two plain men's office shirts into a stylish new garment to fit a female mannequin. 

For the week's final challenge, the mannequins are replaced with human models as the sewers attempt to make their first made-to-measure garment - a tea dress. This classic below-the-knee and above-the-ankle dress allows for interpretation, letting the contestants' personalities shine through whether they opt for a vintage or contemporary style. It also proves to be a benchmark test of their ability to achieve a flawless fit and to impress the judges with the finer details. 

Battling against the clock to showcase their skill and creativity, who will stitch their way to Garment of the Week, and who will unravel at this early stage, becoming the first to leave the Great British Sewing Bee

With Joe Lycett hosting, things are hotting up in the sewing room as the 11 remaining sewers return for holiday week. First up, it is the pattern challenge, which this week is a pair of palazzo pants, perfect for keeping cool whilst abroad. The sewers are asked to insert an invisible zip and pockets, and the judges have a keen eye on how well the sewers pattern match bold prints. Next, for their transformation challenge, the sewers are asked to turn towels into stylish beach cover-ups in just 90 minutes.

For the final challenge, male models arrive in the sewing room to be fitted with a made-to-measure holiday shirt, using bright and colourful fabrics. The sewers must create a perfectly relaxed fit. Whose holiday shirt will bring on the sunshine, and who will become the second person to leave the sewing room?

Joe Lycett welcomes the ten remaining home sewers back to the nation's most famous sewing room for children's week. The garments might be mini, but they are a mammoth challenge because they are fiddly to sew.

To test the sewers' dexterity, judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young kick off the pattern challenge with a classic for any little girl's wardrobe – a smocked dress. The task requires the sewers to combine tricky techniques, including making a bias binding and a Peter Pan collar, and, most difficult of all, creating a smocked bodice. Next, in the transformation challenge, the sewers let their imaginations run wild, turning sleeping bags into food shaped fancy dress. Finally, the Sewing Bee welcomes mini-models for the made-to-measure task, which is to make a pair of dungarees for a girl or boy. These must be perfectly fitted but allow enough freedom of movement to play in.

Who will climb their way to the top and win garment of the week, and who will stumble, becoming the third sewer to leave the Great British Sewing Bee?

Joe Lycett hosts as the nine remaining sewers return to the nation's most famous sewing room for sportswear week. To test the sewers' ability to create practical and stylish sportswear, judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young kick off the pattern challenge with a rugby shirt. The task requires a tricky combination of hard-to-handle stretch fabrics and a fiendishly difficult-to-construct placket. Then, in the transformation challenge, the sewers take cover and turn cagoules into miniature waterproof onesies for toddlers. Finally, the made-to-measure challenge involves tennis outfits. These must be perfectly fitted but allow enough freedom of movement to win a grand slam. Who will smash their way to the top and win garment of the week, and who will score a double fault, becoming the fourth sewer to leave the Great British Sewing Bee?

The eight remaining sewers return to the sewing room for lingerie and sleepwear week. The garments might look luxurious, but working with the slippery and delicate fabrics is hugely challenging.

To test the sewers' handling skills, judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young kick off the pattern challenge with a boned basque. The task requires sewing together small pattern pieces for a precise fit and creating a tricky hook and eye fastening. Next, in the transformation challenge, the sewers transform pajamas and nightwear into summer dresses.

Finally, the models are back to be fitted for two-piece female sleep sets, each of which has to incorporate lace somewhere in the design. These must fit comfortably, and the luxurious fabrics must be finished precisely and expertly. Who will have a dream of a week and win garment of the week, and who will have a nightmare, becoming the fifth sewer to leave the Great British Sewing Bee?

The fashion industry is the biggest polluter of our planet besides oil, so for reduce, reuse and recycle week, all the fabric in the haberdashery is replaced with charity shop clothes and soft furnishings. To breathe new life into this old fabric, host Joe Lycett kicks the seven remaining home sewers off with a pattern for a man's bomber jacket, which must be pieced together from four secondhand women's garments. Judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young are looking for precision sewing and the ability to design and create garments using attractive colour combinations.

In the transformation challenge, the sewers are tasked with turning laundry bags into stylish, wearable garments, and then have to use old knitwear to create a made-to-measure jumper dress, perfectly fitted to their model. One of the jumpers has to be brought in from home and mean something to them personally. It's a Sewing Bee first, as the sewers have never been asked to sew with knitted fabrics before.

With Joe Lycett hosting, the six remaining home sewers head back in time to the 1980s, attempting to revive the glamorous - and sometimes ridiculous - style of the decade. This is more than a stroll down memory lane, as they tackle the decade's most tailored, fun and over the top garments.

First, judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young challenge the sewers to get down to business with the trickiest pattern so far, a woman's power jacket. Creating the perfect jacket involves grappling with tailoring fabrics and taking on such daunting technical hurdles as lapel construction and inserting shoulder pads, hopefully without getting in a flap. For the transformation challenge, it's party time as the sewers let rip with their imagination, turning high-vis work clothes into party outfits.

In the made-to-measure challenge, the sewers take on their final icon of eighties fashion, the cocktail dress. Working with bold, shiny fabrics, they must create a knee-length-or-above dress that embodies the excess of the 1980s. Who will disco dance their way to garment of the week, and for whom will eighties week signal the end of an era, as they become the seventh sewer to wave goodbye to the Great British Sewing Bee?

Joe Lycett hosts the quarter final, as the five remaining sewers go global, taking on garments and techniques from around the world.

First, they must follow a pattern they have never encountered before, as judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young ask them to make a Filipino terno blouse. Delicate-looking but deceptively robust, this garment involves difficult-to-handle fabrics worked into distinctive, voluminous butterfly sleeves and intricate covered buttons.

Next, it's the transformation challenge, as the sewers take on Provencal table cloths from France. These colourful, strikingly patterned cloths must be transformed into a brand new outfit in just 90 minutes, making imaginative use of the distinctive, bold print.

And for the made-to-measure challenge, the sewers take on the dramatic Flamenco skirt from southern Spain. They must create a perfect figure-hugging fit combined with impactful ruffles achieved by inserting yards and yards of fabric into the skirt.

Who will win a place in the coveted semi-final?

The amateur sewer competition hosted by Joe Lycett continues. This time, the four remaining contestants take part in the semi final, creating garments inspired by silver screen. First, the semi-finalists must follow a pattern like none they have encountered before, as judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young ask them to make a dress inspired by Marilyn Monroe's in The Seven Year Itch. In the Transformation Challenge, the sewers have to make a sci-fi inspired outfit in just 90 minutes, before creating a made to measure flapper dress for the final task of the semi final.

The contest, hosted by Joe Lycett, reaches its final stage as the last three contestants take on a trio of celebration wear challenges before the winner is announced. Judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young start by challenging the sewers to make a little boys kilt without a pattern. In the Transformation Challenge, they each attempt to turn party dresses into fun outfits fit to wear at a carnival, before finally creating unique gowns using luxury fabric in the Made to Measure challenge. At the end of the three challenges, one of the competitors is crowned this year's winner.