Retro Makeup Giveaway Winner, Sewing Bee Casting, Gender and Sewing, Oh My!

And Winner Is . . . 

We had almost 400 entries to win Lauren Rennells's Retro Makeup! The prize goes to Jenni, who commented on March 14th at 3:56 am. (I hope you're in a really far away time zone, Jenni. Otherwise, you need to get more beauty sleep!) HRST Books will contact you to send the book. Thanks so much for the giveaway, Lauren and HRST!

Men!

Secondly, are you a man? Are you a man who sews as a hobby? Or do you know someone of that persuasion? The Sewing Bee is casting right now and they're specifically looking for more menfolk.

The catch is that you must be an amateur--i.e. not make the bulk of your income from sewing.

Sewing and Gender Diversity

I think there's an interesting blog post to be written here. I mean, the reason they're having trouble finding men is that there aren't that many men who sew as a hobby! And if they do, there's a good chance they might not want the whole world to know. Sewing is a traditionally female activity, and therefore hasn't been given a lot of respect in the past. While I'd rather see women making up the majority of the contestants (and I'm sure they will), I also want some diversity represented.

(Also, it's fun to watch the women kick the men's butts on The Great British Sewing Bee. I just started season 2, and the men are so out of their league!)

What do you think? Are you keen to have men well-represented on The Sewing Bee--more so than they make up the sewing population in general? Or do you think the show's contestants should represent the sewing population as it is?

The Great British Sewing Bee Is Casting!

I wrote about my love for this TV show here. In case you missed it, The Great British Sewing Bee is an amazing reality TV series devoted to finding the best amateur sewist in the UK. You can watch all the episodes on YouTube, starting with episode 1 here. You will quickly want to follow with episodes 2, 3, and 4, all of which are also available on YouTube.

Now allow me to get a little weird. Love really isn't a strong enough word for how I feel about this show. I was truly delighted, charmed, entertained, touched, and inspired to sew by each episode. I find myself thinking about it all the time: strange, but true. I could gush about it for hours on end. Let's just call it an obsession. So I was thrilled to get an email from the production company behind the show announcing that they're casting for season 2. Let me repeat: THEY'RE CASTING FOR SEASON 2!!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world.

British readers, please allow me to live my dream vicariously through you! Go apply now and don't forget to report back on the experience. Aunt Gertie wants to know everything. Is Patrick truly that handsome? (It kind of freaks me out how good-looking he is.) Is May that sweet and knowledgeable? Is Claudia really so quirky and delightful? (I've now added the phrase "Ring-a-ding-DING" to my everyday vocab.)

Go apply now please!

P.S. And also, can we please brainstorm on how to make an American version happen? Are you a TV producer? A powerful media mogul? I've had daydreams about somehow getting a Great American Sewing Bee on the air, but I don't even know where to start. I would humbly submit myself as contestant, judge, consultant, anything! Anything, people!