Leeds shop owner where The Great British Sewing Bee is filmed on huge increase of ‘inspired’ viewers taking up the hobby

The owner of sewing school and shop based in the Leeds venue where the “hugely popular” TV show is filmed has spoken about the huge increase in the popularity of sewing.
Charles Gray
By Charles Gray
Published 25th Jul 2023, 17:41 GMT
Updated 25th Jul 2023, 17:44 GMT
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Nicola Lee owns School of Sew in Farsley's picturesque Sunny Bank Mill, where the filming takes place for the BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee.

The final of this year’s series will be broadcast tomorrow (Wednesday) and Nicola said that the impact of the show and the wider appreciation that has grown for sewing has been felt in her shop.

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"It’s really, really popular”, she said. “We get loads of people coming in asking if it was filmed here.

Nicola Lee - pictured with her daughter Isobel - is the founder of School of Sew in Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, which is featured in the Great British Sewing Bee. Picture: Jonathan GawthorpeNicola Lee - pictured with her daughter Isobel - is the founder of School of Sew in Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, which is featured in the Great British Sewing Bee. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe
Nicola Lee - pictured with her daughter Isobel - is the founder of School of Sew in Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, which is featured in the Great British Sewing Bee. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

"We had some Americans come in the other day and we have people filming on their phones through the windows while we’re having classes!”

The filming for the show takes place in a separate part of the mill but Nicola’s School of Sew has become synonymous with it.