Great British Sewing Bee: Self-taught Shrewsbury sewer reveals his favourite garments to make

Richy Wedge will feature on Wednesday night's first episode as he battles it out with 11 others to take the sewing crown.

This week, host Sara Pascoe welcomes some of Britain’s most talented home sewers into the sewing room, where judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young ask them to create a capsule wardrobe across three challenges. The haberdashery is stocked with Yorkshire wool and the sewers dive into the competition with their first pattern challenge to make a wool mini skirt, with piped patch pockets.

Then, in the transformation challenge, the sewers turn lockdown loungewear into a going out top for an adult in just 90 minutes. The final made to measure task sees the sewers try to perfectly fit a wrap dress to their model. One sewer gets off to a flying start, being awarded Garment of the Week, and another’s hopes are dashed as they become the first to be sent home. To find out how Richy got on, you'll have to watch the show.

Richy, who works at Stop Cafe in Shrewsbury with his partner of 15 years, said: "Filming this series was an extremely liberating experience because it took me completely out of my comfort zone. Many doors have opened since filming this series.

"I started sewing when I was 16 and I haven’t been able to stop since then. It’s a comforting and productive escape from the everyday, and something I find extremely therapeutic. The mental benefits of sewing should not be underestimated! As time went on, I found my love for costumes and period pieces, and this developed into my recreation of historical garments. It’s very fulfilling to recreate a piece of history with your own hands.

"I watched a lot of YouTube videos and am completely self-taught. My favourite garments to sew are period pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries.

"The majority of modern fashion is designed to meet supply and demand, and as a consequence, it has lost a touch of individuality. Garments from the 18th and 19th centuries, however, have a personal quality to them, as many pieces were made to measure or adjusted to fit. They use lost techniques that are interesting to research and recreate; everything was done for a purpose, and a great level of skill was used in each garment. Making corsets, undergarments, and stays are interesting and fun to make."

He added: "I am incredibly attached to my sewing machine. It was my nan’s and is very old-fashioned but is extremely satisfying to use because it feels like a piece of history.

"My worst sewing disaster was a wool skirt that shrunk as soon as I washed it because I didn’t preshrink the fabric. It was hideous, but I wasn’t deterred. It made me want to improve my skills and try again.

"My biggest triumph was a Regency dress I made over the summer, complete with all of the undergarments. I extensively researched the techniques that would have originally been used, and the type of fabrics the various pieces should be made in, and I followed these as closely as I could to ensure it was historically accurate. The finished piece consisted of a corset, stays, petticoat, dress, and jacket, with a small bag and bonnet to finish it off. This is the kind of work I want to continue within my sewing endeavours."

Richy will be in action on BBC One at 8pm.