The Great British Sewing Bee fans baffled by 'insane' week two tasks

Sara Pascoe with The Great British Sewing Bee 2023 contestants
The Great British Sewing Bee has had some pretty tough challenges so far! (Image credit: BBC/Love Productions/James Stack)

The Great British Sewing Bee 2023 fans have all commented on the difficulty of some of the challenges, especially considering we're only in the second week.

Following the series' launch last week, the remaining ambitious sewers were tasked with creating items perfect for a holiday. Among these tasks was a Sewing Bee first, with Esme Young and Patrick Grant asking them to make a rucksack.

Giving the brief, the sewers were told they had to take on complex strap construction, complete with metal hardware for adjustment, as well as adding a lining to create a bag that was as robust as it was stylish.

Both fans and sewers alike were shocked at just how tricky putting together a sturdy, functional rucksack is, especially when they only had three and a half hours to complete the task. No pressure then!

Elsewhere, the tasks continued to put the contestants through their paces. In the Transformation challenge, they were asked to sculpt windbreakers into emergency rainwear, which wasn't easy as they had to make sure the material was comfortable and not too tight!

No holiday is complete without a trusty swimming costume, which leads us on to the final challenge: the Made to Measure. There were two different challenges here with some making a costume designed for open-water swimming, and others making one designed for some poolside posing. 

All the sewers worked diligently to bring these items to life, but fans were quick to point out just how difficult some of the designs were, especially considering it was only the second week of the competition. Talk about throwing people in the deep end!

Many fans shared their thoughts on the challenges, in particular the rucksack and swimming costume, with one saying they were "never" going to attempt to do it themselves.

The sewers still impressed despite the difficult nature, and Garment of the Week was awarded to Mia's puff-sleeve swimming costume which was praised for being both functional and eye catching.

Meanwhile, retired HR Manager and secretary Gillie was sent home from the competition this week. She was praised for her warmth and kindness but, ultimately, had been the weakest sewer in week 2.

The Great British Sewing Bee continues on Wednesday, June 7 at 9 pm with episodes also available on iPlayer.

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Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Now she works for our sister site TechRadar in the same role. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.

She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress