Netflix and Sew: Our Favourite Sewing-Inspired Television Shows
- Words by Peppermint
Sewing is a great hobby that engages the brain and the hands – tactile, creative and away from those damn screens. But sometimes we’re tiiiiiiired. Sometimes the spirit itches to stitch but the body is weak, or the sewing pile is empty, or we just miss our best friends the screens so much.
Luckily for us, there are some mighty fine television shows out there that can soothe the savage sewing beast while you stay snug on the couch, or lying and cutting fabric, or hand sewing, or, if you’re a real daredevil who cares not about a needle through the finger, while you’re on the machine itself. We’ve chosen some of our favourite sewing-inspired television shows to share with you – shows that not only satisfy but educate and inspire, so you can throw yourself back into your own sewing practice refreshed and refuelled with new information and ideas you can’t wait to try out!
The Great British Sewing Bee
If you’re looking for Top Tier Sewing Television you can’t go past our beloved The Great British Sewing Bee. Each week, an eclectic bunch of amateur home sewists compete to be crowned Britain’s most sensational seamster under the wry and watchful eyes of judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young and new host Sara Pascoe. Full of the understated drama and general bonhomie characteristic of British reality television, every episode includes lessons in sewing history and special techniques for contestants and viewers alike.
Project Runway
Another Grand Matriarch in the Sewing TV Pantheon is the estimable Project Runway, where aspiring fashion designers compete to create the best clothes while restricted by various time, material and theme constraints. Spanning 18 years, 19 seasons, multiple spin-offs and several eras of fashion now abhorrent to human eyes (low-rise jeans you will never be our jellicle choice!), it is a rich vein of content for you binge-watchers out there.
READ MORE: Here are 11 Films to Inspire Your Sewing
Making The Cut
Making the Cut is hosted by platonic power duo Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum who left Project Runway to create their own legally distinct, though ideologically identical, fashion reality series. Picture Project Runway but with more established designers, higher production values and a renewed sense of energy (they’ve got Bezos’ cash to burn). It’s a good time and we challenge anyone not to feel inspired when they hear Tim Gunn sternly but not unkindly bidding you to “make it work”.
Next in Fashion
Queer Eye-con Tan France and Alexa Chung (to be replaced by Gigi Hadid in season 2, coming soon) present Netflix’s Next in Fashion, where 18 seasoned designers compete for the opportunity to take their labels to the next level. With an incredible amount of talent on show, each challenge reflects a different trend or design style that has had a major influence on the world of fashion. Tan brings with him the purposefully positive ethos that encapsulated his previous cult classic, cultivating a diverse, queer-positive and welcoming vibe to escape into.
A Stitch in Time
An accessible introduction to fashion history, Amber Butchart brings the past to life by choosing iconic and interesting historical outfits from paintings and recreating them using only period-appropriate techniques. Working with expert historical costuming crews, Amber shows how much we can tell about historical figures and their lives from only the clothes they wore, not to mention exposing the techniques required to create some truly sumptuous outfits, all while showing off her own serious style and charmingly unserious approach to learning.
READ MORE: What Historical Sewists Can Teach Us About Slow Fashion
RuPaul’s Drag Race
RuPaul scours the drag queen population for the newest swathe of drag superstars, judging them against criteria of charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. While not always the main focus, a queen’s ability to stay in the race or sashay away is largely dependent on her sewing skills. Either way, the assortment of Capital-L Lewks they put on the runway each episode in order to meet various themes and challenges, often home-sewn, are sure to inspire you to serve, slay and so on and so forth in your own sewing.
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“My piece of advice for makers and designers? Run your own race… make sure your key decisions stay anchored in your brand’s core beliefs.”
- Bec Bligh
Quick show of hands: who’s opened a water bottle expecting a refreshing sip… and instead been greeted by the unmistakable whiff of uh-oh?
Because for something that follows us everywhere (desk, car, hikes, yoga…), the humble drink bottle is strangely prone to becoming a science experiment. Hard-to-clean corners and gaskets. Mystery smells. Bec Bligh and her husband Tim know it well. A six-month sailing trip along the Queensland coast left them with a lifetime of memories and one stubborn annoyance: mouldy water bottles they couldn’t properly clean.
So they did something about it.
Enter @EverVessel. Thoughtfully designed borosilicate glass and stainless steel bottles that keep things beautifully simple: durable materials, wide openings, easy-to-clean parts and none of the techy gimmicks that tend to age badly. Turns out simplicity, done well, is pretty powerful stuff. (Their many design awards agree!)
And lately they’ve added a little extra delight: the Artist Series, where creatives like Paola Castro, Ben Miners and Martin Thompson transform these everyday companions into tiny travelling artworks. There are more colabs in the works, too: hydration, but make it joyful! 🎨💧
We chatted with Bec about the sailing trip that started it all, the philosophy behind Ever Vessel, and why the most sustainable product is often just the one you keep using.
Tap the link in our bio to read the full conversation. 🚰
#EverVessel #ReusableWaterBottle
Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:
🍽 A three-course shared feast
🍷 Matched drinks
🎶 Live entertainment
✨ A room full of good humans
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf
#FeastForFreedom #MelbourneFoodAndWineFestival #LongTableDinner #FoodForChange
Sew versatile! 🪡
Another great make from Lisa from @SunnySewsEveryday:
My #PeppermintWaratahWrapDress is finished and I’m so proud of it. It has been designed not to flap open and flash your pants in the wind, so I feel confident it will be a great wheelchair or standing dress in English weather.
#PeppermintPatterns #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
Frame your face with the Peppermint Bucket Hat!
Stay safe and stylish in the sun with your very own self-sewn and self-drafted wide-brimmed bucket hat. This beginner-friendly sew is perfect for a sunny day. Get out your pencils – this pattern is created using equations and maths!
This DIY project was featured in Issue 53 and now you can access it for the lovely low price of only $5.
Sun-safe chic is always in style. ☀️
Find it via the link in our bio!
Photos: @KelleySheenan
#PeppermintPatterns #PeppermintBucketHat #BucketHat #BucketHatPattern #DIY
✨ INSTANT CLASSIC ✨
The Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with a few special details based on the ever-stylish shift shape – the perfect dress you need in your wardrobe right now!
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from our lovely sewing partner @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Location: @ShareTheDignityAustralia
#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns
It’s time to Feast!
Some recipes travel a long way before they land on your table to delight your taste buds. This year’s Feast for Freedom invites us to gather our friends, cook something delectable and raise funds for the incredible work of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1) while we’re at it.
The 2026 Feast features recipes shared by two remarkable cooks: Noha, who brought the flavours of Palestine with her when she arrived in Australia, and Nige, a Sri-Lankan Tamil cook whose journey with food began in the most unexpected of places.
You can host your own Feast up until 30 April – simply register online and get planning! Host a dinner, organise a workplace lunch, or gather your community… However you do it, the idea is simple: cook, connect and celebrate the cultures and stories that shape Australia.
Want to find out more? Head to the link in bio to meet Noha and Nige, learn more about their stories, and discover a delicious recipe to try.
#FeastForFreedom #PeppermintMagazine #FoodForGood #ASRC
