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

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.

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

"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.

The school opened six years ago and the fabric shop – which is named Mill Creations – opened earlier this year due to the ever growing popularity of sewing.

Nicola said: “People have been turned on by the show but also largely because of the benefits sewing has for your mental health. People lose themselves in it.

"We have one lady whose husband is really poorly and it’s her escapism.

"It’s all a bit sewing madness at the minute.”

She said that The Great British Sewing Bee – which has been held in Leeds for the second year running – is filmed at the mill over 12 weeks before being broadcast.

Nicola, who runs the site with her daughter Isobel, said that “it was like all of my Christmases and Birthdays at once” when she was told that the show would start being filmed in Leeds and the attention the shop received grew as a result.

"When it’s on we see an uptake of bookings”, she said. “Everyone gets inspired.

"But we see a massive increase in visitors just because people want to see where it’s filmed. We get people from all over the country.”

She said that before each series the casting crew will pop in the shop and ask if there are any students that want to addition to be a part of it.

Nicola said: “Some may have done but I wouldn’t know. It’s all top secret!

"My daughter’s sewing as well now and all of the students say she should apply to go on the show.”

The first Threads Textile Festival was held at the mill in May on the back of the increase of fervour for sewing, which Nicola said was “really, really good”, and there was also a book signing event held at School of Sew by one of the judges on the TV show, Esme Young.

Nicola said that she has also hosted a sewing retreat where people come for the whole weekend and that she has looked into expanding the business further within the mill to cater for all of the demand.

She said: “The whole mill is a really loving place. It’s so forward thinking and there’s loads of creative businesses here.”