The Great British Sewing Bee favourite reveals she's "more comfortable" as she returns after year away

Pascoe returned for the Christmas celebrity special last year after her maternity leave, with the series having seen comedian Kiell Smith-Bynoe step in to host season 10.

But now she's back – and is very glad to be back in the sewing room.

"I'd really missed everyone and had awful FOMO (fear of missing out) not being there last year," she said in a new interview ahead of the series launch.

Pascoe continued: "I also appreciated – having had a bit of a break – coming back and feeling very comfortable in the role. Obviously, when it's new, you're working out how to do the job: what works, what doesn’t. When I first started, I found talking to the sewers all day sometimes felt a bit like: 'Oh, what should I ask them next?'"

But now heading back to film a new series, Pascoe found she really "bedded into" small talk and it certainly helped that all of this year's sewers are "really good chatters".

"They’ve all got banter," Pascoe added. "They’re really good at Dad jokes and puns. And they’re happy to muck around. None of them are too stressed about the sewing… or if they were stressed, they hid it well."

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The series returns with not only new sewers, but also with brand new themed challenges, including Korea and 1920s weeks, set by judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young.

"They've never done the 1920s before," Pascoe explained. "That’s an incredible era with iconic clothing, so it was really great. As a pattern challenge, you’ve got plus fours – trousers I’d never seen before – and they're just stunning. As soon as you see them, you're like: 'I need a pair."

"Korea Week was amazing. Korea is at the forefront of culture and influencing everything around the world and we had an amazing guest judge, Fashion Designer Eudon Choi."

With plenty more surprises and themes to put the sewers through their paces, the next 10 weeks will certainly be an exciting one!

The Great British Sewing Bee returns to BBC One on Tuesday 15th July at 9pm.

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