Which craft?

New Hobbycraft TV channel helps you master new skills

- BY SANJEETA BAINS

MOVE over The Great British Sewing Bee and The Great Pottery Throw Down, after three decades of successful retailing, Hobbycraft has moved into the world of television too.

With 8.8million crafters across the UK - boosted by Gen Z influencers filling TikTok with rug-weaving and crocheting - Hobbycraft’s new venture is big news.

So I am thrilled to be the inaugural guest on a behind-the-scenes tour of the first-ever 24-hour Hobbycraft TV channel, which launched at the firm's Peterborough HQ last month.

In the backroom “gallery” - where I'm told all the magic happens - I see producer Martha Cleary talking soothingly into her microphone, sending instructions to presenter Dennice Robinson via her earpiece.

Martha is giving guidance on key descriptive words for an overlocker sewing machine that Dennice is testing out live.

She gently repeats how the machine is “user-friendly”, which Dennice mentions to viewers seconds later. It’s all very professional.

Next on my tour I meet Dan Bancroft, a Hobbycraft presenter who has made some seasonal pumpkins including a knitted one.

He also lets me pose with another Halloween-themed creation, a felt frog in a cute little witch's outfit. Adorable.

On the green room telly, the current live tutorial features celebrity crafter Sarah Payne, who is chatting about all things embroidery.

What Meryl Streep is to acting, Sarah is to crafting, according to those in the know. In fact to hobbyists, many of the stars of Hobbycraft TV are household names.