ABOVE: Claudia with Sewing Bee judges May Martin and Patrick Grant

It’s a winning combination we’re about to see more of. Claudia is fronting BBC2’s The Great British Sewing Bee, which aims to do for needlework what The Great British Bake Off did for meringue-making. Just like its wildly successful forebear, the show sees eight amateurs battling each other with two judges (stern WI-woman May Martin and Savile Row designer Patrick Grant) assessing their A-line skirts and scallop necklines.

The Great British Sewing Bee couldn’t have arrived at a better time. The cult of SIY (sew-it-yourself) is thriving. While pubs and high streets flounder in the recession, the number of fabric shops has risen 44% in the last year. Across the UK, ‘craftivists’ congregate for ‘stitch’n’bitch’ sessions, sales of sewing machines are soaring, and there are even cafes (such as King’s Cross’ Drink, Shop, Do) where customers can learn to make corsages, garters and underwear.

Even Claudia – a self-confessed anti-homebody who “couldn’t sew a button” – is now making clothes for her kids. Here, she talks about presenting howlers, Fairy Liquid cakes and how she’d choose bobbins over Bond Street any day…

Why should we watch The Great British Sewing Bee? How would you sell the show to stitching-sceptics?

It’s going to make people think. I got a total buzz out of watching people turn a piece of two-dimensional fabric into something you wear. The Great British Bake Off made me stop buying supermarket cakes – I get so much enjoyment making my own instead, even if they’re inedible because a six year old put Fairy Liquid in them. In the same way, buying grey tweed and turning that into a skirt is thrilling.

Has it inspired you to take up the needle-and-thread yourself?

Only my kids’ clothes [Claudia has three children with film producer husband Kris Thykier]. Because I’m really horrible, my daughter’s had the same coat for three years. So I got some fake-fur and wrapped it around the hood and sleeves. Now, she thinks she’s got a new coat! I don’t want to be a mug anymore. I don’t want to buy a round-necked blouse for my daughter that costs a fortune because it’s Liberty Print. I want to buy a fabric with her then make it together. And it would cost a hundredth of the price.

Could sewing ever become cool?

Yes. On the school run, there’s one super-glam mum who works for Vanity Fair. One day, she was wearing this herringbone skirt with chiffon band. She was like, “I’m always sewing stuff on”. You don’t have to go to Bond Street and spend a fortune. You can just alter things to make them prettier.

Some people argue that the rise in domestic pursuits like sewing and baking is a step back for feminism…

Not if men are baking and sewing it isn’t. If my husband turned to me and said, “Look, love, sew this button on, then throw a pie in the oven,” it would be a problem. But if he’s going, “Sweetheart, I’m just making you a burger, then I might make Jake’s shirt baggier,” that’s fine.

Claudia Winkleman: a face for TV