The Great British Sewing Bee - Week 7

Week 7 and the semi final was all about puzzles. Basically the sewers had to show their understanding of patterns and how they come together. Quite a hard one I think and the most challenging so far. On the other hand out of all the series I think this is the episode which has let the contestants free with their creativity (as free as they can be).

Just a reminder that these images came courtesy of the BBC. 

First up was the pattern challenge and the sewers were given a Japanese style skirt to stitch. The skirt was done in two pieces which were cut in a wave pattern which were then carefully fit together. One misstep could lead to an uneven stitch and a skirt that didn't flare in the right places. The winner was Charlotte with this lovely blue piece. I preferred Jade's choice in a grey wool material but this was by far the best finish.

For the reconstruction challenge the sewers were given a duvet cover which they had to reconstruct into a garment without wasting any of the fabric. They were given little mini manikins to practise on with the pillow covers. I loved this idea which is used a lot by designers (learn something new every day).

Charlotte won again with this dress she created. Patrick raved about it stating that it was his favourite garment to date and it even won garment of the week. I think best garment ever is pushing the boat a little but it was the best of the four. I quite liked her choice in duvet cover too.

For the final piece the sewers had to construct a dress. They were given a block pattern and from that they had to go away and design their own. I liked this idea and the three dresses were very different. Each of them took their own take on it. My favourite was Jade's skater dress. I love a skater dress and the fabric choice was lovely. It was even considered for garment of the week which guaranteed Jade's moving on to the final.

 

At the end it was a toss up between Tracey and Joyce as to who would be leaving. I don't think there was much between them really. Although I think in the end that Joyce is the better of the two sewers which is largely due to her experience. Tracey on the other hand is more able to let go and try new things. Tracey is the bubbly one of the group and I think she will be missed but at least she made it almost all of the way through.

Tonight you lucky lot will get to watch the final while I will have to wait and hope that I don't come across any spoilers. At this point my money is on Charlotte. While I would like Jade to win I think that her experience will let her down at this point. You never know though. It would be a shame to dismiss Joyce entirely but while she is brilliant at sewing I think she steers towards a more dated style which shows in her fittings as well as her fabric choices.

I was going to add some links at the end here but I have night shift to prepare for. Something for you to look forward to when I blog about the final.

The Great British Sewing Bee - Week 2

Please do  not be fooled by this image. This episode was not brought to you by clothing for super heroes. It will all make sense in the end though. This weeks episode was all about children's clothes. Not an episode I ever look forward to and yet somehow I always enjoy it. As always these images are not mine but in fact belong to the makers of the show, The Great British Sewing Bee.

First up we had the babygrow. Who knew that something so tiny could be so difficult. The sewers had a lot to contend with. The stretchy material for one and the binding for another. Not many people got the snaps or the closing in the right place. Only Josh had much experience with the material but sadly he didn't do too well and no one had ever made a babygrow. As Charlotte says they are just going to poop in it. Funnily enough Charlotte was the winner with this little red star number (which also happened to be my favourite fabric choice). She was the only one who made no mistakes.

My favourite as always is the second round. This time the stitchers were given bridesmaid dresses to convert into children's clothes. Huge transformations this time but to me still lacking in imagination. Changing a bridesmaid dress into a little girls party dress seems the obvious choice for me. Again my favourite is the winner. This little boxers costume which was stitched by Ghislaine. Although it has just occurred to me that one of the men did something similar last year but he made a pair of boxing gloves to match rather than a top. Either way it still stood out for me and I love the little hood.

For the show stopper we had the cape. Much like Bake Off the contestants can practise this at home. They get to choose their own pattern and materials. Only one went for a boys cape which I felt was actually pretty good (by Jamie) but sadly wasn't entirely finished. My favourite was by Jade who seemed to come second in every round this week. I think if she had managed to get those last few buttons on she might have won garment of the week.

For the second week running Angeline has won garment of the week. This time with her little red cape and her bow (for which the judges were initially dubious). It was pretty and very well done but I still prefer the style of Jade's. This brought Angeline up from the bottom three as she also didn't fair well in the first two rounds.

Sadly Ghislaine was the second stitcher to leave. It's a pity as I think nerves let her down in the end. She took risks with the cape which didn't work at all and her babygrow just didn't work at all. As I said I think that was purely nerves. I think we would have seen some bold colour choices had we gotten the chance to see her progress.

It's terrible, I watched this last night and already I can't remember next weeks theme. This time I will get to watch it live so I will be live tweeting again. Wait a minute...it's lingerie week. That should be fun.

Speaking of twitter, some of the contestants are on there so get following;

Charlotte
Tracey
Angeline
Rumana
Ghislaine
Duncan
Jade
Josh
Jamie

The Great British Sewing Bee - Week 1

At last! The Great British Sewing Bee is back and thus my Friday posts are once again dedicated to viewing other peoples creations. It was a little over due me thinks but they say good things come to those who wait and so the first episode was a good one. Before I go on I would like to point out that all of these images do not belong to me but belong to The Great British Sewing Bee itself. I highly recommend you follow their twitter account, particularly when viewing the show.

I was sad to hear that the show would be losing May Martin as a judge. I thought she complimented Patrick Grant very well and often played good cop to his bad cop. Not that she couldn't be a strict judge but I think I would have withered under Patrick's scrutiny more than May's (or maybe that has something to do with the fact that Patrick is the hottie of the sewing world).

May is replaced as a judge by Esme Young who is famous for costume design and has her own label. I think I am going to like her and she seems to be more of a perfectionist than Patrick (if that was at all possible). Maybe presumption based on her costume design background but I think she will appreciate the imaginative and adventurous design.

The show started with a simple top. Well, simple looking. They had to create a chevron top using striped fabric and this of course meant the judges were watching for pattern matching. Angeline's top was by far my favourite due to the fabric choice. However, Jamie's red top won it which I actually quite liked too. I think this would have been my mum's favourite.

For the alteration challenge the contestants were given the most hideous maternity dress I have ever seen. It basically looked like an oversized t-shirt. There was no limit to the things that could be done with it since it had no shape to it to begin with. Yet, the results were rather lacking in imagination. In fact the judges commented straight away on how disappointed they were. I would have made some kind of top I think but there were a whole array of skirts. The winner was Jamie's dress right at the end there. Not my favourite but I can see why it won. It had so many different skills within including the use of a lovely contrasting fabric. I just hope that my favourite challenge is stepped up a little as of next week.

For the final challenge the contestants had to create a shirt. My favourite skirt was a dark 50's inspired skirt by Jade. The winner though was a peplum pencil skirt by Angeline. I can see why she won. It was very well constructed. The fabric was lovely and as you can see above, the judges loved the fit (swearing on sewing bee - who would have thought it). Having said all that I HATE peplum skirts with a passion. I always have. I just do not find them attractive in the slightest. I remember watching old films and admiring the costumes when I was little and I would switch off at the slightest hint of a peplum.

While there is always a winner there is always a loser too. Poor Duncan was the first to leave. The only Scottish accent in the bunch. He did make the rookie error of cutting the hem of his skirt while the model was wearing it. Funnily enough it didn't work.

Normally I would end with some links of some kind like I did with Bake Off last year. At the end of this weeks show the above image was put on the screen. Sadly, Lorna Monje, one of the three finalists from last year has since passed away after losing her battle to Aplastic Anaemia. She was one of my favourite contestants last year and I very much remember those vibrant red poppies. I think my mum loved the skirt she made from it. There is a Just Giving page in her name raising money for Aplastic Anaemia which I have linked for you.

Next week the contestants will be making children's clothes. Never my favourite theme but I still look forward to it. I won't be live tweeting though as I will be away and will catch up on iPlayer later in the week.

Fabric Fiend!

For the last few years I have been wanting to get into sewing. I have managed one or two projects but have never had the confidence to try out something more than backing a cross stitch project. Thanks to some inspiring people at my knitting group I have been wanting to move beyond that. So with a voucher that was given to me by these ladies I got myself a couple of books that will help me (I hope) move beyond inspiring into actually doing. The first book is an accompaniment to last years series of The Great British Sewing Bee. There are one or two things in there that I would like to have a go at. The second book is actually by the runner up of the first series, Tilly Walnes. I have had my eye on this book for a while as I follow her on pinterest and she always pins images of makes from her book. I love all the patterns in it and I can't wait to have a shot. She also has a blog called Tilly and the Buttons. Worth checking out. She is also on twitter, instagram and pinterest. Think it will seem a little too stalkery to link all of those.

In a magazine I picked up recently there was a pattern to show you how to sew your own pants (or panties if you are American). I quite liked the idea and then saw this company advertised in the same magazine. Anncancan is a website where you can buy kits to make your own knickers. Offering different fabrics. Each kit contains three different patterns. It was this that sealed the deal for me as it contains a pattern for the beginner which would be me.

I am also still looking at decorating my flat with my makes (when I get it) and bought these two fabrics for my soon to be bedroom. I plan on making some patchwork pillows. The orange and teal will match the blanket I have almost finished making. All I need is some white on white fabric to set it off. The teal fabric I picked up in hobbycraft. The orange fabric I had to hunt for to find one that I liked. Orange fabric is a difficult one to get it would seem. I got it from Purple Stitches which seemed to have a nice selection.

While on that website I couldn't resist this one. I thought it was cute. I have no idea what I am going to do with it yet but it had to be done. This is how fabric collecting starts isn't it?

I have no idea when I am going to start all of these projects. I have quite a few on the go just now and need to be thinking about finishing one or two of those before I start. That and I need to build up the courage to start cutting into these lovely materials.

Pins I Love - Sewing Bee!

I have been enamoured by home sewing projects since watching The Great British Sewing Bee. I would love to have a go but my sewing skills are fairly basic. Time is also a factor. I have enough projects to be doing without adding to them. However, it doesn't stop me from looking. One day I WILL develop my sewing skills along with all the other crafty projects I want to try.

Until that time I have created a sewing bee board on pinterest (not to be confused with my stitch it board). On going through some sewing projects I spotted this cute dress. There isn't really a pattern for it (not from what I can see). It looks like a sewing page that takes dresses seen in high street stores and stitches them up with a similar fabric. I have to admit I was mainly attracted by the polka dots. If you are interested in the page click on the image above and it will take you straight to it.

I love this dress. It can be dressed up for all sorts of situations. Smart, dressy or every day. I do like a versatile dress. Plus it looks like quite a simple but effective design. It was stitched by a blogger who also knits socks. Always like to see another sock knitter. Think I will have to look into this blog later on. The link to the dress itself is the image above. However, the blog is called Little Home by Hand.

I like this dress too. It's a nice summer dress plus it's floaty. Who doesn't like a floaty dress? What I like about all these sewing patterns (got this from watching the Great British Sewing Bee) that just using a completely different fabric pattern can make an outfit look completely different. This pattern is by etsy seller Queen Bee Fabrics. She sells lots of lovely fabrics as well as sewing patterns.

I like this too although I think you might need to have the models physique to get away with it. Plus it might be a little bit more than a beginner's pattern. It looks good though. It comes from a website called craftsy. It is quite good for online sewing classes and sometimes has free patterns. Worth checking out if you are wanting to try something new.

I do like a pleated skirt (although maybe not with quite so many pleats). I enjoyed watching the contestants stitching up pleats on the programme although I am sure they found it frustrating. The image above links to a tutorial on how to stitch pleats. I can't say how good it is since I am a complete novice but it looks good. The website is by Julia Bobbin and she seems to have quite a few tutorials on there.

Watching and Reading.

I may not have much to show for the last few weeks but I haven't been completely idol. I am still working on the throw for my sister. While it has grown a little bit I don't think you would notice as I think the photo I posted a few weeks back was a close up.

In truth I have been mostly keeping up with crafts through reading and watching. I have been too tired to do much else. I even picked up the latest cross stitcher even though it had little in it that suited my tastes. I was craving a little bit of crafting contact. It did come with a free notebook kit which I managed to stitch up in about an hour. I think it's rather sweet even if the cover is slightly too small for the pages. It's the perfect size for my uniform pocket and so will be going to my next placement with me (little notebooks always come in handy for taking note of anything new). It was a fairly easy things to stitch hence the hour it took me. The hardest thing about it was differentiating between red and dark red (a sign that I'm getting old maybe).

I also picked up the latest Homemaker which I love. Nothing to show for it mind you. The free kit that came with that is still sitting on my shelf. Lots of good ideas though and some great recipes. I keep saying I am going to compile them but I've yet to do that. Yet to make any of them too.

I have also been avidly reading the Yarn Harlot. She is doing her book tour just now and it has made for an interesting read. In each place she visits she does a group shot of the attendees while holding up her sock knitting. This way you can also see her progress. Feel a bit sorry for her with so much time spent in airports but also very jealous of all those attending. This is quickly becoming one of my favourite blogs.

The next two images aren't mine but come courtesy of the BBC.

I have been watching Mary Berry Cooks. I am more of a baker but have been finding this interesting. There are a few savoury makes in there that I think I might even be able to manage. What I really want to try though is making jam. Mary Berry makes everything look so effortless mind you. However, I think I could do it and just need to wait for the fruit seasons to come in. Thinking of trying my hand at marmalade too.

I am also not much of a sewer. I have a sewing machine that rarely gets used. I have been enjoying The Great British Sewing Bee though. Not to say that I would even want to make all of the items that have been done so far (men's pyjamas being the one that I definitely don't want to ever make). It's a good show though and it's interesting to see the individual styles people can bring to each garment. It has a similar layout to the Great British Bake Off. So maybe that's why I like it.

I lied when I said I haven't been up to much else. I did do some baking on my days off. I did this while studying (they were in the oven while I did my reading). The giant cookies I wasn't impressed with. I divided the dough into six as stated but I felt that they were just too big. Very crisp on the outside but a little undercooked in the middle. Perhaps that was just my taste though as my mum loved them. I also made some banana bread at the weekend there. You've seen this before but I did manage to teach someone how to make it via facebook. Although I think that has more to do with their skills than mine.